Curated by Arian Golbakhsh, Amber Valentine and Nicholas Wong
These three films all explore the perspectives of a family’s youngest generation looking back and reflecting upon their upbringing. Miss Somebody and My Mother, Myself, and I are both stories that dive into the mind of a child as they deal with the trauma of their parents separating. Meanwhile 100 Eggs a Minute is an in-depth documentary told from the perspective of a young woman describing her family-owned fortune cookie factory that has survived through generations of Chinese immigrants. These are films that explore the different types of family trees: ones that expand with new branches and stories to tell, ones where branches are broken and expand to other family trees, and ones in which the family tree ends and the branches are no longer connected. Hopefully watching these films can either give you a sense of relatability within your own lineage or help you find a source of catharsis in relating with the issues of disconnected families.
My Mother, Myself and I (2018)
King Yaw Soon’s short film My Mother, Myself, and I is a combination of vignettes that follows the relationship of a mother and son as they grow in age. Each vignette is shot in a wide frame using long takes to capture the awkwardness and despair of each scene. The film is an interesting take upon queer cinema as it begins the film by painting the father and his “friend” as the villains of the story while making the mother be the protective one who is the obvious better parent for her son. Although this film uses the audience’s expectations of the nuclear family idea in order to subvert them by the midpoint. It is later revealed in the film that the mother is extremely homophobic and didn’t want her son being involved with the father’s gay relationship. This ends up being an even worse situation as the son himself hides his sexuality because he knows that’s what his mother hates most. The meaning of the title My Mother, Myself, and I may refer to how the son has two identities, the one he hides from his mother and the one he presents to her.
Directed by and Written by King Yaw Soon
Year: 2018
Cast: Tony Chou as “Son” & Yin Yin Liow as “Mother”
Producers: Tino Novelo & Lukas Rohrer
Cinematographer: Cameron Tuttle
Production Design: Victoria Lo
Assistant Director: Davyana San Miguel
Sound: Chris Camacho & Jonathan Rowland
Camera/ Electrical Department: Mitch Montgomery
Miss Somebody (1995)
Miss Somebody is an intimate look into the thoughts of kids who have gone through their parents’ divorcing. It also calls attention to the juxtaposition of what every kid wants for their family versus what they have. Highlights include hearing old children’s songs about families and a revealing look into what divorce can do to many families. Miss Somebody was directed and edited by Mary Scott with Caitlin Manning as the cinematographer.
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 1995
Running time: 11 minutes
Director: Mary Scott
Cinematographer: Caitlin Manning
Editor: Mary Scott
Camera Assistant: Kate Goodnight, Kay McDonnough, Mary Scott
Sound: Sami Alkassim
Sound mix engineer: Rebecca Ormond
Sound design: Mary Scott
One Hundred Eggs a Minute (1996)
“One Hundred Eggs a Minute is an experimental documentary film about the reflections of a second-generation Chinese-American woman who grew up working in her family’s fortune cookie factory in San Francisco from ages 5 to 23. This is a film about one immigrant family’s means of survival, as much as it is a story about work, filial piety, sacrifice and the meaning of choice.” – quoted from Director Anita Chang’s website
CO-PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/WRITER/ANIMATION/EDITOR Anita Chang
FEATURING Mathane Woo
CO-PRODUCER Jeff Adachi, AAMM Productions
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Scott Tsuchitani
CINEMATOGRAPHY Jorge Oliver
CAMERA ASSISTANTS Christa Collins, Susan Brunig
SOUND Monica Nolan, Christopher Scheer
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Kevin Chan, Lori Pino, Voltar Mara-Drita
ORIGINAL MUSIC David Choo