Index of Shorts

Discover an exciting new generation of filmmakers through our shorts program, showcasing the knotty nature of the timely and enduring, the political and the personal, the spectral and physical, and the factual and fictional, in international standouts, experimental animations, slow burns, and lush pleasures.

A Sand on the Seafloor

Film A Sand on the Seafloor Directed by Joo young (Judy) Kim A filmmaker and dancer’s collaborative meditation on patience. In a minute, a moment, eternity—the crashing of the waves,…

Afterimages

Film Afterimages Directed by Bryan Sih Take a seat at the table for a family dinner to remember, featuring a hungry ghost who refuses…

Americanized

Film Americanized Directed by Erica Eng A Chinese American teen in Oakland struggles to find a place on her basketball team and community. Facing…

An Invitation

Film An Invitation Directed by Hao Zhao, Yeung Tung A boy from mainland China visits his estranged father in Hong Kong to apply for a permanent identity…

An Uninterrupted View of the Sea

Film An Uninterrupted View of the Sea Directed by Mika Yatsuhashi With incredible access to archival government documents and home video, filmmaker Mika Yatsuhashi delivers a biting look at…

Anita

Film Anita Directed by Sushma Khadepaun Anita returns to India for her sister’s wedding, with news that she has landed an internship opportunity with…

Atomic Cafe: The Noisiest Corner in J-Town

Film Atomic Cafe: The Noisiest Corner in J-Town Directed by Akira Boch, Tadashi Nakamura "Sid Vicious loved our fried rice!" Atomic Cafe was the rowdy Little Tokyo post-show destination for punks in…

Beyond the Lake My Sister Sleeps

Film Beyond the Lake My Sister Sleeps Directed by AnQi Yu, Mel Guo How else to explain to a child the pervasive nature of death in the family? A young boy…

Blue Land

Film Blue Land Directed by Keem Youngle A speculative essay-film that writes the Smurfs into seminal moments of the past hundred years of Korean history,…

Butterfly Food

Film Butterfly Food Directed by Katherine Kwon An exploration of South Korean beauty standards, which are much harsher than what appears to the eye.

Cheyenne

Film Cheyenne Directed by Rich Underwood A moving and inspiring portrait of a young woman’s search for a kidney, and the loved ones and…

Chimera

Film Chimera Directed by Eileen Yoon Across time and continents, two stories of Ayeon gently echo each other but are unable to fully align.

chinese cabbage flowers in yīngélìshì

Film chinese cabbage flowers in yīngélìshì Directed by Yifan Xu An audio-visual blossom of a short, in which the accidental discovery of dried cabbage flowers in Mel Y.…

Closed on Sunday

Film Closed on Sunday Directed by Natalie Kimm Three perspectives on Chick-fil-A’s opposition to the LGBTQ+ community and how this stance reflects their lives as consumers…

Dancing On My Own

Film Dancing On My Own Directed by Alexandra Cuerdo In this autobiographical mix of documentary and fiction, queer Asians find belonging and inspiration at New York's radical…

Day is Done

Film Day is Done Directed by Zhang Dalei Shortly before moving to Russia, a young filmmaking student visits his grandfather with his parents, in a short…

Dear Angie

Film Dear Angie Directed by Abel Guan A mother prepares to leave the country and her daughter behind for reasons not so clear. Emotions run…

Diverse

Film Diverse Directed by Jenifar Mansoor Youth from different backgrounds come together to discuss and celebrate cultural diversity in their neighborhood of El Cajon.

Dog Story

Film Dog Story Directed by Grace Zhang A hauntingly shot coming-of-age film about Jo, twice othered, gender-fluid and Asian, acting out fantasies with their friend…

Errand

Film Errand Directed by Youngwoo Lee On their way home from school, two siblings run strange errands for their mother. A charming look at…

Everything Stays

Film Everything Stays Directed by Cole Bacani Though family bonds are woven strong, Gabe deliberates the heartbreaking decision to break the ties that bind and…

FITNESS! or a story about SWEAT

Film FITNESS! or a story about SWEAT Directed by Kana Hatakeyama With the deliciously offbeat humor of a laggy music video stream, here comes a woman’s fitness journey in…

F1-100

Film F1-100 Directed by Emory Chao Johnson Documentation of an international student’s gender transition interlaces his return to his more conservative home country of Malaysia.…

force

Film force Directed by Jennie MaryTai Liu, Simon Liu A parable about control and an emanant vision of a changing people and place. Mesmerizing images coupled with…

Forever Tonight

Film Forever Tonight Directed by Swetha Regunathan In this glittering short, an Indian American teenager sneaks out of the house to attend an outdoor prom…

Fugetsu-Do

Film Fugetsu-Do Directed by Kaia Rose A loving look at mochi through four generations of the Kito family’s legendary shop in LA, which survived…

Georgia

Film Georgia Directed by Jayil Pak A font, a place, and a reckoning: in their quest for justice after her untimely death, the parents…

Girl In The Water

Film Girl In The Water Directed by Shi-Rou Huang In this hand-drawn animation, a woman’s body abstracts and expands as she nurses the wounds of heartbreak.

