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James Y. Shih

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Podcast Episodes

Featured
Yin & Young Podcast EP 75: Eight Years in Review
May 27, 2025
Yin & Young Podcast EP 75: Eight Years in Review
May 27, 2025
May 27, 2025
Yin & Young Podcast EP 74: Gabriel Toya-Meléndez - Filmmaking, Identity, and Finding Your Tribe
Feb 11, 2025
Yin & Young Podcast EP 74: Gabriel Toya-Meléndez - Filmmaking, Identity, and Finding Your Tribe
Feb 11, 2025
Feb 11, 2025
Yin & Young Podcast EP 73: Paul Hoi #2 - Japan Stories, Skiing, Solo Traveling
Nov 24, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 73: Paul Hoi #2 - Japan Stories, Skiing, Solo Traveling
Nov 24, 2024
Nov 24, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 72 : William Gee Wong - Author of "Sons of Chinatown"
Jun 28, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 72 : William Gee Wong - Author of "Sons of Chinatown"
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 71  Aileen Cho - Intergenerational Trauma, Marriage, and Healing
Apr 18, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 71 Aileen Cho - Intergenerational Trauma, Marriage, and Healing
Apr 18, 2024
Apr 18, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 70 - Writer Peter Kageyama returns with MIDNIGHT CLIMAX
Feb 21, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 70 - Writer Peter Kageyama returns with MIDNIGHT CLIMAX
Feb 21, 2024
Feb 21, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 69 Daniel Tong - Editor: Finding your place in film and pursuing your passion
Feb 9, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 69 Daniel Tong - Editor: Finding your place in film and pursuing your passion
Feb 9, 2024
Feb 9, 2024
Yin & Young Podcast EP 68 - Married Life, Cooking, Regret and Time
Aug 28, 2023
Yin & Young Podcast EP 68 - Married Life, Cooking, Regret and Time
Aug 28, 2023
Aug 28, 2023
Yin & Young Podcast Episode 67 - Kelly Hebestreit - Art, Identity, and Please Take Off Your Shoes
Apr 29, 2023
Yin & Young Podcast Episode 67 - Kelly Hebestreit - Art, Identity, and Please Take Off Your Shoes
Apr 29, 2023
Apr 29, 2023
Yin & Young Episode 66 - Peter Kageyama - Writer
Feb 2, 2023
Yin & Young Episode 66 - Peter Kageyama - Writer
Feb 2, 2023
Feb 2, 2023

Podcast disclaimer

A young man is thrown in jail in Taiwan. Now his rural grandma must bail him out.

Ahma & Alan is out now! 阿嬤與阿倫短片公開了

May 09, 2022 in Filmmaking, Asian American, Film Festivals

From Omeleto, the website that is showcasing the film:

Alan is an American-born grandson teaching in Taipei. But when it's discovered he's teaching illegally, he's thrown into jail. Now he awaits deportation and deals with the mockery and shame from the vindictive police officers who jailed him.

His only hope is his Taiwanese grandma -- his "ahma" -- who must travel from a rural town to Taipei to rescue her grandson. The journey and wait force both grandmother and grandson to reflect on their relationship, though their bond offers the only hope for Alan to remain with his grandmother in Taiwan.

Written and directed by James Y. Shih, this perceptive short drama explores the identity issues that Asian Americans face, who often don't quite belong to Asia or America. But it's also a universal story about unconditional family love, and how it forms a bond that transcends age, generations and language.

The film is shot in an observational, almost documentary style, one that holds long and often wider shots as action and characters come in and out of the frame. The style requires some patience, but it's rewarded by a strong sense of place and character that feels lived-in and authentic.

We see Alan, played by actor Gregory Yuan, flustered with the language barrier and grasping the contempt of the police officers who throw him into custody, disdainful as they are of American-born Taiwanese. The storytelling takes particular care to chart Alan's evolution with language, from the shame he felt speaking Taiwanese (Hokkien) and Mandarin as a child in his ahma's care to his loss of those languages as an adult, which has major ramifications on his current situation.

We also witness the charm and fortitude of his ahma, played by actor Mei-Hou Wu. Small and seemingly fragile, she reveals great strength and intrepid endurance as she makes the journey to Taipei. Watching her take on the police when she finally arrives is both joyful and inspiring, as well as a testament to fierce family love and loyalty.

In the end, "Ahma and Alan" rewards viewers with an immersion into Taiwan and its foundational touchstones of family and culture. It also offers insight into the unique generational gaps that open up with globalization and immigration, particularly around language, which affects their relationships. Alan and his ahma often found those differences opening up a chasm between the young boy and the hopeful, doting grandmother. But in the end, they find a bridge, and perhaps a deeper appreciation for the love that was always there between them.

source: http://omeleto.com/258287/

Tags: taiwan, asian american, taiwanese, filmmaking, short film
← My thoughts on finally releasing my short film, Ahma and Alan - 我對於終於公開我的短片阿嬤與阿倫Ahma & Alan release date: May 9th, 2022 - 阿嬤與阿倫公開日期五月九日 →
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