We continue with our list of short films you shouldn’t miss at the Asian American International Film Festival which will take place in cinemas and online from July 26 until August 6, 2023 in New York, USA.

Note: The list may include movies directed by filmmakers with Asian ancestry.
To see the first part of this article please go HERE
We also recommended feature films, to see the article please go HERE

Japan in the 1920s. Kayo is a young housemaid working for a wealthy couple in Tokyo. The wife, around the same age as Kayo, seems to enjoy a carefree lifestyle in her beautiful house. Kayo feels a slight jealousy and admiration towards her mistress, yet the real situations for these two women might not be as they appear. (AAIFF 2023)

Trailer:

As 18-year-old Rose prepares to leave for college, she decides to visit her deceased boyfriend, Thomas, and tell him about her decision to leave. With the help of her friend Esther, she makes the psychedelic journey one last time to reconcile and find closure to her long painful emotions. (AAIFF 2023)

Under the pressure of her husband and mother-in-law, a housewife named Julie goes to an abortion center. As Julie struggles with the abortion and thinks about her marriage, she meets a young woman, Evelyn, at the clinic, with whom she has a heartfelt conversation. In the end, Julie makes an unexpected decision. (AAIFF 2023)

While living in America, a Cambodian teenager named Soda exists in two worlds. At the pool, he navigates the awkward and erotic nature of his swim team. With his mother, he walks on tiptoe, in constant fear of revealing too much of himself to her. Without a place to simply be, he seeks refuge from the outside world inside the water because he doesn’t feel at home within his current one. (AAIFF 2023)

Trailer:

SUCKER tells the story of two Chinese-American brothers as they navigate their day in their hometown of Flushing ‘Chinatown’ in Queens, New York. After Andy loses his job at a local restaurant, he must find a way to take care of his little brother, Tom Tom. Andy is confronted with the realities of being a caretaker, and must decide if his personal fantasies for his ideal future are worth sacrificing to provide a better, more grounded life for his little brother. Together, Andy and Tom Tom are the embodiment of a cultural dysphoria found today. (AAIFF 2023)

Having grown up in a hoarder’s house, young adult Dara has become used to the mess and lives day to day with her mother peacefully—most of the time. When a friend visits from out of town, Dara contemplates what it means to stay and what she could lose if she leaves. (AAIFF 2023)

Born in the United States, a daughter visits the Philippines, her mother’s homeland. On the night of her arrival, a volcano erupts. Mesmerized by the land’s turbulence, she wanders through the past, the present, and the hereafter by the glow of an ember.

Utilizing aspects of hauntology, THE ROARING OF THE CARABAO engages with one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, the Taal Volcano, and its ongoing activity as a spectre of Filipino Americanism: silenced imaginaries never properly mourned for and visions of a future that were promised but never arrived. (AAIFF 2023)

Out of touch with her Chinese roots, Kelly meets Grace, her future mother-in-law living alone in upstate New York. Along with her fiancé, Kelly burns incense and pray to Waipo, her deceased grandmother-in-law.

Initially warm and courteous, Grace starts to take an abnormal amount of interest in Kelly’s menstruation difficulties. In the middle of the night, Kelly wakes up with an unexpected period and, after much persuasion from Grace, agrees to use a menstrual cup. When Kelly tries to escape, she is forced to offer her menstrual blood to Waipo, who turns out to be a decrepit zombie. (AAIFF 2023)

One night in an old apartment building, a newly independent young woman, a pair of dysfunctional siblings, and an aging widow become part of a seemingly intertwined story separated by walls.

Rory, alone in her dream city, is afraid that she made a big mistake in moving away from home. Kai confronts his once close sister before he leaves home forever. And a disgruntled Margaret contends with the various trials of her tough family on her birthday.

Sounds and interactions between the three rooms bleed into each other, reminding them of a bigger world and community outside. (AAIFF 2023)

In the remote northeast of Mongolia, Munkhjargal, her parents, and her grandparents persevere to carry on the nomadic herding tradition. They work from dawn to dusk to maintain their herd and live off the meat, milk, and wool their herd provides.

Munkhjargal dreams of becoming a horse trainer like her dad one day. In between the work herding demands— corralling horses, churning butter, shearing wool—Munkhjargal and her dad train and prepare their horses to race at the annual Naadam Festival. (AAIFF 2023)

To see the first part of this article please go HERE
We also recommended feature films, to see the article please go HERE

For more information, please visit: https://www.aaiff.org/