Dialogue: Select filmmakers in attendance.
Saturday, May 9, 8:00 p.m. | When you're back here, you feel it. These shorts by AAPI filmmakers with a connection to Chicago explore how Asian American and Pacific Islanders reconcile where they are with who they are. Dialogue: Select filmmakers in attendance.
Program:
HALF
2025, dir. Arti Ishak, USA, 10 min, In English, Arabic, and Indonesian with English subtitles
Two Muslims (one Lebanese Indonesian, one Black) discuss the intersections of their identities.
WHAT THE HEAVEN! 搞什么鬼!
2025, dir. Richard Yan, USA, 13 min, In English and Mandarin with English subtitles
A Chinese American student must help his dad to help himself.
THE HEALING CIRCLE
2025, dir. Thavary Krouch, USA, 23 min., In English and Central Khmer with English subtitles
Cambodian women preserve the stories of their culture through art and music.
FIRST LOVE / LATE SPRING
2024, dir. Brian Lu, USA, 4 min., In English
A new graduate finds herself wishing she could go back.
WHAT'S LEFT OF ME
2025 dir. Jovann Dzaky, USA, 16 min., In English and Indonesian with English subtitles
An Indonesian immigrant revisits his past to embrace his future.
FIRST WINTER
2025, dir. Schantelle Alonzo, USA, 5 min., In English
A young migrant boy experiences Chicago at its coldest.
ONE LAST TIME
2025, dir. Saloni Nahar, USA, 8 min., In English
A South Asian woman chooses her final memory.
COEXIST
2025, dir. Angie Panganiban, USA, 11 min., In English
A queer couple recount the trials and tribulations of their relationship.
SLEEP CALL
2026, dir. Richer Huynh, USA, 25 min., In English
A chronically online young man finds true love...or is it?
Asian American Showcase | May 7–12, 2026
Presented as an annual collaboration with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and now celebrating its 29th year, the Asian American Showcase (AAS) provides a platform for new work by established and emerging Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander filmmakers and stories. Synopses provided by AAS.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu