Touch

This week I’m recommending a pair of shorts by female Asian American filmmakers. First is Lulu Wang’s 15-minute TOUCH, available on Vimeo. Based on a true story, the narrative follows Chen, an elderly Taiwanese immigrant to the US whose cultural differences lead to an encounter with the legal system. Wang crafts this story as a family drama, showing how the lawsuit intensifies the divide between Chen and his first-generation son. Also worth checking out is Karyn Kusama’s HER ONLY LIVING SON, the last entry in the 2017 horror anthology XX. Kusama channels ROSEMARY’S BABY with the story of a mother growing increasingly worried about her teenage son’s violent and mysterious behavior. The full anthology (which also includes a short by Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent) is streaming on Hulu and with ads on YouTube – jump to the 52-minute mark for HER ONLY LIVING SON.

—Nolan Russell, Executive Assistant