APUC Competition - WANNA DIE WANNA KILL and GRANDMA NAI WHO PLAYED FAVORITES are in the running for the 2025 APUC Best Short Film Award
A post-film Q&A/discussion about MOUNT DAVIS: FROM CITADEL TO CAMPUS will take place after the screening with Professor Kenneth Pomeranz.
Asian Pop-Up Cinema Shorts Series #1: Pan-Asian Perspectives
Discover the future of Asian cinema in this dynamic selection of short films from up-and-coming filmmakers! Featuring bold and thought-provoking works from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Iran, and South Korea, this program highlights fresh storytelling, innovative visual styles, and compelling perspectives.
Total program runtime: 121 minutes
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites
Cambodia | Drama, Comedy | 2025 | 19 minutes
In Khmer with English subtitles
Director: Chheangkea
During the Qingming festival, Grandma Nai's afterlife is disrupted by her bickering relatives’ grave-sweeping visit. When she overhears plans to pressure her grandson into an arranged marriage, she takes matters into her own ghostly hands. Following the family to a matchmaking karaoke dinner, she discovers his true affections lie not with his intended bride, but with her charming older brother.
A Summer's End Poem
China / Switzerland | Coming-of-age, Drama | 2024 | 15 minutes
In Minnan with English subtitles
Director: Lam Can-zhao
In a small village near Chaozhou, a country boy dreams of a city hairstyle. As the last day of the summer holidays approaches, he finally gathers his savings and adventures to fulfill his goal… But reality falls short of his expectations, and his simple journey becomes a charming tale of growing up and embracing life's unpredictability.
Sunflower Shadows
Iran | Drama, Experimental | 2024 | 13 minutes
In Persian with English subtitles
Director: Roya Zanbagh
Teenage Pooya, living alone with his mother, finds himself caught in a quiet struggle between her and Tala, the young painter next door. As tensions rise, he must navigate the complexities of family and independence in this stunning cinematic poem.
Wanna Die Wanna Kill
South Korea | Drama / Thriller | 2024 | 22 minutes
In Korean with English subtitles
Director: Jaehee Jeong
After relentless bullying at school, a teenage girl named Chae-yeon checks into a hotel suite, planning a joint suicide with strangers she met online. As they debate their final moments, an unexpected suggestion shifts the night in a direction none of them saw coming.
Mount Davis: From Citadel to Campus
Hong Kong | Documentary | 2021 | 52 minutes
In Cantonese with English subtitles
Director: Candy Chan
Once a military outpost, Mount Davis has been transformed into a vibrant learning center: the University of Chicago’s Hong Kong campus, designed to promote public education about cultural heritage. But beneath its modern facade lies a history of conflict and resilience. In this fascinating documentary, former detainees from the 1967 riots share haunting memories of their imprisonment, while historians and architects work to preserve the site's legacy.
A post-film Q&A/discussion about MOUNT DAVIS: FROM CITADEL TO CAMPUS will take place after the screening with Professor Kenneth Pomeranz.
Kenneth Pomeranz previously taught at the University of California, Irvine. His work focuses mostly on China, though he is also very interested in comparative and world history. Most of his research is in social, economic, and environmental history, though he has also worked on state formation, imperialism, religion, gender, and other topics. His publications include The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (2000), which won the John K. Fairbank Prize from the AHA, and shared the World History Association book prize; The Making of a Hinterland: State, Society and Economy in Inland North China, 1853–1937 (1993), which also won the Fairbank Prize; The World that Trade Created (with Steven Topik, first edition 1999, 3rd edition 2012), and a collection of his essays, recently published in France. He has also edited or co-edited five books, and was one of the founding editors of the Journal of Global History. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, American Council of Learned Societies, the Institute for Advanced Studies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other sources. His current projects include a history of Chinese political economy from the seventeenth century to the present, and a book called Why Is China So Big? which tries to explain, from various perspectives, how and why contemporary China's huge land mass and population have wound up forming a single political unit.
Directors
Screening Date:
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Showtime:
5:00 PM
Doors open 30 minutes before screening.
Location:
AMC NEWCITY14
1500 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60610