This collection of short narratives addresses familial relationships in all their highs and lows. Whether it's siblings, parents, or grandparents, these films approach complex these complex and often strained relationships from all angles and perspectives.This screening features 9 films. Toggle between film descriptions by scrolling and clicking on the buttons on the top right.

Three Filipino-Canadian sisters try to make it through their younger brother's mixed wedding while fielding and wielding chaos. Director Biography -&nbsp;Kevin Ang <a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/002/749/283/original/e09a43b436-headshot.jpg?1714143860" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/002/749/283/thumb/e09a43b436-headshot.jpg?1714143860" width="80" style="border: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative; float: left;"></a>Kevin Ang is a Filipino-Chinese-Canadian animator and filmmaker. He was born in Manila, Philippines before moving to Vancouver to study 3D Animation and VFX. He has worked in multiple tv, blockbuster films and video games as an animator and VFX artist. In 2014, he wrote and directed “Lola”. With this film, he won Best Director and Best Screenplay at Cinemalaya, Philippine's most prestigious independent film festival. His other shorts have gone on to win MAAM Best Picture, Run N Gun film competitions as well as compete in international festivals such as Palm Springs International Shortsfest, Guadalajara International Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. His latest short film, “Gone Abroad” is a 2024 Crazy8’s winner and finalist. Director StatementThree Ates and a Wedding is a celebration of the chaos and love found in a giant, mixed Filipino wedding. I've always found that despite all the infighting, personality clashes and family drama- nothing brings together family more than a big celeberation. I wanted to showcase that, taking inspiration from having only sisters, with a fun romp with three very different ates (older sisters). I also wanted to utilize Filipino-Canadians in film, showcasing as many talent in front of and behind the camera. The result is a breathless foray into family, chaos and love.

Three Ates and a Wedding

A nosy mother investigates whether her teenage daughter has a secret boyfriend. A breezy, heartfelt and insightful mother dauther story! Director Biography -&nbsp;Maggie Wong<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/ee3bb52b3a32c3053c81056e1a8ad45d.jpg" width="262" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Maggie Wong is a Chinese American writer/director based in New York. Her work, which explores intimacy through a feminine lens, has screened at Austin Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival, and more. She currently works as an (editorial) Editor for Food Network Digital.

Golden Garden Takeout

Thirteen-year-old science prodigy Tessie embarks on an extraordinary mission to save her grandmother Lola's precious memories as dementia sets in. Using a machine she invents, Tessie enters Lola's mind, discovering a magnificent library where each memory is a book. Desperate to preserve a cherished memory of them singing karaoke, Tessie must navigate the challenges posed by Mena, an AI webcam representing the encroaching dementia. In this touching journey, Tessie grapples with whether to keep fighting for Lola's memories or to accept the inevitable changes. Director Biography -&nbsp;Grace Hanna<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/62c0a2c599a0c6c7362772db0781a616.jpg" width="204" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Grace Hanna is a Filipino-American filmmaker obsessed with heartfelt genre stories. Originally from New Jersey, they earned their BFA in Film &amp; TV and Art &amp; Public Policy from NYU Tisch, and recently graduated with their MFA in Directing from AFI, receiving the Alan J. Pakula and Henry Hathaway awards.They are currently touring festivals with their thesis film, “Lola,” which has screened at UTA/Gold House, AFI Fest, LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, and Indy Shorts Film Festival, where they received the 2024 Directorial Debut Award. Grace has been a director’s assistant and shadowed on Aquarius (NBC) and Chance (Hulu) and their work has been shortlisted for competitions at Sundance Sloan, Disney, and Sony. They are in post-production on their next film, “Halcyon Days,” sponsored by Film Independent’s Artist Development Program. Director StatementGrowing up, my grandmother practically raised me. She was a teacher, who taught me how to read and write long before I started school. More importantly, she was a storyteller, and she instilled in me a love of story. When my grandmother first started developing Alzheimer’s, it felt like I was living with a ghost of the person I knew. It was an odd limbo, a longing for connection with a lost version of someone I loved. I want LOLA to capture this feeling: our time on earth is way too short — all we can do is enjoy every moment we have left. The emotional core of the story is believing the loved ones we’ve lost are still out there — and learning how to let go. I want this film to bring comfort to people who are grieving the slow loss of their loved ones to dementia. I want them to know that their loved ones live on in us, and the stories we tell about them.

