de closin night

Siyi, a Chinese student in an American theater school, has been putting in more effort than her American peers to practice for the first role she gets in college. Yet her professor is rescinding the offer because of her accent. To win back the opportunity for the closing night, Siyi determines to rid her accent by speaking English only from now on, even when she video chats with her mom. As she grows obsessed with the accent practices, Siyi’s attempt to better her craft has shifted into the faltering of her identity.

Directed by Shicong Zhu
Produced by Ella Rouwen Chen and Brielle Yuke Li
Written by Ella Rouwen Chen

Director’s Bio: Shicong Zhu is a Chinese filmmaker based in Los Angeles, CA and Beijing, China. Her works have been selected to screen at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, LA Shorts, International Foyle Film Festival, Fantasia Film Festival, Bolton Film Festival, Tallgrass Film Festival and so forth. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she was an honoree and recipient of the 2020 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant.

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