2018 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Director: hongyu.li

Cast:

Time: 0:09:34

Synopsis: Logline: After dad passes away, the son has no choice to take the unexpected responsibility but his Alzheimer’s mom cannot recognize him anymore

Director: Angie Su苏蕾

Cast: Lynn Harrell, Samantha Desman

Time: 0:20:00

Synopsis: He has been slowing down and unable to play his cello. In fact, master cellist, Ansel Evans, has been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). As his body shuts down, he makes the difficult decision to minimize the suffering for his closest loved ones by planning one last concert. But this decision […]

Director: Kelsy Lua

Cast: Yin Yin LiowKey, Sue Zen Chew

Time: 0:06:00

Synopsis: Please Translate explores how language divides but eventually bridges the relationship between a mother (Wang Yu) and her daughter (Mei Lan). In a film about sacrifice, hardships and ultimately a mother’s love, Mei Lan comes to realize how special their bond truly is.

Director:Justin Chien, Ryan Alexander Huang

Cast: Louis Ozawa ChangChien, Marysia Zhang

Time: 0:19:55

Synopsis: A maniacal scientist must use his newly-compeleted time machine to save his estranged daughter after she is fatally hurt in a car accident.

Director: Seran Kim

Cast: Young Ok Hong, Mayra Amaya

Time: 0:14:17

Synopsis: Traumatized by the brutal murder of her husband in Spanish Harlem, a Korean shopkeeper finds an unexpected ally in a young Mexican woman with a secret.

Director: Jianan Fan

Cast:

Time:1:15:44

Synopsis: Synopsis: In the summer of 2017, two Chinese filmmakers start their journey with four mobile phones, and they go through 16 countries from France to Damascus. As far as their concerned, they are trying to present the current situation of refugees’ life in the “post-refugee era” in Syria. It gives rise to reflection to the right and […]

Director: Elizabeth Dean

Cast: Sarah Navratil, Bill R. Dean

Time: 0:07:22

Synopsis: Synopsis: An original and unexpected telling of the classic Hitchcock blonde as she makes her way through a most ominous night. Tagline: Never assume it’s just the house settling.

Director: Zhen Pan ( Peter)

Cast: John S. Boles, Kimberly Vela

Time: 0:26:26

Synopsis: On his 80th birthday, a lonely old man named Larry decides to hold his first piano concert. With only himself to depend on, he moves his piano to the center of town, interrupting the lives of the town’s commuters.

Director: Kai-Hsiang Chang

Cast: Maritxell Carrero, Collin Maciel, Ruby Pedroza

Time:0:25:16

Synopsis: An undocumented nanny’s American dream turns into a nightmare when she’s given six hours to raise two thousand dollars or else a Coyote will sell her child to the highest bidder.

Director: Randy Wang

Cast: Demi Ke

Time:0:18:35

Synopsis: A girl who gets kidnapped inside a garage seeking her way out….

Director: Dora Wu

Cast: Ruth McCarthy

Time:0:21:00

Synopsis: This film explores traditional Chinese medicine in the United States through the lens of an American alternative medicine practitioner. Ruth McCarty provides life-changing care for children facing difficult diagnoses, as she struggles to find a place for her practice within the world of Western medicine.

Director: Peter Trinh

Cast:

Time:0:12:26

Synopsis: Although mental diseases are a global health issue, the cultural stigmas and traditions of being Asian play a major factor in how they are dealt with in the community. This is particularly true of Alzheimer’s, a disease which affects millions of Asians, yet in most Asian countries and cultures, a word does not exist to describe the […]

Director: Bruce Hsin-Ta Chiu

Cast: Eon Song, Todd Lien

Time:0:11:50

Synopsis: Owing to the self-condemnation of not being a good mother, Lily, a traditional Chinese woman, tries to “change” her son, Bao, from being gay. However, her action almost causes a tragedy of losing her son.

Director: Ed Moy

Cast: Betty Lee Sung

Time:0:18:00

Synopsis: Documentary about Asian American activist, author and educator Betty Lee Sung, based on her memoir Defiant Second Daughter.

Director: Myles Yaksich

Cast: Matthew Knowles, Cindera Che, Kara Wang, Jonathan Stanton, Yadira Pascault Orozco

Time:0:19:59

Synopsis: While on a long-haul flight from Shanghai to New York, a despondent, American lawyer becomes seduced by the enchanting stories of a wise, Chinese woman sitting beside him; unleashing feelings he had tried to bury deep inside.

Director: Mulan Fu

Cast:

Time:0:02:57

Synopsis: A three-eyed boy takes a lost young ghost on a celestial journey on their way to heaven.

