Holly M. Kaplan is a second-generation Chinese-American filmmaker born and raised in New York City. Inspired by ties to her mixed Cantonese heritage, Holly is invested in bringing narratives about diversity and the Asian diaspora to the forefront with a focus on femme perspectives. “Sunflower Girl” a13-minute film sponsored by Netflix, is her latest work.
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The film begins with Rosie, a 13-year-old girl narrating her life story, arrives in her mother’s cleaners, where she gets a lesson on how family is above everything and the dangers of riding a skateboard in the city. She is also tasked with picking up her sister and giving her her lunch. The visuals then change into retro-looking imagery accompanied by fitting nostalgic music, while Rosie is still riding her skate, eventually reaching Skylar, the boy she seems to like, and his annoying friend, Cooper. Instead of doing what her mother asked, she gives the lunch to the boys and embarks on a skate ‘trip’ with them. Her sister eventually joins though.
Considering the mentality of Chinese-American families (at least as witnessed on cinema), Rosie’s actions can easily be interpreted as ‘high treason’ with her abandoning her sister (thus her family) and wasting the food (the utmost good) her mother made them. Although her actions are indicative of the irresponsibility teenager frequently show, they also highlight the gap that has already start forming between the US born and raised daughter and her immigrant mother, with the priorities of the two evidently being quite different.
The fact that the sister is the one paying the consequences in the end can also be perceived as a comment about the consequences of moving away from ‘tradition’. The ending, however, seems to bring the whole thing back around, highlighting the fact that Rosie may not be as different as initially showed, and that the values her mother instilled in her are still alive, and actually ones one is worth following. The ending narration confirms this comment quite eloquently. At the same time, a comment about young love is also presented, although the scale definitely tilts towards the aforementioned concept (family > love if you prefer)
In cinematic terms, the switching from realism to the occasional retro, music video-like style works quite well here, particularly because it induces the short with a sense of nostalgia that is heightened by the fitting music. In that fashion, both Zhejian Michael Cong’s cinematography and Hailey Choi’s editing can be counted among the film’s best traits.
Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja as Rosie is front and center here, and is quite good in highlighting her feelings in laconic but eloquent fashion. Her performance has some issues, particularly in her interactions with Skylar, but the fact that she has talent is quite obvious.
“Sunflower Girl” is a well shot, well-directed short that highlights, once more, the progress of Asian American cinema. I have to state one thing, though. After watching a number of such films, particularly from the Chinese-speaking world diaspora, they all seem to focus on the same themes, regarding the gap between the American-born ‘segment’ of the family and the ones who immigrated. It would be nice if we saw something different at some point
