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SHORTS: HEARTLOCK’D

Baked into the fevered pulse of America’s heartland and the dusty sweat of the landlocked, these four riveting, tender, and poetic films feature Asian American stories from Arkansas, Iowa, Wyoming, and a mythical Midwest.

In this program


Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way

Directed by Hao Zhou

In Iowa, Marc is liberated wearing Lolita. But when the costume designer returns to Guam, will homecoming offer career opportunities at the sacrifice of their queer self-expression?

Wild Hogs and Saffron

Directed by Andy Sarjahani

In the Ozarks, two high school friends, Bubba Samuels and filmmaker Andy Sarjahani, reconnect as adults. As they prepare for a hog hunt, they ask each other questions about their shared past, trying to see each other more clearly from a new perspective of distance.

Rock Springs

Directed by David Huang

Close-knit Chinese immigrant miners in Wyoming wait to hear from a loved one in the days before a tragedy that befell them all. Based on a true event largely unknown in American history.

My Life Is Wind (a letter)

Directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh

Recent refugee Myriam writes letters back home to her grandmother during the first strange weeks of being resettled in the Midwest. From 2017 SDAFF Emerging Filmmaker Award winner Anahita Ghazvinizadeh.

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