Hello From Taiwan
1 of 8 filmmakers in the prestigious AFI Directing Workshop for Women, director Tiffany Frances is making Hello From Taiwan, a poetic drama about a Taiwanese-American family set in 1989.
A Taiwanese American family living in California in the late 1980s struggles to re-unite across cultural and language barriers.
When my parents immigrated from Taiwan to America in the 70s, they made sacrifices in order to make the American Dream work. They both had prestigious college degrees from Taipei, yet they had to take a step down in job employment due to language barriers. Their struggle to achieve success and encountering several setbacks caused tension between them. They started the divorce process, and my dad ended up taking my 2 older sisters with him back to Taiwan. After a year, he came back with my sisters to drop them off in America.
One of my most distinguished memories as a child was re-meeting my sisters at the airport. I knew they were my sisters, but at 4 years old, I didn’t understand why we had been separated in the first place. There was a shift in culture between us. The significance of the transformation my family went through didn’t really hit me until my adult years. Writing this script was a way for me to look back in reflection of the sacrifices and hardships they faced yet overcame.
And that’s where my film, “Hello From Taiwan” begins. We open with the scene of a Taiwanese American family reuniting at the airport in 1989. The film then goes on to explore the following few weeks as the family struggles to reconnect, the sisters clash, the mom now has 3 girls instead of 1 on her hands. The story contains themes of minority identity and the illusion of the American dream. The story is told from the point of view of the little girl at age 4, so the story unfolds from innocence to understanding how the world around our lead character works.
Director's Statement
My intent with this short film is to create an emotional, real look into Asian American lives. As a second generation Asian American woman, I know firsthand the hardships of people who are not the majority. Minorities have been minimized or stereotyped for decades; especially in media. I feel now is the time in American history to make bold moves and introduce diverse characters as real people instead of cliches or secondary roles. It’s exciting to start seeing Asian Americans in leading roles; there’s a lot of work to still do. It would be an honor for me to give a voice to those on the sidelines, and make sure this story understands, from a deeper point of view, minorities’ struggles within their societal and cultural lives.
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Tiffany Frances - Director
Tiffany Frances Huang is a Taiwanese American director and writer working in music videos, commercials, branded content and narrative film. Her passions lie in writing female stories, finding sustainable solutions, surfing, and taking portraits of people she loves. She is co-founder of REALnew Collective and also composes music as Porcelain Skyline.
Marina Viscun - Producer
Marina Viscun is a Moldovan-American filmmaker. She is the President of Pingvin Productions, Founder of the #WeAreWITI collective, and former Head of Production at Pulse Films US. She is a member of the PGA, AWD, and Veterans in Media & Entertainment. She is trilingual (English, Russian, and Romanian) and a US Navy veteran.
Yolanda Huang - Executive Producer
Yolanda is Co-Founder of Umizato and Pink Princess. She is extremely passionate about entrepreneurship, filmmaking, and wants to make a difference. And yes, she is Tiffany's eldest sister and that super cute girl you see in a few of those vintage family photos.
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