Asia Society at 2022 Sundance Film Festival: Event Recap and Videos

January 25, 2022 — For the fourth consecutive year, Asia Society hosted conversations honoring Asian filmmakers and talent at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Academy Governor and Chair of its Membership Committee and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Over the Moon) moderated these discussions.

Kevin Rudd, Asia Society president and CEO, gave welcome remarks and sponsor Josh Elkes, co-founder and CEO of Harbour, gave opening remarks. 

Watch all seven interviews from Asia Society at 2022 Sundance Film Festival featuring the following talent: 

  • Kogonada, director, After Yang;
  • Justin H. Min, actor, After Yang;
  • Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, actor, After Yang; 
  • Ham Tran, director and screenwriter, Maika;
  • Jenni Trang Le, producer, Maika;
  • Bao Nguyen, producer, Maika;
  • Anderson Le, producer, Maika;
  • Julie Ha, director and producer, Free Chol Soo Lee;
  • Eugene Yi, director and producer, Free Chol Soo Lee; 
  • Bradley Rust Gray, director, screenwriter and producer, blood;
  • So Yong Kim, producer, blood; 
  • Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, director, producer and editor, Midwives;
  • Mila Aung-Thwin, producer and editor, Midwives;
  • Debra Eisenman, COO, Asia Society; 
  • Martika Ramirez Escobar, director and writer, Leonor Will Never Die,
  • Shalini Kantayya, director, TikTok, Boom.;
  • Rui Ma, China analyst for Tech Buzz China

January 25, 2022 — Director Kogonada and actors Justin H. Min and Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja discuss their film After Yang with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. When Yang (played by Min), a lifelike, artificially intelligent android that Jake (played by Colin Farrell) and Kyra (played by Jodie Turner-Smith) buy as a companion for their adopted daughter (played by Tjandrawidjaja) abruptly stops functioning, Jake embarks on a journey to repair him. (39 min., 35 sec.)

January 25, 2022 — Director and screenwriter Ham Tran and producers Jenni Trang Le, Bao Nguyen, and Anderson Le discuss their film Maika with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. Set in Vietnam, Maika tells the story of an 8-year-old boy grieving the loss of his mother who finds solace in an unexpected friend. (37 min., 31 sec.)

January 25, 2022 — Julie Ha, director and producer of Free Chol Soo Lee, and Eugene Yi, the film's director and producer, discuss the documentary with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted — based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. (37 min., 24 sec.)

January 24, 2022 — Bradley Rust Gray, director, screenwriter and producer of blood; and So Yong Kim, producer of blood discuss their partnership and their film's debut at Sundance Film Festival with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. (30 min., 35 sec.)

January 24, 2022 — Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, director, producer and editor of Midwives; and Mila Aung-Thwin, a producer and editor of the film, discuss the origins of their documentary and the struggles of women in Myanmar with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. They were joined by Asia Society COO Debra Eisenman. (25 min., 13 sec.)

January 24, 2022 — Martika Ramirez Escobar, director and writer of Leonor Will Never Die, discusses the inspiration behind her comedic action film, set in the Philippines and the first to feature an "action star grandma," with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. (22 min., 05 sec.)

January 25, 2022 — Shalini Kantayya, director of documentary film TikTok, Boom. and Rui Ma, China tech analyst, main writer, and co-host of the Tech Buzz China podcast, discuss TikTok's role in U.S.-China relations and the app's impact on Gen Z. They spoke with Academy Governor and Asia Society Advisory Board Member Janet Yang. (35 min., 56 sec.)

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Harbour

Asia Society at the Movies