Private Project

Descendants of String

A retired Chinese musician makes efforts to reconnect with his American-born grandson, who is out of touch with his heritage, all while the clock ticks closer to the expiration of the grandfather’s visa.

  • Yilin Zheng
    Director
  • Yilin Zheng
    Writer
  • Yilin Zheng
    Producer
  • Xinyi Ye
    Producer
  • Zhantao Lin
    Key Cast
    "Song"
  • Landon Turk
    Key Cast
    "Bingbing"
  • Pedro Osuna
    Composer
  • Benjamin Bradley-Gilbert
    Director of Photography
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    承弦
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 16, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    5,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.40:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Yilin Zheng

Grew up in Xiamen, China, educated in Visual Media Arts major at Emerson College in Boston, Eva (Yilin) Zheng, drew inspirations from her Chinese heritage and western upbringing to create the multicultural story, DESCENDANTS OF STRING, and directed the film as her senior thesis project.
Eva’s directing journey began when she was fifteen, her directing debut won the first prize in the theater festival of high school. In the following seven years, Eva fully dedicated herself in filmmaking, either as the showrunner of a college-funded narrative series, a winner of EVVYs award, or a producer of branded commercials.
During her college period, Eva also participated in two feature productions. In the summer of 2017, She was hired as an Assistant to Producer for Amy Schumer’s 2018 comedy I FEEL PRETTY. Later in 2019, she was hired as an assistant to a female director, Gigi Saul Guerrero, for a Hulu and Blumhouse co-produced TV series INTO THE DARK.
Currently, Eva is in the process of developing the feature script for DESCENDANTS OF STRING and more creative projects.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Having been raised in China and educated in the US, I have developed a “skilled vision” enabling me to see the world through a multicultural lens. As a Chinese citizen living in America, I must use my films as a way of showing others my story and the story of other immigrants who share my dual perspectives. I set out to make this film for audiences who have not experienced living in more than one culture.
I see this film as my way to promote public awareness of the plights of immigrants separated from their families. Many second generation immigrants lose ties with their mother culture due to the pressure the US puts on outsiders to keep their heads down and dissolve into the melting pot. I want this film to help non-immigrants in the audience to better understand the hardships immigrants in the US face. For the immigrants in the audience, I want to create a piece of film that reflects their own experiences.