Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Yu-han’s (蔡渝涵) short film Dua Ji (大姊，賢慧) screened on Friday at the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival as part of a shorts program focused on women’s lives and responsibilities.
The 18-minute film, starring Taiwanese actress Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚), follows a group of siblings whose unresolved tensions surface during their mother’s funeral.
Tsai, who is based in New York, said before the screening that she was delighted the film had been selected for the festival.
Photo courtesy of San Francisco International Film Festival via CNA
At this year’s festival, organizers screened five short films by women directors from different countries under a program exploring the pressures placed on women as mothers, professionals, caregivers and members of their communities.
Dua Ji was the only film from Asia in the shorts program. Officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco and members of the overseas Taiwanese community attended the screening.
During a post-screening Q&A session at the Marina Theatre, Tsai said she had Yang in mind while writing the script because the role required a particularly strong performance.
Tsai said the story was inspired by her mother, who she felt carried emotional pressure and had things she wanted to say but could not express because of family and cultural expectations.
“It’s a feeling that’s hard to explain, so I wrote a story,” she said.
Although the short film is set in a Taiwanese cultural context, Tsai said its emotional themes should resonate with audiences outside Taiwan.
Some international viewers became interested in Taiwanese funeral customs after watching the film, she said, adding that she hopes to direct a feature film set in both the US and Taiwan in the future.
The 69th San Francisco International Film Festival opened on April 24 and ends tomorrow.
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