Director: Chung-Wei Huang

Cast: Tiffany Tsai , Jeffry Mora

Time:0:18:36

Synopsis:

Midnight Carnival tells the story of Andrea Lin, a confused Taiwanese girl in her late teens struggling to find her place in the world. In search of the adventure that is missing from her life, she takes a summer job in America working for a traveling carnival, where she is confronted with the […]

Director:William Tang

Cast: Jiali Wang, Brian Rooney, Joette Waters, Jimmy Chung

Time:0:40:00

Synopsis: An addictive female lottery player who’s been suffered from severe domestic violence encounters a female scam artist at home and survives together with her autistic brother in the subsequent tragedy caused by miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Director: Majik Jingwei Zhou

Cast: Zijing Ke

Time:0:17:31

Synopsis: Chinese illegal immigrant Wenjuan Li tries to spend all her money to get a green card using the political asylum law. Due to overwhelming fake cases on political asylum, the US government starts to investigate the cases, Li losts everything even her friends. She goes extreme.

Director: Kai-Hsiang Chang

Cast: Kelli McCrann, Ms. McCrann, Zack, The Neighbor

Time:0:07:27

Synopsis: After moving into her new apartment, Kelli encounters a mysterious stranger who later becomes her nightmare.

Director: yuanyuan xu

Cast:

Time:0:09:13

Synopsis: Amanda, a young lady, 24 years old, just graduated from her MFA degree. And she starts to looking for a job in another town. Amanda, an ordinary lady, not the most beautiful face, not the most perfect body. She always wear a pair of glasses. Her personalities are outgoing (but introvert inside) and like image everything in […]

Director: Vivian Li

Cast: Safinah Chau, Lili Pigsley, Jenny Ke

Time:0:11:23

Synopsis: The World Through You is a coming-of-age story about a mother-daughter relationship, the importance of communication, and the immigrant experience. Christina aspires to be a dance major but her mother, Hong, wishes for her to pursue premed. When Christina and her mother Hong get into an disagreement, misunderstanding and communication barriers […]

Director: Ta’ltosh

Cast: Rebecca Teresia, Dan Connell, Mor Ben Haim, Kyle Kosaki

Time:0:10:39

Synopsis: K-drama addict friend-zones her hopelessly-in-love roommate, only to realizes she loves him and must win him back when he goes out with another woman. Anna and Shaun have been friends since childhood, and now, as college roommates, she takes him for granted. When Shaun tries to break out from […]

Director: Liang Ce

Cast: Blaine Maye

Time:0:18:19

Synopsis: An emotionally troubled young man learns to face the loss of his grandma through searching for a tortoise that mysteriously disappears.A young woman staying at a rental house discovers she is not alone. After Brittany graduated from university and comes to Los Angeles for her boyfriend, her boyfriend, Sam helps her book a house, the […]

Director: Na Liu

Cast: Jillian Ferry, Alexander Dee, Lainee Phodes, Ginger Greenspun

Time:0:13:20

Synopsis: A young woman staying at a rental house discovers she is not alone. After Brittany graduated from university and comes to Los Angeles for her boyfriend, her boyfriend, Sam helps her book a house, the landlord is an old lady with black dress, She feels strange things in the […]

Director: Richard Haywood

Cast: Lee Chen

Time:0:07:50

Synopsis: A grandmother teaches her granddaughter valuable lessons.

Director: Richard E. Haywood

Cast: Minho Kim, Jean Kim, Olabisi Kovabel

Time:0:06:49

Synopsis: A father comes to terms with his daughter being gay.

Director: YICHENG XUE

Cast: WEI JINGYI, YAN XIAO

Time:0:10:53

Synopsis: When faced with graduation and an uncertain future, a secret Chinese international lesbian couple must figure out if their relationship can withstand parting and distance.

Director: Henry Liu

Cast: Josephine Blankstein

Time:0:20:30

Synopsis: A struggling single mother is faced with the most difficult decision of her life when the father of her child suddenly announces that he is moving to the US.

Director: Ed Moy

Cast: Julie Wang

Time:0:08:45

Synopsis: Documentary about airline pilot Julie Wang, who became the first Asian woman to fly solo around the world in 2016.

Director: Yuan Yuan

Cast: Kathy Huynh-Phan, Lia Fietz

Time:0:06:00

Synopsis: Monica tries to find a restroom in New York City. However, she finds out that not only the restroom is hard to find, but also the person who wait there is an obstacle for her to overcome.

