Shorts Block: "Families, Forged and Found"
“Families, Forged and Found” highlights the bonds made between friends, neighbors, communities, and beyond. It’s the stories of the families we’ve created or found in the unlikeliest of places.
89 Minutes
Three Ladies & a Fake ID | Gilbert Gong – The Heart of Lincoln Square | HEADBANG | Betty St. Clair | Muoz-doic Mixtape | Yu & Me
Three Ladies & A Fake ID
Directed by Brandon Okumura
11 mins | English | East Coast Premiere
When their favorite lunch spot hikes its prices, three middle-aged women get fake IDs to score a senior discount at a new restaurant. A comedic coming-of-a-certain-age story, Three Ladies & A Fake ID celebrates the importance of friendship amid life’s inevitable changes.
Advisory: Some strong language
Gilbert Gong – The Heart of Lincoln Square
Directed by Jim McSilver
13 mins | English | East Coast Premiere
A neglected park in Oakland’s historic Chinatown becomes the unlikely stage for a neighborhood’s renewal as recreation director and local son Gilbert Gong rallies seniors, teens and children to confront growing fear and division by restoring safety, connection, and pride in their community.
Advisory: Violence
HEADBANG
Directed by Anna Khaja
14 mins | English, Urdu, Arabic | Boston Premiere
An American perspective on the hijab and female empowerment that resonates with universal questions of selfhood and freedom. Through the lens of two different young women, Leila, from secular background, and Amara, from a religious one, HEADBANG explores the complex power of the hijab, and how a seemingly simple piece of cloth embodies both what the wearer imbues it with and what society project onto to it.
Advisory: Some language
Betty St. Clair
Directed by Syra McCarthy, Kyle Casey Chu
11 mins | English, Cantonese | New England Premiere
When an anxious Chinese American drag queen hosts a showcase for an unconventional audience, a surprise guest sends her spiraling into self-doubt. Meanwhile, backstage shenanigans from her chaotic drag family threaten to derail the whole show.
Featuring appearances from the US’s longest running all-AAPI drag family, the Rice Rockettes!
Advisory: 16+ Discussions of sexual content & explicit drug use
Muoz-doic Mixtape
Directed by Quyên Nguyen-Le
14 mins | English, Mienh | Boston Premiere
Muoz-doic Mixtape (pronounced: moo-ah thoy) is an offering of intergenerational storytelling from the Mien community of Portland, Oregon: a brief glimpse into the collective work of culture-keeping in the face of historical displacement.
Yu & Me
Directed by Esther Chan, Claudine Cho
25 mins | English | New England Premiere
When a fire destroys a beloved Chinatown bookstore, its hyper-independent owner learns that community is necessary for survival.
Advisory: Topics of grief