ONE CITY, MANY PERSPECTIVES: AAPI CHICAGO SHORTS

Whether from here or about here, these shorts by AAPI filmmakers with a Chicago connection display the range and quality the Windy City is capable of. [Select Filmmakers In-Person for post film Q&A!]

2024-2025 | Documentary & Narrative | USA | 100 min | English, Mandarin, Korean, with English Subtitles | Digital

Saturday, May 17th, 2025
4:00 PM

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601

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What I Am Today: Maa Maa Dei

Directed by Ian Szetho
IG: @maa.maa.dei

Jessica "Jaye" Fong founded her pop-up, Maa Maa Dei, to reflect her experience as an Asian American restaurant kid in the Midwest. In 2022, the pop-up won Chicago Tribune's Readers Choice for Best Pop-Up/Virtual Restaurant. What I Am Today: Maa Maa Dei explores the roots of her culinary creations and how embracing imperfection as the child of immigrants can push you to break boundaries. From her humble upbringing to a career in architecture and engineering in Chicago, the story highlights how our heritage shapes our journey and aspirations.

Hey Kiddo

Directed, Written by Melissa Kong
IG: @melissajkong

When Margot stumbles upon a video that her dying mother left behind for her, she discovers something truly unexpected.

CHECK PLEASE

Directed & Written by Shane Chung
IG: @tunavegas

Dinner for two turns deadly when a Korean and a Korean American escalate a fight over who gets to pay the bill — and who gets to walk out the restaurant alive.

He

Directed & Written by Yihui Hu
IG: @he_shortfilm

Jing He, a 17-year-old Chinese American girl, is living the life she's always dreamed of—balancing school, friends, and family. But things change the day her father returns from China with a startling revelation: he has a teenage son from another woman. Suddenly, Jing finds herself facing a new family dynamic, as she navigates the unexpected arrival of a half-brother she never knew existed.

Thrust: Surviving Acting School

Directed by Noah Causey
Co-Written by Lauren Hugh
IG: @thrustwebseries

Thrust is a new web series that gives the world a behind-the-scenes into college BFA programs and everything zany, absurd, and straight-up wild about it. Through the eyes and experiences of the new freshman class, learn what it's like to major in acting at a university, and follow our eight lovable thespians-to-be as they navigate the assignments, acting techniques, relationships, and of course, the school play.

Co-Written by: Lauren Hugh, Kayla McCaffrey, Francesca Bucci, Elizabeth Fulton, Matt Nielsen, Nnamdi Nwankwo, Tim Sullivan, and Noah Causey

Apart

Directed by Sukwon Jeong
IG: @apart_film

College drop-out Sukjin leaves Korea to travel halfway around the world to close a growing emotional distance with his unspoken lover, Hayoon, only to be pulled even further apart.

2025 | Narrative | USA | 19 mins | English, Korean w/ English Subtitles| | Digital

A Simple Ask

Directed & Written by Nadya Naumaan
IG: @nadstersworld

Nida is a young Muslim who can't bring themself to confess a crush. In asking for assistance from Allah on one of their forest walks, they inadvertently summon a fearsome ancestor who gives them the push they've been waiting for through some unconventional means.