Director: Samantha Silver

Cast: Charlie Gaeta, Alex Dunbar, Joseph Lymous, Tag Brum, Crystal Chau, Jason Jiang, Sophia Turso, Jeffrey Johnson

Time:0:12:22

Synopsis: Game show enthusiast Jeffrey Jepson is determined to turn his side hustle driving Uber into a hit quiz show. He’s enlisted a buddy as videographer, written a series of trivia questions, and is on the streets working his audience. The only […]

Director: Rocky Ramsey

Cast: Barry Shabaka Henley, Brett Rickaby, Sean Ormond, Bobby C. King, Rafael Cabrera, Erica Eynon

Time:0:10:45

Synopsis: Anderson McCarthy, a young law-school graduate, walks two small town detectives through his life threatening turn of events while visiting his Uncle Billy for the very first time.

Director: Aaron Curtis

Cast:

Time:0:08:29

Synopsis: Fighting Two Wars: The Story of Thalia Jane Ainsley features the story of Thalia Jane Ainsley, a Vietnam war veteran who transitioned into a woman later in life.

Director: Yixia Li

Cast: Gordon Maniskas, Chris Barry, Vicky Lee, Chelsea Debaise, Rachel Zink, Laila Montana

Time:0:16:52

Synopsis: Will, a workaholic struggles to free himself from a mysterious but familiar haunting voice, in order to get his life-changing promotion.

Director: Nan Li

Cast:

Time:0:35:00

Synopsis: Charles, Birnbaum, 70, a piano tuner based in Atlantic City, who is fighting against eminent domain to save his family house. Charles Birnbaum’s deep emotional connection to his family’s house is at the core of the film. This house contains the traumatic history of his family. As a child prodigy on the piano and one of the […]

Director: Xiaoyu Yang

Cast: Paulina Ruiz, Shirley Huang, Han Joon-Hoon

Time:0:15:10

Synopsis: The many faces of the immigrant experience, feminism and the American Dream meet in New York as Elly, a Mexican girl striving for Broadway, must confront the realities of survival in the city while working for her strict Chinese boss Mrs. Chen. Where do ambition and practicality collide, and what does […]

Director: Ryan Larkin

Cast: Realeboga Kgobokoe, Qingge Gao, Nancy Nazari, Kay Ewing Donato, Edwin Legette

Time:0:04:59

Synopsis: A black student struggles with being labeled by others as he attempts to escape a rut.

Director: Donglin Huang

Cast:

Time:0:10:30

Synopsis: A young man bored with the world finds excitement through the lens of his video camera. How far will he go when he realizes the thrill outweighs the risk?

Director: Derek Quick

Cast: Daniel Joo, Jeff Seid, Bejo Dohmen, John Manahan

Time:0:15:43

Synopsis: July 1944, An Asian American soldier Corporal Soo is thrown into a Nazi work camp on a farm in Germany as his family back home in America are forced into an American Japanese concentration camp in Manzanar California. The allied soldiers think Soo is a Japanese soldier and segregate […]

Director: Kit Zauhar

Cast: Arabella Oz, Henry Fulton Winship, Chester Wai, Gabrielle Richardson

Time:0:15:30

Synopsis: In the not-so-distant future people can further than seamlessing a meal. They can seamless an orgasm. Lucy, a scientist in Philadelphia, uses The Device to have random sex with faraway strangers to get over a partner who’s recently left her. One night, The Device crashes while Lucy’s in […]

Length: 15mins
Director: 杭帝
Cast: Jonathan Regier、Amy Shi
After Diana ‘s husband dead, a scientist preserved his brain. With the help from a world renowned neurologist who is also her ex-boyfriend from college, she dedicated her whole life invented a machine called “Whisper”, in order to stay connected with her husband.

Length: 29mins38secs
Director: 奕翎
Li Changzhu (Zhu Zi) felt no one in the city could be with him until one day he met Bai Lan, a mentally retarded girl. Fatal encounters sparkled the love, and two lonely soul gradually moved closer. However the reality, the discrimination of their parents, the selfishness and indifference tortured the lovers instead.

Length: 28mins11s
Director: 杨忠仁
First-time director, Dan, is in the middle of shooting his first film. He’s trying to get through a particularly sensitive kissing scene with his actors, but they aren’t playing nice. One is an “award”-winning self-proclaimed thespian, the other is a social-media princess pop-star. Will this ticking time-bomb production blow?