God’s Daughter Dances

Film God’s Daughter Dances Directed by Sungbin Byun A dancer struggles to get an exemption from military service, discovering movement’s liberatory power.

Golden Jubilee

Film Golden Jubilee Directed by Suneil Sanzgiri Wandering through virtual halls of an ancestral home in Goa, 16mm direct animation, digital renderings, and surveillance technologies…

Gone Camping

Film Gone Camping Directed by Emily Kim An awkward teen must decide between hanging out with her cool teenage friends, or camping with her boob-poking…

Happy Valley

Film Happy Valley Directed by Simon Liu An emotional handkerchief waving in the wind. The raw urgency of a place both dissolving and persevering before…

Hawaiian Soul

Film Hawaiian Soul Directed by ʻĀina Paikai The legacy of Hawaiian musician and land defender George Jarrett Helm lives on in contemporary Indigenous movements and…

How to Die Young in Manila

Film How to Die Young in Manila Directed by Petersen Vargas A teenage boy follows a group of young hustlers—believing one of them to be his anonymous hookup—only to…

How To Stop Being Chinese

Film How To Stop Being Chinese Directed by Isaac Kau Three young women follow a five-part guide evoking Chinese superstitions in their attempt to disconnect themselves from over…

Learning Tagalog With Kayla

Film Learning Tagalog With Kayla Directed by Kayla Abuda Galang Beginning with conversational phrases and common expressions, Kayla lets the world know that although she’s stuck at home,…

Lemongrass Girl

Film Lemongrass Girl Directed by Pom Bunsermvicha Filmic documentation on the set of Anocha Suwichakornpong’s Come Here twists to fiction, through the story of a…

Like You Know It All

Film Like You Know It All Directed by Ji-Yoon Park A conversation with a suicide hotline worker in South Korea plays over footage of everyday life. Text, image,…

Lion on the Mat

Film Lion on the Mat Directed by Asail Echols A badass Vietnamese American woman finds strength and healing through the power of Jiu Jitsu.

Little Sky

Film Little Sky Directed by Jess X. Snow A love letter to queer Asian youth who may be struggling to navigate their own family dynamics while…

Love, All

Film Love, All Directed by Hayne Lim A passionate student athlete details the story of how he fell in love with tennis, and the lessons…

Mahålang

Film Mahålang Directed by Caili Quan, Elliot deBruyn, Nathaniel Brown From a cold and grey NYC, choreographer and dancer Caili Quan pays tribute to Guam, the island home…

Money Cat

Film Money Cat Directed by Connor Kurth, Thomas Ireton A couple turns to a mysterious Money Cat to help solve their financial problems, but their actions come…

Mountain Lodge

Film Mountain Lodge Directed by Jordan Wong A jagged desktop space-time orbits a Tumblr dedicated to Yankee Candle’s “Mountain Lodge” scent, evoking the absolutely absurd…

My Quarantine Bear

Film My Quarantine Bear Directed by Weijia Ma After France goes into lockdown, an animation student decides to return to China. There she encounters a different…

Never Rest/Unrest

Film Never Rest/Unrest Directed by Tiffany Sia How do you consume the disintegration of a society from afar? Often, in the same ways as locals…

Night Bus

Film Night Bus Directed by Joe Hsieh In this hand-drawn animation, secrets lurk behind shuttered eyelids as motley few ride the last bus of the…

off (I don’t know when to stop)

Film off (I don’t know when to stop) Directed by Erica Sheu A quarantine moment, when objects, shadows, motion, and time look anew, all within the confines of home.

On the Grind

Film On the Grind Directed by Maurice-John Cardoza Three young entrepreneurs—a barber, jewelry designer, and clothes thrifter—talk about what it means to be a small business…

Once Upon a Screen: Explosive paradox

Film Once Upon a Screen: Explosive paradox Directed by Kevin B. Lee Kevin B. Lee focuses his inimitable curiosity on a BevMo! that was once an AMC, where he saw…

Open One’s Mouth

Film Open One’s Mouth Directed by Akane Murata Material pigments, mud pigments, and metallic foil animate the textures and temperaments of the every day and elsewhere.