Lola

Things go upside down for a Hawaiʻi high school student when he decides to come out to his parents Director Biography - Keli'i Grace <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/e6fb86349b8869e3676d88ece14f9642.jpg" width="239" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Keliʻi Grace is a kanaka maoli Director, Cinematographer and Editor.Often called a visual translator for his innate ability to bring to lifethe soul of story, Grace imparts a feeling to each moment in a raw andauthentic way. His film work has included the award-winning feature film My Partner as well as Project Kuleana, Hōkūleʻa and Ala Kukui which reveal his resonant understanding of Hawaiian culture, and he is most proud of the work he has done that shares his culture with those outside of Hawaiʻi. Director Biography - Lance D. Collins<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/596c4bdb0b18c5db0db28dd3d80c7cc8.jpg" width="157" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;"> Lance D. Collins is a Filipino attorney in private practice in Maui. He also researches and publishes on Philippine and Hawaiʻi history, serving as series editor for the long standing West Maui book series and as atrustee with the international Philippine Studies Association. He wrote and produced the feature film My Partner and is also a Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning music producer. Director StatementMuch of our lives is shaped by unexamined, arbitrary assumptions about how life is—or should be—often limiting the way we imagine what could be or how we can act in the world. This film explores that universal phenomenon, challenging audiences to reflect on how inherited beliefs constrain their own possibilities for action. The inspiration for this short film came from Hawai‘i in 1998, during the debates and activity leading up to the constitutional amendment that granted the legislaturethe power to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples.

My Parents

After a harrowing diagnosis with ALS, Eric Lim has the opportunity to test a virtual living experience. Eric and his daughter Tegan embark on a tour of the simulation, discovering a picture-perfect recreation of Eric’s home and a removal of all his ailments. But when glitches in the system start to show, they both must decide if this illusion of normalcy is better than facing their new reality head on.&nbsp; Director Biography -&nbsp;Kaylen Ng<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/b55b6cc271ea1384bae1bbe5029127da.jpg" width="204" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Kaylen Ng is a first-gen Singaporean American producer/writer from Palos Verdes, California, with an undergraduate degree in Creative Producing and Virtual Production from Chapman University’s Dodge College. She was a 2022 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films finalist, a 2023 Television Academy Foundation Star Trek Command Training Program fellow, a 2024 Deutsche Bank Frieze LA fellow, and a Red Bull Establishing Shot Season 3 filmmaker. She has worked for a variety of companies such as Proximity Media, Starz, and Lionsgate. Currently, she is the Executive Assistant to the President of Film and Television at Justin Simien’s Culture Machine. Beyond film and television, she also produces live events and podcasts. Kaylen sees the world of entertainment as the perfect intersection of arts, technology, and business. Her interests lie in pulling intelligent and sharp genre-bent narratives out of unexpected sectors while highlighting the experience of underrepresented communities. Above all else, Kaylen aspires to become a showrunner. Director Statement﻿As I watch the people that I love grow older, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether the duty of younger generations is to prolong life or to preserve memory. When I was 19, my uncle passed away from ALS and the immediacy of these questions have only grown stronger — this film seeks to explore those answers that I long for.

