So, I went to the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival again today to see a series of shorts about familial, romantic and/or communal bounds in a segment called “Lost and Bound”. Nine independent shorts produced/acted by Asian Americans were in this segment: Keun-Pyo Park’s “Wake”, Hung P. Nguyen’s “Her Love/Life”, Ted Chung’s “Passages”, Samuel Kiehoon Lee’s “5 x 90: The Wake”, David Estrada’s “Tears in the Rain”, Daniel Mulloy’s “Sister”, Taika Waititi’s “Sons of Tu” and Tak Hoon Kim’s “Public Bath”.
I liked the following shorts the most:
“Sons of Tu” presenting six soldiers entertaining themselves through silent jokes, faces, all while waiting in complete silence in a war-ruined home for their turn in the war. Comedy is contrasted to the eminent death of war.
In “Tears in the Rain” a pair of conjoined twins is separated after an operation, and we witness how one of them is exploring life for the very first time. Like an alien to this world, she wanders in and around the hospital alone, witnessing life, people, and tears in the rain as she comes back to the hospital to look into her twin’s face for the very first time.
In “Sister”, we encounter a Chinese teenager adopted by a UK-family being outcast on a school bus and bullied by Caucasian kids, and the only person who stands up for him is his younger (Caucasian) sister, who he in return protects.
Ah… I love independent shorts. Albeit that it takes me a while to understand some of them, it’s always a fun watch. Next up: “Journey from the Fall” this Thursday at the festival’s closing gala! Let's see if it wins the Juried Competition or Audience Award!