Event Details
In person: Academy Governor Chris Tashima and filmmakers Andrew Ahn, Nazrin Choudhury, Jon M. Chu, and Arthur Dong
The Academy is celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage month with this selection of short films featuring Asian American filmmakers and stories. The evening includes two animated films, Ishu Patel’s Oscar-nominated Bead Game (1977), and Soar (2014), from filmmaker Alyce Tzue. Arthur Dong’s Oscar-nominated documentary short, Sewing Woman (1982), tells the life story of the filmmaker’s mother, while Sean Wang (Dìdi) was nominated for his documentary Nai Nai & Wài Pó (2023), depicting the close friendship of his elderly grandmothers. Jon M. Chu (Wicked, 2024) won a DGA Student Film Award for his musical short Gwai Lo: The Little Foreigner (2002). Filmmaker Andrew Ahn (Fire Island, 2022) made... his short film Dol (First Birthday, 2011) partly as a way of coming out to his parents. Masami Kawai’s Nami (2015) depicts a day in the life of a grieving widow in her journey across Los Angeles. In Amrita Singh’s Winning in America (2021), a teenage girl faces the challenges of a spelling bee and her coach father.
Bead Game
1977 | 6 min. | Canada | Color | English
DIRECTED BY: Ishu Patel
Soar
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Alyce Tzue
2014 | 7 min. | USA | Color | English
WITH: Shira Abergel, Mason Welch
Sewing Woman
1982 | 14 min. | USA | Black-and-White | English
DIRECTED BY: Arthur Dong
WRITTEN BY: Lorraine Dong
WITH: Lisa Lu
Nai Nai & Wài Pó
2023 | 17 min. | USA | Color | English, Mandarin
DIRECTED BY: Sean Wang
Gwai Lo: The Little Foreigner
2002 | 12 min. | USA | Color | English
DIRECTED BY: Jon M. Chu
Dol (First Birthday)
2011 | 12 min. | USA | Color | English
DIRECTED/WRITEN BY: Andrew Ahn
WITH: Muki Grossberg, Joshua Kwak, James S.W. Lee, Martin Lee
Nami
2015 | 13 min. | USA | Color | English
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Masami Kawai
WITH: Kana Kawai
Winning in America
2021 | 10 min. | USA | Color | English
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Amrita Singh
WITH: Rithika Tudmilla, Ranjan Singh, Shiney Simon, Rahul Tudmilla