Length: 29mins25S
Director: 尚蔚
Cast: 李庆誉、王瑞萱、苏华仁、王晓燕
“Blessing Tree” tells the story of a 7-year-old Taiwanese boy Hua Hua to help her grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease recover her memory and find the “Blessing Tree” in the nursery rhymes. On the way to find the blessing tree, the joy and hardship that he experienced planted a seed of Chinese traditional culture in the young heart […]

Length: 3mins
Director: 万小航
Based on a real story of Wenmei client’s experience, “My Journey of Studying Aboard” tells a story of a Chinese girl who just came to the U.S. and suffered from language and culture barriers. And how she changed her trajectory to live a life of happiness.

Length: 36mins39s
Director: 戴轶飞
Cast: 陈山、任山、何易、张琦、赵云龙、周叶
Li Xiafeng is a delivery man of 1990s generation. One day, the online food delivery platform starts the mode of “crazy scrambling” to celebrate its tenth anniversary of establishment, which means any delivery man can be upgraded to the legendary rating: sacred knight as long as he or she finishes 66 orders within 12 hours. Li […]

Length: 19mins58s
Director: 大雄
Cast: 梁戟、徐敏、罗子惠
It seems that a procuress who was on her way bring back the runaway singing girl, being killed by a hatchet man, the one (boatman) who was involved in trafficking women for the upper class, after she saw through his tricks. In fact, the procuress shared the same fate as the singing girl…

Length: 3mins
Director: Connie Qin He & Kefei Li
Weird things happen after a boy accidentally swallows a watermelon seed.

Length: 16mins
Director: 高千紫
Cast: Alisha Seaton、John Livingstone、Mullen Harry
Failed to balance her acting career and taking care of her father who has Alzheimer’s, Jane Lee, a struggling middle-aged actress accidentally takes her father’s laxative pills whose effect hits her when she is on the way to an important audition.

Length: 13mins
Director: 高千紫
Cast:Thomas Chavira、Frania Del Carmen、Uriel Vazquez
Elena, a Mexican woman who believes in God, survived the search and was forced to embark on a life-threatening journey to America with Javier, a young man who does not believe anyone.

Length: 30 mins
Director: 戴秦
Cast: 戴寰宇、胡惠玲
This film captures a touching conversation between a mother and her son, reflecting the perfect image of an accomplished Chinese female, a social activist, and a philanthropist.It chronicles the life of Los Angeles County’s Mrs. Christine Hu Antonovich. Through the story you will learn about my mother’s fulfilling life and her personal message to all.

Length: 6mins
Director: 高千紫
Linda recognizes her long lost lover from across the street, who may be her one chance to save Linda from her suffering marriage. But is that what she really wants?

Length: 28mins
Director: 吴佳
Cast:：吴钿、李英涛、王宜华、付俊福、吴佳、伊伟成
After his mother died, high school student Su Kefeng had great resentment towards his father. He smoked, drank, even fought, and created many difficulties for his father to end. After a fantastic experience, his relationship with his father was reconciled. He quit smoking and drinking and decided to be a healthy man.

Length: 30 mins
Director: 张慈， 李炜
Cast:：张宝清
Miguel Chang， an outstanding Chinese filmmaker who was born in China and traveled to the West and became famous film maker in the world, he has worked with directors such as Steven Spielberg and David Lynch to produce hundreds of movies. Miguel. Chang is an unusual filmmaker in the international world.

Length: 18 mins
Director: 杨君武
Cast:：张曌民
The anti-Japanese veterans grandpa Zhu was living alone in the village. During that time, the tragic war left unhealed trauma to his body and mind. No hero title, no complaints or regrets, even the rest life of the poverty, lonely life without family warming. Veterans consumed all life for this country, it’s not for fame or fortune, […]

Length: 12mins
Director: 姜又宁
Cast: 徐路
A famous and popular actress from China chose to put aside her acting career, to accompany her daughter to study aboard in the U.S. From the perspective of the daughter. From the East to the West, she faced challenges with cultural differences and her ability to be self-reliant.

Length: 11mins
Director:李果
Cast: Conner Linnerooth、Rebekka Zuefeldt、Tommy Morrison、Krik Krogstad
This story 《Gun》talked about a teenager Mike who is bullied by classmates for a long time, he decides to buy a gun then goes to an underground bar on Halloween, unexpectedly, the gun he bought has three different destinies ,that makes Mike start to think about what the meaning is of a gun to […]

Length: 12mins
Director: 郭泓知
Cast: Steven T. Bartlet、Marlene Hamerling
Andy, who retires home, killed his wife by accident. In his panic and struggle, his every step seemed to be directed by a mysterious force, but it was like his own decision. As he prepares to kill himself to the end this struggle, the mysterious force and let him return to reality, in the […]