Plum Town

Xiao Li, a businessman, nervously practices a sales pitch about “changing times” in the backseat of a moving car. At the same time, Old Li, a plum farmer, defends his orchard against a mysterious intruder. Old Li chases the intruder out, just as Xiao Li’s car pulls up. This is a father-son reunion.

Back in Old Li’s village house, Xiao Li tells Old Li the only reason he’s come back is to convince him to sell the plum orchard to his development company and finally move on with his life. When father and son struggle to connect with each other for the rest of the night, they turn to the only thing they still both recognize: The dusty old portable karaoke machine from Xiao Li’s childhood.

Directed by Kelly Yu
Produced by Jean Liu and Kelly Yu

Director’s Bio: Kelly Yu is a Swedish-born, New Orleans raised, Chinese-American writer and director. Her work is driven by a distinct voice and visual style shaped by her experiences navigating three different cultures, as well as a fascination with finding humanity in the absurd. Her short Plum Town is currently on the festival circuit, where it recently received the Grand Jury Award at Boston Independent Film Festival. It was supported by Panavision and award winning indie studio Vanishing Angle (Thunder Road). The feature script of the same name holds the rare “9” rating on the Black List. Kelly is a finalist for the WGA Michael Collyer Screenwriting Fellowship and the 2021 Black List Feature Lab. She currently studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she holds the prestigious Jack Nicholson Scholarship in Writing.

Plays in

Sideways Dreaming

We grow up wishing for dreams to come true – dreams for ourselves, dreams for others, and even…