Directed by Lillian Xuege Li
How can a woman become herself when she has been shaped and taught to sacrifice for the gaze of others? Lin (Lan Zhong) has many roles — a mother, a wife, a waitress, an immigrant. She is also a woman with a secret who finally decides to quietly rebel.

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Director Biography – Lillian Xuege Li

Lillian Xuege Li is a Chinese filmmaker living in New York. She graduated with a BFA degree in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute and a MA degree in Media Studies from The New School. Now working as an independent filmmaker and a freelance director, producer, editor and videographer, her mission is to create socially engaging narratives with technical virtuosity and artistic integrity to explore the topics of race, culture, gender and humanity.

Director Statement

“Lin” is a fiction short film that I shot during my last year of grad school. As a first-generation Chinese immigrant living in New York, I found myself in constant struggle with my identity that is shaped by my social roles as a woman, a minority, a foreigner, a subordinate and an object of gaze, as well as by my cultural upbringing that values endurance, obedience and sacrifice. There are so many women like “Lin” who struggle internally and externally and long for the courage to break free. This story is about a woman named Lin who decides to rebel against the role that she is forced into and finally becomes herself.

In 1936, on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, an American doctor, aided by a beautiful courtesan, searches for his missing brother. Their quest takes them on an idyllic river journey of ancient Buddhist temples, and a befriended Buddhist monk gives his blessings to their endeavor. But for their mission to succeed they must escape the underworld of Shanghai. And a poignant conclusion awaits their affair.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Hannah Ehman
Yuli: Kyana Teresa
Chun: Steve Rizzo

JANE SONG, a brilliant and proud Korean cheesemaker, is heartbroken when her excellent but funky cheeses fail in her home country. Bankrupt, she closes her creamery and is so traumatized by failure that she can no longer suffer her lifelong passion, making cheese. But when an untimely death whisks her to Seoul, her budding romance with a passionate cheesemonger forces her to confront her trauma and rediscover her form in this ode to failure, renewal, and our universal love for the stinkiest art.

CAST LIST:
Narrator: Val Cole
Jane: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Crooner/Ajusshi/Server: Geoff Mays
Anna: Hannah Ehman

Showcase of the best FILMS in the world today.

Audience Award Winners:
BEST FILM: AN ISLAND DRIFTS
BEST DIRECTION: ARGENT GLASS
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: THE CLOWN’S FUNERAL
BEST SOUND & MUSIC: BAMBOO

Watch the Audience Feedback Video for each film:

AN ISLAND DRIFTS, 18min., Singapore, Drama

Directed by Vivian Ip

Set in Singapore, a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student, the act leads to devastating results and they suffer the ignominy of losing everything that matters to them. The story holds a mirror up to society, where a mistake can derail a life in an overly pressurized world.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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THE CLOWN’S FUNERAL, 22min., Japan, Drama

Directed by Yu Shibuya, Showgo Ookawa

When his father, the former president of a funeral parlor was taken ill six months ago, the man, who as a child was forbidden to laugh, had to take his father’s place. However, recently something strange has come over the new director. Whenever he sees something funny, he hallucinates a clown.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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BAMBOO, 6min., USA, Drama

Directed by Harrison G Kwong

A wealthy and jaded Asian American man comes face to face with his immigrant, poor doppleganger.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

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ARGENT GLASS, 4min., Japan, Music Video

Directed by Katsuyuki Nakanishi

In Honmoku, Yokohama, a guy (Shinsuke Kato) is chasing his dream of becoming famous while performing live, but it is not coming true. One day, he breaks his cherished silver glass, and after gathering up the shards, he goes to …

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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Directed by Harrison G Kwong
A wealthy and jaded Asian American man comes face to face with his immigrant, poor doppleganger.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:

Directed by Yu Shibuya, Showgo Ookawa
When his father, the former president of a funeral parlor was taken ill six months ago, the man, who as a child was forbidden to laugh, had to take his father’s place. However, recently something strange has come over the new director. Whenever he sees something funny, he hallucinates a clown.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:

Directed by Katsuyuki Nakanishi
In Honmoku, Yokohama, a guy (Shinsuke Kato) is chasing his dream of becoming famous while performing live, but it is not coming true. One day, he breaks his cherished silver glass, and after gathering up the shards, he goes to …

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:

Project Links

•  Website

Director Biography

Born in Aichi, Japan in 1984, I studied at the Vantan Visual Institute of film director in Tokyo. I gained my first experience in the lighting assistant at Toei Kyoto Studio under the lighting director such as Kiyoto Ando and Takashi Sugimoto. I also worked on several samurai movies. I was in charge as a lighting director for Shinya Tsukamoto’s ‘Killing’, and later chose to become a director.

