SHORTS: DISCOMFORT FOOD
- 102 mins
Featuring uncontrollable itching, canker sores, and bread broken with a side of disquiet, films that spice up the trope of food as a love language.
In this program
Same Old
Directed by Lloyd Lee Choi
After discovering his bike has been stolen, an NYC delivery gig worker’s night is thrown into turmoil.
Shallots & Garlic
Directed by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Despite making Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, Nur’s family can’t see past her weight. What begins as a celebratory family dinner turns into an exquisite exploration of eating disorders, sibling rivalry, and generational friction that packs a punch.
The Balcony
Directed by Anya Martin
A slice-of-life animation about connection and its absence, and just how close we can get to relative strangers.
Canker
Directed by Lin Tu
An influencer develops a gnarly canker sore, as the seductions of social media stardom fester on her open wound.
Maneki
Directed by Brandon Okumura
When she asks out her crush, a cashier at a ramen restaurant must face the emotional and professional consequences of being rejected by a customer.
Esther & Sai
Directed by Anaïsa Visser, Rosie Choo Pidcock
The night before their first day of nursing school in Canada, Nigerian Esther and Chinese Singaporean Sai face their first big obstacle: finding dinner in a xenophobic 1970s grocery store. Their struggle over boxed Mac’n’Cheese marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Lunchbox
Directed by Anne Hu
Three recipes—zongzi, turnip cake, and hand cut noodles—release painful memories baked into beloved foods.
Parallel
Directed by Rosanna Lee
The experience of belonging (and not belonging) is told through the eyes of a mixed race Chinese British woman out to dim sum with her Chinese family, where intimacy is expressed through touch, glances, and a heightened sensory experience.