The Metamorphosis Project

A young boy and his single mother find their relationship strained to the breaking point after a haircut goes wrong. Director Biography -&nbsp;Yohahn Ko<a href="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/002/812/550/original/b4975af245-headshot.jpg?1719422229" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://filmfreeway-production-storage-01-connector.filmfreeway.com/press_kits/headshots/002/812/550/thumb/b4975af245-headshot.jpg?1719422229" width="150" style="border: none; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-size: 12.95px; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative; float: left;"></a>Yohahn Ko is a Korean-American filmmaker focused on psychological drama, suspense, and genre storytelling. His thesis film, Submergence, won the Grand Jury Award at San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema, and his debut short, Earboy, a suspenseful family drama, placed in the top 20 of the Red List for Family genre screenplays. His feature screenplays Han, IDOL, and Fan Death explore psychological thriller and horror, examining themes of identity, guilt, and redemption.

Earboy

In the bustling backdrop of Los Angeles, estranged cousins Sarah and Minha come face-to-face during a fleeting layover. As they navigate the night together, unresolved grief and heartache from their past resurface, leading them on an emotional journey of reconnection and healing. Director Biography -&nbsp;Chris Lee<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/8c9f6643cba3839404729b3798f2eff6.jpg" width="203" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Chris Lee is a Korean American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. After graduating from USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Chris has worked on various film projects, ranging from feature films, short films, short documentaries, music videos, and commercials. At USC, Chris was selected as one of four directors to direct a senior thesis film. His thesis film, "A Sidewalk Becomes a Street" (2019) was an official selection at the 2019 Catalina Film Festival, 2020 Fargo Film Festival, and 2020 London International Filmmaker Festival. "A Sidewalk Becomes a Street" was later licensed by ShortsTV and premiered on Shorts TV's U.S. DTVA channel. In 2018, he also worked as a production assistant on Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time" (2018) and served as the second assistant editor on Justin Chon's "Ms. Purple" (2019).Chris is passionate about personal stories that explore the nature of humanity, often exploring interpersonal relationships through the lens of identity, empathy, and family. Director StatementWhat do we do with the pain that we carry throughout our lives? There is a quote that goes, "healing begins not where our pain is taken away, but where it can be shared and seen as part of a larger pain." To me, this quote represents my aspirations for making 'Hello, Goodbye' - to use the medium of film to explore this larger connection we can have with another human being through the vulnerability of our brokenness. Hoping that in a safe space, we can discover or be reminded again that we are not so alone as we may think. And that perhaps it is through sharing our weaknesses and failures, more than our strengths and accomplishments, that help connect us with one another. I was first inspired to make this film when I had an encounter in 2022 that triggered painful memories of a romantic breakup that I thought I had recovered from throughout the past few years. Yet somehow in a single moment, waves of unresolved pain resurfaced immediately... And in my attempt to process these difficult feelings, I began writing the script for what eventually became 'Hello, Goodbye.' However, more than just the processing of heartbreak from a breakup, I wanted to explore the different natures of grief itself, in the case of the loss of a loved one, of apathy, and of regret... As the character, Minha, says in the film, I find that we go through life experiencing many "little deaths," and I wanted to make a film where our "little deaths" or our hidden pain, grief, and brokenness can be seen and shared with another human being... wondering if it could truly be able to be seen as part of a “larger pain.”

Hello, Goodbye

As her grandmother returns from the nursing home, Kaya's resentment grows, fueled by her belief that her grandmother has been unkind to her mother. Director Biography -&nbsp;Nadine (Misong) Jin<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/ee23aa7e30895c4b12d374331feddcb1.jpg" width="177" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Nadine (Misong) Jin is a New York-based filmmaker from South Korea. Her interests include questions of identity, the aesthetics of melancholy, and the ruination of the self. Her visual strength lies in images with stillness, charged with tension and mystery. She graduated from SKKU, where she studied English literature and film directing, and is currently an MFA Film candidate at Columbia University. Recently, she was selected to take part in the Pedro Costa Lab 2024 in Yucatan, Mexico, and her film ‘Juk’ won a Grand Prize at the DGA student awards.https://www.nadinejin.com/ Director StatementJuk delves into the dynamics of family relationships across three generations of Korean-American immigrants: a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter. The film unfolds through the quiet gaze of a nine-year-old girl, who yearns for one thing: her mother's affection and warmth. Yet, as simmering tensions and unresolved resentments within the family rise to the surface, Juk invites viewers to witness the complexities of love, sacrifice, and resilience, even amidst an unsettling moment of violence.

