Late Night Movie Night 2023 🎬
by APASA Interns Josh Placido and Dylan Chen
It was the happiest of times, and it was the saddest of times. Smiles were plentiful, and tears were shed. Late Night Movie Night made its 2023 return, bringing the magic of APIDA storytelling to USC on Thursday, November 2. All snuggled up in the Rosen Family Screening Room, this year’s collection of short films brought life to the audience. The films presented showcased a dedication to diverse talent representation in our communities.
The night kicked off with the warm, warm welcome of a scrumptious Beard Papas cream puff. Vanilla or chocolate, take your pick. Music played as people strolled in. Talk was in the air, and the excitement was palpable. Despite the bustling atmosphere created by conversations here and there, the warmly lit screening room felt cozier than ever. Everyone was talking in anticipation of the upcoming films. The films selected for the evening were a testament to the richness and depth of APIDA narratives, each offering a unique perspective and a captivating story.
Our attendees for movie night!
Our screening hit it off with “Zoetic”, a collaborative masterpiece by Julie Zhan and Wesley Chan, setting the stage for an exploration of unique and thought-provoking stories. The film dove into the complex relationship between a Chinese immigrant mother and her daughter. Journeying through every type of love, we see how an emotional wall between the two causes tension despite only having the best intentions in mind. Emotions were all over and heartstrings were pulled as we watched the mother and daughter challenge these emotional barriers for the sake of love (I cried - Dylan) (I also cried - Josh).
Following each screening was a discussion on the content of the film and the implications beyond cinema. The event offered a platform for attendees to immerse themselves in the diverse tapestry of the films and their peers. With an open mind, we delved deeper into the creative processes and layered meanings behind the films. These interactive elements fostered connections in the audience.
The cinematic journey continued with 'Thank You Come Again' by Nrav Bhakta - a beautiful demonstration of often-found cruelties of life and a visual representation of a crash into a store clerk’s subconscious. Grieving the loss of his father at an unexpected, but all too common moment, we are taken on an emotional and psychological journey of processing. Every single second of the film was brimming with symbolism and meaning. I, personally, was captured by the film, it was enthralling for all eleven minutes of its runtime.
To liven up the mood, we were greeted with the short film “Yum Cha” a thesis short created by Yushan Li. The animation of a little boy chasing a dumpling allowed us to reconnect with our childhood memories; the room filled with nostalgic laughter and warmth. In the next film, “The Untold Story of America’s Southern Chinese” by Dolly Li, we were greeted by a thick Southern accent from a seemingly innocent Asian woman, which took the crowd aback. We were then informed of the cultures and histories of the very small percentage of the Chinese-American population in the South and the Mississippi Delta.
Followed by “Kiss of the Rabbit God” by Andrew Huang, we follow the journey of a Chinese-American restaurant worker who fell in love with this figment of a Qing dynasty god. With the imagery of sensual content and blood, we were left with much symbolism around the stigmatization of the LGBTQIA+ community and its intersections with the APIDA community and its traditional culture. In the end, we were left jaw-dropped and had to pick them back up from the floor and discuss what these identities meant, unwrapping these rhetorics.
In the Pixar short film “Wind” by Edwin Chang, we empathize with a grandson-grandma duo as they are trapped in this seemingly endless chasm, and are trying to escape. With the help and sacrifice of the grandma, the grandson makes it out of the chasm. This symbolizes the generational struggles and sacrifices that have been made in pursuit of the betterment of life for posterity. (This was the one that broke me 😭😭💔 - Josh) Who knew how many emotions a short animation could evoke…
For our last film, “Our Home Here” by Angela Chen, we witness the pursuit of the American Dream through the lens of four different people, all of whom so happen to be at the same restaurant in the middle of the night. Here lay a bloody scene, which really underscored and questioned what the concept of the American Dream is, and how much we have detracted from that original idea. We questioned its origins and beliefs, especially in the lens of immigrants, as we were exposed to the continued violence and drug use that ran rampant in this film.
After all the tears, emotions, and feelings from these films, we finished off by holding a raffle! Three lucky viewers won a mini projector, a plushie, and disposable cameras. We concluded with more decadent Beard Papas cream puffs and bid our farewells soon after. This event successfully allowed us to think deeply and question both our own belief systems and the external systems that we are currently in, starting the deep, tough conversations that will hopefully extend beyond Late Night Movie Night. Thank you all for showing out, and we can’t wait to see both new and familiar faces soon!
