Post on 23-Sep-2020
CHINESE AMERICANA: “MOTHER”
A Film by Waley Wang
CONCEPT Set to uplifting orchestral music, Mother is a heartfelt portrait of childhood innocence and parental sacrifice — evoking classic “Americana” environments a la Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, but starring Chinese Americans. Drawing from my own upbringing in the suburbs of New Jersey, the film depicts a 2nd-gen Chinese Woman in the present reminiscing about her late Mother through bilingual voice-over, super 8mm home video, and styled digital.3
Chinese Americana - “Mother” | Waley Wang
GOAL Our goal is twofold: 1) To remember, imagine, and reclaim Chinese-American nostalgia by fusing it with that of Americana and “Americanness,” thereby blurring mainland Chinese & American childhood aesthetics in tasteful ways. 2) More importantly: a loving ode of gratitude to my mother, to the pangs of immigrant parenthood.
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Chinese Americana - “Mother” | Waley Wang
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Chinese Americana - “Mother” | Waley Wang
“We found our dreams, thanks to you.”
“So you can stop worrying now, Mom.”
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Chinese Americana - “Mother” | Waley Wang
REFERENCES 1. AS I WAS MOVING AHEAD, OCCASIONALLY I SAW BRIEF GLIMPSES OF BEAUTY (2000, Jonas Mekas)
2. THE MIRROR (1975, Andrei Tarkovsky)
3. THE TREE OF LIFE (2011, Terrence Malick)
4. THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993, Wayne Wang & Amy Tan)
5. SOUR HEART (Novel; 2017, Jenny Zhang)
6. IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME VOL. 1 - SWANN’S WAY (Novel; 1913, Marcel Proust)
7. TO THE WONDER (2012, Terrence Malick)
8. NOSTALGHIA (1983, Andrei Tarkovsky)
9. “THE BODY IS A BLADE” by Japanese Breakfast (MUSIC VIDEO)
10. “1990” by Sean Wang (VIDEO)
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Chinese Americana - “Mother” | Waley Wang