After knowing an oil company is offering handsome money for his family's farm, Henry comes home to convince his immigrant, aging parents to sell the home for good.&nbsp; Director Biography - Shih-Chun Hsiao<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/9f7213a6ea0e1b0e45411d93c2fd2c6f.jpg" width="193" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;">Shih-Chun is a rising director-editor from Taiwan with a unique background. After obtaining a degree in Earth Science from National Central University, he spent five years in the oil industry as a wireline engineer, leading field teams across the globe to survey oil fields. But in 2018, Shih-Chun's life took a dramatic turn when a stranger reached out to him, praising his short films for helping him overcome anxiety. Shih-Chun knew that he had found his true calling. He left his leadership position and devoted himself to filmmaking.Shih-Chun started working in various roles in documentary and TV production in Taiwan before leaving for the United States to pursue his passion at USC film school, where he is currently an MFA candidate. While at USC, he has directed and edited several award-winning projects, including the short film "Philosopher's Tofu" which won the Best Short Film award at the 2021 New York 21 Island Film Festival, and "SOUP" which was selected for the USC Asian Pacific Film Festival in 2022. He also edited the DGA Student Film Award Grand Prize winning film "Blackifier" the same year.Shih-Chun's working experience has made him an expert at capturing the cultural differences and complexities of the working class. His upcoming thesis project, "A Better Place" follows an Asian immigrant's journey to convince his father to move for better living conditions. He is also developing a TV series, "Oil Queen" based on the life of the historical figure Emma Summers, exploring the personal and professional conflicts of a woman in a male-dominated industry. Director Statement "We all seek 'A Better Place,' but what if we perceive the 'better' differently?'A Better Place' is a short film inspired by my life experiences as an oil industry engineer and immigrant. As a Taiwanese individual in the U.S., I've observed significant generational differences within the immigrant community, particularly in the concepts of home and belonging.For Taiwanese immigrant families in the U.S., generational disparities arise from distinct cultural and value systems: collectivism versus individualism. In 'A Better Place,' all the characters aspire to provide the best for their family. However, the conflict lies in differing definitions of 'good.' The son believes that advancing and moving to the city is beneficial for the aging parents, while the parents cherish their rural, farming lifestyle. When faced with a life-changing offer of cash in exchange for leaving the homeland they've built over a lifetime, deciding what's best becomes a formidable task.As my USC film school graduate thesis, 'A Better Place' captures my best understanding of storytelling at the time. It incorporates my life experiences as an oil industry worker, an international student, and a Taiwanese son striving to earn his father's elusive approval. I hope you enjoy it!"

A Better Place

Oregon

Washington

California

Hawaii

Shorts Program: Family Matters

Virtual Admission

DisOrient is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with tax i.d. 84-1962927. DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon1711 Willamette Street,Suite 301 - #30Eugene, OR 97401

Donation to {{name}}

Donate

Gift Cards

These are all the passes tied to your account. Now, use our online schedule to reserve tickets. You can access your tickets via {{my_tickets_link|"My Tickets"}} or via the PDFs attached to each ticket order confirmation email. {{buy_pass_link|Looking to buy more passes?}}

These are all your purchased tickets. Open this page on your phone, and at the door tap the "Show Barcode" button and show your screen to the attendant. Prefer paper? Print the PDF attached to the order confirmation email, or click one of the gears below and select "Download tickets PDF". If purchasing multiple tickets, be sure to print or show each unique ticket barcode.

All Access VIP

Early Bird 

ALL SHORTS

None available

Passes

Our on-demand catalog is here! The availability window is March 10-23, and the watch window is 48 hours. Enjoy!

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.