鬼揞眼 a ghost covering one’s eyes
Cindy Chen
Trailer
Synopsis
Duration: 5:24
Medium: 2D Animation, Video Footage
Genre: Slice of Life, Semi-Autobiography
A memory reel through the eyes of a Chinese second-generation immigrant, who at the cost of their Western life, is left in the unknown about their parents’ lives.
Film Stills
Director’s Statement
This film’s story is very important and close to me, as I experience it myself as the child of immigrant parents. Many of us are left only knowing the bare minimum of our culture and heritage because our parents tend to not put pressure on us to learn about it, or are satisfied with only teaching us that little. This usually comes from the parents’ priorities being their children’s English education and happiness, so they don’t push these other aspects of their own culture and heritage, despite them also being important. This, overall, creates a large disconnect between the parents and children, where the children are left only carrying a very small portion of their family history. It’s a very big regret that I’ve had growing up, as I’m not even able to speak proper Cantonese at times because I forget the vocabulary after spending hours only speaking in English.
I also feel like this struggle isn’t often talked about, perhaps because there’s a lot of shame and self-blame involved from the children’s side, because we also never pushed to learn about our own families growing up. However that shame also makes this experience very isolating, which is primarily why I wanted to make this film, in order express to other second-generation immigrants that this experience is shared amongst many of us. So above all, I hope by the end of this film, many people may find relief in knowing that they aren’t alone, and that it’s never too late to learn.
Credits
Director, Writer, Producer
Cindy Chen
Narrator
Cindy Chen
Music Composer, Sound Designer, Foley, Mixer
Jonathan Tsang
Art Direction, Storyboard, Concept Art
Cindy Chen
Key Animation
Cindy Chen, Laura Nguyen
In-Between Animation
Cindy Chen, Laura Nguyen, Jinyi Shi
Cleanup Animation
Cindy Chen
VFX
Cindy Chen, Gerald Florita, Laura Nguyen
Illustration
Cindy Chen
Background
Cindy Chen, Jinyi Shi
Video Footage
Cindy Chen, Jonathan Tsang, Mariia Semenova, Sophie Wang, Yuqi Hang, Shirley Zhao
Compositor
Gerald Florita
Compositing Development
Yuqi Hang, Teo Jimenez
Motion Graphics
Gerald Florita
Mandarin Subtitle Translator
Yuqi Hang, Shi Qi Chen
Handwritten Subtitles
Cindy Chen
Editor
Cindy Chen
