Experimental Documentary
08:17 mins., HD, Color, Sound, 2022
Writing, Animation & Direction: Jeannette Louie
Narration: Rachel Lin
Music: Gen Rubin
Sound Design & Mix: Matt Davies
Dialogue Edit: Rich Bussey
VO production: Hunter Berk
In Cantonese and English
In the space of a moment, inside a cabinet, perception embarks on an epic journey through the terrain of memories that form the identity of an American born Asian.
Available On: https://arts.film/
Director’s Statement:
There is a corner in a room where an antique cabinet stands by a window. Randomly acquired objects like souvenirs from past travels, mementos of childhood experiences and a myriad of sentimental bits and pieces inhabit this cabinet. When opened, I often reach for a pack of vintage flashcards, which I shuffle through, unleashing a torrent of thoughts that resurrect a specific language. Cantonese, spoken by my parents, hails from the Guangdong province of southern China. Its usage is being usurped in modernity by the more predominant Mandarin and parallels the absorption of Hong Kong into a greater autocracy. As this empire endeavors to become One China, Asians in America exist in a paradox, that of being identified with a foreign power and remaining patriotic to a homeland which continues to exclude them. The pandemic heaped violence upon an already fragile identity politic and consequently, I found myself shuffling through the flashcards and repeatedly sifting through the cabinet during the long imposed isolation in order to listen to the tonality of linguistic memory. The action not only revived comfort, but reclaimed a landscape that had always been rightfully my family’s and mine. My own empire emerged, melodious and intrusive, empowering and inclusive and became an epic panorama which I journeyed through to feel the authenticity of being an American born Asian.
2023 Hot Docs, Ontario, Canada
2023 Florida Film Festival, FL
2023 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, MN
2023 LeFIFA41 International Festival of Films on Art, Montreal, Canada
2023 Seattle Asian American Film Festival, WA, USA - Grand Jury Award Nominee - Doc Shorts
2022 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, PA, USA
2022 Reel Sisters of the Diaspora, NY, USA - Best Experimental Film Award
2022 Montclair Film Festival, NJ, USA
2022 Antimatter Media Art Festival, Victoria, B.C.
2022 Bolton International Film Festival, Bolton, United Kingdom - Award Nominee - Experimental
2022 Vancouver International Film Festival, B.C.
2022 Tallgrass Film Festival, Kansas, USA - Honorable Mention
2022 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, DC, USA
2022 CAAMFEST40, SF, USA
2022 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, CA, USA
2022 Maryland Film Festival, Baltimore, USA