From devastation to the joys of triumph, this shorts program takes you on an eclectic ride of emotions through captivating stories that invite the audience to have a visceral experience.
Followed by Q&A with filmmakers in attendance.
From devastation to the joys of triumph, this shorts program takes you on an eclectic ride of emotions through captivating stories that invite the audience to have a visceral experience. Journey through a poetic war-torn one take, a dark comedy led by a neurotic teenaged violinist, a Taiwanese supernatural experimental art film on love and death, a quirky dark comedy a frankensteined ideal partner bridging cultural preferences, an empowering Iranian animation of impact, and a beautifully crafted drama of a grieving Vietnamese family healing through the power of familial connection. The Emotional Spectrum shorts block offers stories that remind us of what it means to be alive in the vastness of our human experience and emotions. - Angela Chen, Short Film Programmer
Narrative | Taiwan | Dir. Hsiao-Tsun CHIU
As nightfall cast shadows on their secrets, the woman schemes under the shroud of darkness, returning to the house to share her clandestine plans with her partner in crime. Yet, an otherworldly aura permeates the air, revealing the lovers' true selves and dropping cryptic hints about the mysterious male corpse. Step by step, they are lured into a dance with the supernatural, spiraling into a world of trance and bewilderment, where the line between reality and the ethereal blurs into an enigmatic tale of passion and peril.
Narrative | USA | Dir. Jamie Ting
A dark comedy about a neurotic but driven 17-year-old Chinese-American violinist on a mission to get admitted to Harvard at any cost. After spotting a mistake in her application at the last minute, she embarks on a midnight rampage through her magnet high school, blackmailing a socially awkward teenage hacker to deliver the perfect audition for the elusive Dean of Admissions before the deadline.
Narrative | Iran | Austin Premiere | Dir. Kiarash Dadgar Mohebi
A birthday ceremony preparation gets upside down as something horrible takes place.
Documentary | Iran | Austin Premiere | Dir. Andy Sarjahani
Recorded in secret in Iran at the height of the women-led uprising, this documentary short follows an Iranian medical resident who risks her life to protect a fellow doctor from arrest by the country’s secret police.
Narrative | USA | Texas Premiere | Dir. Linh Tran
Lam, a Vietnamese international student, welcomes her younger sister, Phuong, to her Chicago apartment. Phuong brings a DVD of their father’s funeral, which Lam could not attend.
Narrative | USA | Dir. Lorena Lourenco
A South Asian diasporic woman, tired of dating people who can’t keep up with her mutable cultural identity, decides to “frankenstein” together the ideal partner.