Sundance Film Festival

We’ve seen shorts from the U.S., Canada, Iceland, and Australia so far at the Sundance Film Festival. The entries this year are truly an international affair. In that spirit, it is time to move on to an entirely different continent.

Writer/Director Xuan Jiang grew up in a Beijing that is in a constant state of influx. From an ever-growing economy to the modern barrage of global influences, China is a very different place than it once was. After doing television production work at the News Corporation China, Jiang enrolled in the Film Directing program at the California Institute of the Arts. August 15th, her thesis film, grew out of a desire to tell stories about the waves of cultural change that are rippling through her home country.

This 20-minute short is a powerful drama that was inspired by a true story. A bus travels through the Chinese mountains during East Asia’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a yearly celebration of togetherness and abundance. A young woman and her boyfriend are on their way to spend some time with his family. Set against this idyllic time of year, the bus is hijacked, and each passenger must decide how far they are willing to go to preserve their own safety versus the safety of others.

Shot on super 16mm film by Cinematographer Haifeng Duan, August 15th has a very naturalistic tone. There are no distracting or overriding stylistic touches, and Jiang is patient enough to give the story the time it deserves, building the mounting tension slowly. She takes essential moments to scan the faces of the all the passengers on the bus, surveying their different reactions in a time of crisis. As the pressure becomes worse, the faces become shrouded in shadow. August 15th asks some serious questions about moral responsibility and choices that can change lives irreparably. Read On at Scene-Stealers.com