Year of the Rat - short film
A story about the love and missed connections in an Asian immigrant household, and many other households across the globe.
Project Description
What are We?
We are a group of indie filmmakers, intent on creating more visibility for AAPI in the media. This short film is a dramedy about an immigrant mom who feels abandoned by her adult children, and the trouble she gets herself into online dating as a result. At heart, it's about a mom and daughter trying to connect with each other, but because of their different upbringings, they have to get over a lot of unmet expectations, biased perspectives, and simple communication issues to bridge their cultural gap and in the end, just be there for each other. In this film, we see how immigrating to America affects the idea of the family nucleus, what/who is considered "American", and the alienation an immigrant can still feel, even after having established a career and raised a family in the US.
At the beginning of September, we gathered an impassioned cast and crew and shot a beautiful film. We are now working on raising the additional funds needed to edit the footage together in post-production. This includes picture editing, color correcting, music composing, sound mixing, marketing materials, film festival applications. We need your help to put it together and make this film a reality!
Who are we?
We are: Producer Stephanie Y. Wang, Producer Michael E. Tang, writer/director Ricky Qi
Stephanie is an actress/producer who continues to focus her work on bringing strong Asian female characters to life, as nuanced and complex as they truly are.
Michael is an experienced documentary producer, focusing much of his work on how media impacts society.
Ricky is known for his photographic work with National Geographic, and his documentary, Under one Roof, chronicling the Mosuo people - one of the world's last matriarchal societies living in the Himalayas.
Why Make this movie?
The Power of Media: I’ve seen with my own eyes how TV and film can have a huge impact on how audiences view certain people. What audiences see on their screens lodge in their conscious and subconscious minds. Whether they know it or not, their perspectives, actions, and behaviors are heavily influenced by media. Asians have long been either stereotyped or made invisible in the media. In so many films that honor diversity and tolerance, Asians still only appear in the background with no lines or as 2-dimensional stereotypes. But our community has so many more interesting stories to tell, from the life-changing to the commonplace. As filmmakers, we are working to increase positive and authentic exposure of AAPI in the media, and are passionate about moving the needle forward to directly effect positive change in daily life around us.
The Time is Now : As our community tries to heal from being made the scapegoats for COVID-19, violence against Asian-Americans continues to occur daily. This is the tipping point of generations of "othering" that has allowed this violence to be perpetuated. It is our responsibility and privilege to do what we can to portray truthful stories about our people that touch upon the universal themes of love and connection.
The Future of Representation: I have two daughters, a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old. Up until a couple years ago, they only wanted to be like a certain blonde-haired ice princess. Then, my 5 year-old started saying she didn't like how she looked...because she didn't have "yellow" hair and "blue eyes". The influence of that standard of beauty is pervasive, as hard as we tried to offer her a varied palette at home. Then something amazing happened. Last year, Over the Moon was released on Netflix, an animated feature film that features an all-Asian cast, and she suddenly had new role models that she loved and made her feel proud of her heritage. As an actress, I knew abstractly that seeing an Asian face on the screen inspired other Asians to follow their dreams. But to see it happening right in my own home to such young children, really solidified the mission for me in all of my work. It's so important that we continue to create characters on the big and small screen that people of all ethnicities and races can relate to.
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
Tell me about your Cast & Crew:
We worked with an awesome team, mostly Asian-Americans, who all brought a passion for the cause to the set.
OUR CAST:
Joy Xu...............Lee Chen-Norman
Sophie Zhang.....Jennifer Cheung
David................Jonathan Fishman
Carol........Tracey Ann-Marie Nelson
Carl.............................Gary M. Black
Shelley..................Yvonne Erickson
Mark.....................Michael J. Pierce
OUR CREW:
Writer/Director................Ricky Qi
Cinematographer............Allen Liu
Production Designer...Justine Chen
Wardrobe.................Josephine Siu
Makeup..............................Tracey Du
Where did you shoot?
We shot the film in Southern California - mostly in Los Angeles and Orange County
Will you submit to film festivals?
Yes!
Where can I see the film once it's finished?
Once we've finished the film festival tour, we will also be reaching out to our contacts at the major streaming services.
We are so grateful for your contribution! No amount is too small!
We will thank you personally in the end credits of the film, which we will be submitting to film festivals and streaming services.
Your name will appear in the end credits as:
Additional Finance Provided by
YOUR NAME
which we will be submitting to film festivals and streaming services.
With this generous contribution, you will become an Associate Producer on our film, which will be submitted to film festivals and streaming services. Your name will be listed in the credits as:
Associate Producer
YOUR NAME
With this generous contribution, you will become an invaluable part of our producing team, an Executive Producer. You will be credited at the end of the film, which will be submitted to film festivals and streaming services. Your name will be listed in the credits as:
Executive Producer
YOUR NAME
Rewards
We are so grateful for your contribution! No amount is too small!
We will thank you personally in the end credits of the film, which we will be submitting to film festivals and streaming services.
Your name will appear in the end credits as:
Additional Finance Provided by
YOUR NAME
which we will be submitting to film festivals and streaming services.
With this generous contribution, you will become an Associate Producer on our film, which will be submitted to film festivals and streaming services. Your name will be listed in the credits as:
Associate Producer
YOUR NAME
With this generous contribution, you will become an invaluable part of our producing team, an Executive Producer. You will be credited at the end of the film, which will be submitted to film festivals and streaming services. Your name will be listed in the credits as:
Executive Producer
YOUR NAME