Overcast

Film Overcast Directed by Mikayla Kim Asian American youth discuss how their upbringing influenced their relationship to mental health, while exploring growing up in…

pài-la̍k ē-poo

Film pài-la̍k ē-poo Directed by Erica Sheu A splash of fresh Saturday under the sun, and a Viewfinder haze of serial sweets delight in this…

Post Office

Film Post Office Directed by Courtney Loo, David Karp Conflicting experiences of being Chinese in America clash when a mother and her children encounter a young girl…

Reliving the Past by Sea

Film Reliving the Past by Sea Directed by Caitlin Ann Shieh Found film strips undergo decomposition by vinegar, mud, cheese, nato beans, beer, and kimchi, and project a vision…

Remedy

Film Remedy Directed by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan In the Philippines, funeral halls ring with the howls of professional mourners. Under her mother’s tutelage, Mona trains…

Revolution Day

Film Revolution Day Directed by Pita Birkbeck Follow City Heights activists on Revolution Day, as they take back July 4th and independence for themselves and…

Rumi and His Roses

Film Rumi and His Roses Directed by Navid Sinaki A memory of first queer love furtively housed in DVD menus as love poems. An opaque and pixelated…

She Leaves

Film She Leaves Directed by Chu Hoi Ying A young woman’s retired parents want to leave Hong Kong, but their daughter is hesitant to join them…

Show Me Other Places

Film Show Me Other Places Directed by Rajee Samarasinghe A woman travels to a multitude of virtual reality-scapes, both “real” and digitally rendered: a waterfall at night,…

Something You’ve Never Told Me

Film Something You’ve Never Told Me Directed by Katie Colosimo Old friends on a weekend getaway have some old tensions to attend to.

Sorry for the Inconvenience

Film Sorry for the Inconvenience Directed by Jane Chow Things to do today: study for your learner’s permit? Check. Rehearse for Zoom theater production of The Tempest?…

Squish!

Film Squish! Directed by Tulapop Saenjaroen An anarchic, explosive celebration of the metaphysical characteristics of slime. And by extension, all things #oddlypleasurable.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Film Strawberry Cheesecake Directed by Siyou Tan Behind a cloud of pastel colored vape smoke, three teen girls in Singapore plot against their overly strict…

SummerWinterSummer

Film SummerWinterSummer Directed by Thy Tran Struggling to deal with his lover’s disappearance, Duy’s string of online hookups takes him to darker places than…

Sunrise in My Mind

Film Sunrise in My Mind Directed by Danech San A languid love story between a delivery boy and a hair salon worker. What cannot be said between…

Swingin’

Film Swingin’ Directed by Guo Shang-Sing After a young boy is bullied for having gay dads, his stepfather is forced to confront his own…

Taking it Back

Film Taking it Back Directed by Mia Gonzalez A look at the effects of misogyny through the stories of two young girls: a skater and tarot…

The Cup

Film The Cup Directed by Lam Li Shuen, Mark Chua In stark black and white, a creature, part-man, part-machine, drifts through his day. With nowhere to go and…

The Fourfold

Film The Fourfold Directed by Alisi Telengut In this stunning stop-motion animation, paint, moss, and glitter become milk, water, fire— spiritual offerings as images, which…

The Leaf

Film The Leaf Directed by William J. Zang With the film industry decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a San Francisco filmmaker weighs an emotional decision to…

The Night

Film The Night Directed by Tsai Ming-liang Director Tsai Ming-liang films Hong Kong by night, through empty passageways shimmering with nocturnal bustle and ghostly reverberations.…

The Secret Life of Lance Mah

Film The Secret Life of Lance Mah Directed by James Mah A Darth Vader cosplayer shares his thoughts on volunteerism, fandom, and community through his work with the San…

The Trees Ahead

Film The Trees Ahead Directed by Yuta Yamaguchi Through movement, poetry, and sound, film becomes a walking meditation. Take a breath.

There Was Nobody Here We Knew

Film There Was Nobody Here We Knew Directed by Khaula Malik In this possible-documentary about possible aliens, a Pakistani couple in quarantine bicker and ruminate about extraterrestrial and terrestrial…

Three Missing Letters

Film Three Missing Letters Directed by H. Lan Thao Lam, Lana Lin Snail mail becomes a stranger-than-fiction speculative site in this experimental documentary, which reimagines three lost letters from a…

To Know Her

Film To Know Her Directed by Natalie A. Chao In this poetic-associative investigation of the blank shape called ‘mommy,’ a young woman grapples with her mother’s memory…

to live here

Film to live here Directed by Melanie Dang Ho Between Vietnam and New Orleans, in the wake of diaspora and disaster, one asks: where is here, and…

we didn’t see it as a tidal wave

Film we didn’t see it as a tidal wave Directed by Gi (Ginny) Huo, Saif Al-Sobaihi A super 8 stop motion film that uses family archives from the first Mormon to be baptized in…

Yoshida Nobuo

Film Yoshida Nobuo Directed by Kenichiro Tanaka In the near future, fashionable freedom fighters battle the deadly and repressive forces of SOMA. You’ll swear you…

婦人 (Fujin)

Film 婦人 (Fujin) Directed by Rachel Nakawatase Glimmering with private dreams and the gentle pulses of communal care, Rachel Nakawatase films her great-grandmother and Aunties…