Experiencing Interruptions?

F-1

In the midst of the pandemic, four university students from Mali, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Taiwan confront the challenges as they pursue their dreams of graduation, employment, and family.

  • Ya-Chi Yang
    Director
    All the things I can remember
  • Ya-Chi Yang
    Writer
    All the things I can remember
  • Ya-Chi Yang
    Producer
    All the things I can remember
  • Mengxu Pan
    Producer
    Once Upon A Time In The Old City
  • Nouman Kante
    Key Cast
  • Tamanna Badhan
    Key Cast
  • Mahmoud Elmehlawy
    Key Cast
  • Che Chang
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 3, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Mandarin Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ya-Chi Yang

Ya-Chi Yang is an independent filmmaker based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her animated documentary short, All the things I can remember (2018), was selected by festivals including Mammoth Lake Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival, and Taichung International Animation Festival. Her animation collaboration, Seeing through the Eyes of Crocodiles, with director, Lien Fan Shen, has been selected for screening at 2016 Seattle Queer Film Festival, Shanghai Pride Film Festival and Beijing Queer Film Festival. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and moved to the US when she was 23. Yang holds a master's degree from University of Utah majoring in Film and Media Arts. Her work often features emotional struggles like being trapped inside one’s own body as an Alzheimer patient. Her experience of being an international student and immigrating to the US has led her to making a documentary about people like her.

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Director Statement

In March 2020, many campuses shut down and classes turned virtual. I decided to talk to the students and see how they were coping with the situation. Knowing how difficult it is to deal with loneliness, cultural differences, and heavy school work, it is hard for me to imagine being in their shoes. After meeting with them, I decided to document their lives.

Each student in the film has opened up their personal lives to the camera, they are eager to continue collaborating because they also feel the importance of appearing as an individual with hopes and dreams and not just among the thousands of ‘foreigners’ in the US.

As the country debates racial and social issues, we want this film to provide a different perspective. We see how they navigate their life during the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. We also witness the ways of their complex maneuverings through immigration policies, while making sense of the growing anti-immigration sentiment.