Skip to Content

Award Nominated Shorts

In this program


hi ading

Directed by Dinaly Tran

A poetic short that provides a glimpse into a love story. Speaking to their parents’ past selves, Dinaly asks and hopes that these past versions might help them realize that the decisions they may not understand are still made out of love.

Drive to Freedom

Directed by Yuqin Wu

Driving has been promised to lead to freedom and autonomy. But for whom? This short delves into Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia — one of the highways with the most traffic and pedestrian fatalities — uncovering the impact of a driver-centric landscape on people’s perception of their bodies.

Recurrence

Directed by Ali Alizadeh

An old man can’t find his cows. Realizing there’s no place for him in his house, he leaves, and the cows come back.

Swimming Lessons

Directed by Meloddy Gao

A personal, reflexive film that follows a daughter of Chinese immigrants who yearns to understand her transoceanic family’s expressions of grief. During a summer visit to the home her parents left behind in Beijing, China, she tries to learn what they never taught her: how to navigate a heat wave, how to cook watermelon, and how to say goodbye.

Threading Silence

Directed by Isabel Tay

A Singaporean family’s silenced grief over the death of an uncle parallels the country’s removal of diverse dialects and funeral rituals that conceal mourning.

Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way

Directed by Hao Zhou

Having built a colorful queer life in Iowa, a costume designer visits their island homeland of Guam to make costumes for a children’s theatre while reconnecting with distanced parents.

To the Class of Us

Directed by Veda Lee

On high school graduation day, two friends learn how to say goodbye to the past — and most importantly, to each other.

Detours Ahead

Directed by Esther Cheung

A road trip traces a transition of grief to acceptance through valleys, junctions, and detours. It is a meditation on solitude, and articulates my shifting relationship with place.

The Queen’s Flowers

Directed by Ciara Leinaʻala Lacy

A magical take on a true story, The Queen’s Flowers is an animated short adventure for kids that follows Emma, a Native Hawaiian girl in 1915 Honolulu, as she makes a special gift for the last monarch of Hawai`i, Queen Lili`uokalani.

A Karaoke Space Odyssey

Directed by Achim Mendoza

In this campy sci-fi rom-com musical, Stella, an undocumented Filipino in pursuit of a green card, goes on a wild karaoke date with a goofy white man that turns the whole world on its ear.

Daly City

Directed by Nick Hartanto

An Indonesian boy and his mother attend a church potluck and lie about their dish.

Bloomed in the Water

Directed by Joanne Mony Park

A Korean immigrant single mother misinterprets school picture day, resulting in surprise when her son’s appearance differs from his classmates’.

Dates & Times

Past

Asian Arts Initiative

Fri, Nov 8
6:30 pm