Asian women take center stage in this year’s HBO Asian Pacific American Visionaries‘ top three winners’ narratives. HBO APA visionaries is a film competition that highlights Asian Pacific American voices. It allows Asian filmmakers to showcase their talents telling stories in the format of short films for a chance to have it broadcasted to a worldwide audience. Here are this year’s winners:
This year’s 1st place is Huay-Bing Law‘s JUNE which tells the tale of a Chinese woman of the titular name attending her husband’s graduation celebration at an American university in the 1960’s.
JUNE highlights culture shock in a heartbreaking way that makes you rethink the segregation era for those who live(d) in “the middle.”
The model minority effect is portrayed here powerfully and it’s something that isn’t felt or truly understood until you’ve personally experienced the struggle(s) behind it yourself. What do you do when you’re not part of the segregated minority and yet you’re not part of the majority either? JUNE tackles the hard questions.
In 2nd place is Fiona Roan‘s JIEJIE (older sister)– a story about two sisters who immigrated with their single mother to Los Angeles in the late ’90s.
It tackles issues such as assimilation adjustments, immigration life and the struggles that the main characters face (from identity in family & community, to self-esteem).
It’s the story of a Filipina mother working hard overseas in a cruise ship–away from her home and her family to be able to provide for her son.
In the 10-minute short, the main character (played by Go) struggles as she tries multiple attempts to reach her son on the phone in The Philippines to no avail.
Check out asienne‘s feature with Maritte Go here!
Feel free to catch all three of these short films online now and on-demand with your HBO GO subscription.
Which of these three films was your favorite and why? If you haven’t seen any of them, which are you most interested in seeing?