Director Statement

Glass is easily broken by any external impact. But if you collect the shards and melt them, you can remake it over and over again. However, the exact same glass cannot be made again.

Directed by Vivian Ip
Set in Singapore, a young teacher presses for the truth from a maladjusted student, the act leads to devastating results and they suffer the ignominy of losing everything that matters to them. The story holds a mirror up to society, where a mistake can derail a life in an overly pressurized world.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video:

News & Reviews

• “Vivian Ip, Director of AN ISLAND DRIFTS, an alumna of the ARRI Support and Education (ARRIse) Program: “ARRIhttps://www.facebook.com/OfficialARRIASIA/posts/17041917530992

Director Biography – Vivian Ip

Vivian Ip is a writer, director and producer, from Singapore. She holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from Durham University (United Kingdom) and worked as a corporate lawyer for four years.

She has since adapted her legal skills to filmmaking and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts on an Entertainment Partners scholarship. She is also a member of the BAFTA Los Angeles Newcomers Program and an alumna of the ARRI Support and Education (ARRIse) Program.

Most recently, she made her directorial debut with her graduate thesis film An Island Drifts (2021), filmed with love in her home country. In addition, she produced Headlock (2020), a Student Academy Awards finalist, an official selection in Dances with Films and Urbanworld Film Festival, and a USC First Look winner in the Social Change category, whereupon she also received the Best Producing Award.

Her filmmaking practice is centered on exploring the human condition, as well as bringing authentic and underrepresented voices to the forefront.

Director Statement

Through a realistic lens, AN ISLAND DRIFTS gives audiences an intimate glimpse into the lives of those who experience pressing expectations and insurmountable pressure, where second chances are hard to come by and one mistake could ruin everything. In the end, it hopes to show what happens when the heart longs to fix something broken, that can no longer remain perfect.

The overarching theme is individual versus society, where too much pressure is the norm, in both applying it and the resulting breakdowns it causes. Where a mistake can derail a life in an overly pressurized world, a person may be complicit or his actions may contribute to another’s despair.

AN ISLAND DRIFTS is made for anyone with a lot on their plate, who has fallen through the cracks and has lost out in a rigorous system, or is in need of a second chance. When the adult in us becomes disillusioned by the realization that life is not easy, and is often missing the happiness and comfort a younger version of ourselves once promised we would find.

My intention is not to present these themes in a didactic fashion or with moral instruction but to ask real questions about complex social dynamics, challenge assumptions or reframe mainstream discourse in a society like Singapore. Everyone can take away something different, and give strength to those who have lost hope in themselves. To others who cannot imagine being in this state of mind and emotion, hopefully now they can better understand those who do.

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WE CAN DREAM, 10min,. South Korea, Documentary

Directed by Dae Ryun Chang
Jihoon is a veteran disabled baker who works at We Can Cookies, a company that specializes in organic baked products and is run by nuns. He feels rewarded that consumers like what he and his fellow disabled workers make. He aspires to be a role model to his junior bakers and hopes that the company can hire more disabled workers to share in his dream.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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A LETTER FROM CARL JUNG, 40min., South Korea, Documentary

Directed by Yong Jin Yoon

In 2020, the National Theater of Korea hosted a performance titled the “Shaman and Photographer.”

As Shaman Lee Hae-gyeong allowed a spirit to possess her body with a traditional Korean Gut photographer Kang Young-ho captured the spirit with his camera and projected the image up on a screen in real-time.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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THE MORIN KHUUR, 17min., China, Musical Drama

Directed by Junyan Ivan Chen

Uudam and Tamir, two Mongolian musicians, are doing tour around America and meet a girl who wants to steal their instruments, is their trip coming to an end?

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

CLICK HERE and see full info and more pics of the film!

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Directed by Junyan Ivan Chen
Uudam and Tamir, two Mongolian musicians, are doing tour around America and meet a girl who wants to steal their instruments, is their trip coming to an end?

Watch the Audience Feedback Video: