Student Delegate Blog: Friday Film Screening Kick Off

The first full day of life as a student delegate consisted of very cinematically and contextually rich works including the stark Dooman River and numerous short films from the collection Life, Interrupted.

By Jessica Liu

The first full day of life as a student delegate consisted of very cinematically and contextually rich works including the stark Dooman River and numerous short films from the collection Life, Interrupted. One can recall a channeling of neo-realist greats such as Vittorio De Sica and Satyajit Ray in Lu Zhang’s latest work showing life on the border of North Korea and a Korean village in Northern China. With extreme long takes and wide angled shots, audiences got the chance to soak in every detail of the harsh realities of a life in which every action could have a life altering consequence. The limited dialogue and downplay of character emotions went hand in hand with the icy cold backdrops of the area surrounding the region. Dooman River, is a tale about personal struggles so intertwined with national struggles and questions of identity that it is truly neo-realism at its best.

Another equally enjoyable yet completely different experience was viewing the shorts films in Life, Interrupted. From a genre-bending tale of lychee obsessed neighbors in Hawaii, a suspenseful yet heartfelt look at a depiction of the eviction of Chinatown residents of 81 Bowery, to an eye-opening documentary about the extremely complex gender politics hi-lighted by hate crimes of Muslim fundamentalists towards women, we were provided with beautifully executed and genuine stories that needed to be told and heard.

Jessica is a participant in this year’s Verizon Student Delegate Program

1 Comment

  • I completely agree with the thematic and style statement About which Jessica has mentioned about. Along with this, I really liked the conversation with Aseem Chhabra where he gave us insight into the films about the Asian community can increase the visibility. What all we as aspiring filmmakers should strive for.and how can it be achieved.

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