Private Project

Documentary- OMW

Four young 1.5 generation Taiwanese-Americans living in Southern California find themselves balancing between two contrasting cultures. As emerging artists in their mid-twenties, Queena, Willie, Michun, and Michele discuss their intergenerational, personal, and honest stories and how these emotional and goofy, yet insightful, experiences shape their art and personal identities.

  • Michele Cheng
    Director
  • Michele Cheng
    Writer
  • Michele Cheng
    Producer
  • Michele Cheng
    Key Cast
  • Queena Chen
    Key Cast
  • Shih-wei Willie Wu
    Key Cast
  • Michun Tang Radant
    Key Cast
  • Chien-ying Hsieh
    Cinematographer Cinematographer
  • Michele Cheng
    Composer/Songwriter
  • Cynthia Tsai
    Translator
  • Anna Savery- Violin
    Musicians
  • Nina Kang- Violin
    Musicians
  • Hui-yi Kao- Viola
    Musicians
  • Cynthia Tsai- Cello
    Musicians
  • Michele Cheng- Piano & Vocal
    Musicians
  • Shih-wei Wiilie Wu- Taiko
    Musicians
  • Hassan Estakhrian
    Music Recording Engineer
  • George Wheeler
    Music Recording Engineer
  • Hassan Estakhrian
    Music Mixer
  • Jordan Watson
    Music Mixer
  • Michele Cheng
    Sound Editor
  • Michele Cheng
    Music Editor
  • Michele Cheng
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    41 minutes 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of California, Irvine
  • American Tracks Music Awards

    United States
    Winner in Best Female Performer
  • American Tracks Music Awards

    United States
    Finalist in Best International Song
  • American Tracks Music Awards

    United States
    Finalist in Best Independent Artist
  • Formosa Festival of International Filmmaker Awards

    Taiwan
    Finalist
  • Windows of Formosa Film Festival

    Taiwan
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Michele Cheng

Michele Cheng is a first time filmmaker debuted with OMW, a feature-length documentary she produced, directed, written, edited, as well as composed music for. She is known as a composer, multimedia producer, songwriter, and improviser-performer. Her orchestral, chamber, solo, and electroacoustic works have been composed for concerts, experimental theatre, telematic medium, and multimedia projects. She actively performs and improvises with diverse performing groups that feature classical, experimental, folk, to rock.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I am 1.5 generation Asian American. That means I experience and identify local cultures from both Asia and America. The identities of Asian and Asian American are different, but my identity lies somewhere in between because I have existed in both cultural environments. I moved to the United States in my early twenties after growing up in Taiwan. Then I realized the definition of home became an obscured concept. The eagerness of finding the puzzles of who I am drove me to make this documentary after unexpectedly receiving a Diversity Awards from my graduate school, while I had just begun my new life at my foreign yet familiar hometown, the United States, for five months. I spent months field researching, interviewing people from Taiwanese communities in SoCal, and it eventually took me two years to finish the whole production. This documentary not only presents the cultural identities, experiences, and transformation of the young artists I interviewed with, but also reflects the diversity of immigration, relations between globalization and individuals, and who we are.