Breaking Out: AAPI Shorts
The key to progress can come from within oneself, or with help from others. In this collection of AAPI shorts, people in difficult predicaments find the tools to deal with their dilemmas.
2024-2025 | Documentary & Narrative | USA | 10000 min | English, Farsi w/ English Subtitles | Digital
Wednesday, May 21st, 2025
8:30 PM
Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601
The Strawberries
Directed by Nicholas Luciano
A woman's class envy bears comically horrifying fruit.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 11 mins | English | Digital
We are Kings
Written and Directed by Frank Sun
An immigrant teenager weighs the true cost of fitting in.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 13 mins | English | Digital
Giving Mom the Talk
Written and Directed by Vidhya Iyer
An Indian American woman encourages her mom to reinvigorate her days.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 12 mins | English | Digital
Gloria
Written and Directed by Kim Blanck
https://kimblanck.com
A Chinese woman (Emily Kuroda, Gilmore Girls) fights dementia with the aid of a trusty textbook.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 10 mins | English | Digital
Prematho
Written and Directed by Harshith Surya Kotni
https://harshithkotni.com/
A perfectionist Bharatanatyam dancer discovers there is more to art than flawless technique.
2024 | Narrative | USA | 12 mins | English | Digital
CHIMERA
Directed by Daniel Ray Cantu
A professional skateboarder journeys into ceramic art to express himself fully and process loss.
2025 | Documentary | USA | 13 mins | English | Digital
Puberty for Humans
Written and Directed by Wester Demandante
https://westerdemandante.com
A vintage educational film about how some kids develop cybernetic changes sooner than others.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 14 mins | English | Digital
Firewall
Written and Directed by Bita Ghassemi
An Iranian American girl in Texas fuses Persian mythology with visions of her father, hidden behind the Internet firewall in Iran.
2025 | Narrative | USA | 15 mins | English, Farsi w/ English Subtitles | Digital