Experiencing Interruptions?

LEAVING

A short narrative film captures the daily life of a three-generations of a Chinese family while the grandfather suffers through the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Through the eyes of a little girl, we see family members’ different emotional reactions to the old man’s irreversible dementia and how it affects the girl’s perception of death.

  • Chenyun Huang
    Director
  • Chenyun Huang
    Writer
  • Chenyun Huang
    Producer
  • Hailey H. Zhao
    Key Cast
    "Huihui"
  • Di Gao
    Key Cast
    "Grandfather"
  • Juel Zhang
    Key Cast
    "Mother"
  • Linda Zhao
    Key Cast
    "Grandmother"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 11, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Chenyun Huang

Chenyun Huang is a filmmaker from Shanghai, China who focuses on stories that explore connections between people. In her work, Chenyun examines people’s varying emotions and relationships as reflections of social changes happening around them. Before pursuing filmmaking, she worked in television and music video production. Chenyun earned a Bachelor of Law at East China University of Political Science and Law and an MFA in Film and Media Art at Emerson College.
Intrigued by the cultural coexistence she observed in Chinatown, Chenyun’s previous short documentaries have explored the working and living situations of Chinese Americans in Boston. “A Boston Citizen” follows the immigrant process and career development of a senior hairdresser; “A Piece of Me” shows an engineer’s efforts to pass on traditional Chinese kungfu. She also made a short film revealing young adults’ sensitive romantic relationships. Her thesis film, ‘LEAVING’, demonstrates the power of family bonds in the face of Alzheimer’s disease.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Since graduating from law school, I’ve always been engaged in stories related to social issues that reflect the human condition. Compared to law, however, I believe that visual storytelling is a more effective way of delineating the truth. Filmmaking also gives me the opportunity to reexamine my past experiences and reorganize my own feelings about life. I seek to portray people’s emotional reactions and their relationships with others when they confront life issues.
Growing up in Shanghai, China, a metropolitan city where traditional patriarchy and filial piety are still major values of the culture, I observed how they conflicted with the trend of globalization and westernization that the younger generation is experiencing. Especially for women, we have to keep challenging the conventional social values during the process of building our own. As a filmmaker, I intend to delineate how females live under the influences of these various value systems both in the past and today.