Rasch und mit Feuer

ARIA CHOI is a Japanese-Korean aspiring college clarinetist who secured a rare audition for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Not only is this the chance of a lifetime for any musician at her university, but this is Aria’s chance to live up to the legacy of her mother who performed in the same orchestra before dying in childbirth. In her lessons with Professor FRED BOHEM, she finds that she can’t perform the way she wants to due to her worsening chronic bronchitis.



At home, Aria’s grandmother YAYOI SUZUKI forces Aria to eat potstickers that secretly contain cow lungs as she believes that the best way to cure her granddaughter’s lungs is for her to eat the lungs of another creature. The usual cure works but after a visit from exotic butcher BUCK BRANSON, Aria discovers the truth. She eats the remaining cow lung potstickers but the effects wear off quickly.



By the day of the audition, Aria’s breathing and playing is worse than ever. She comes to the conclusion that Yayoi, Fred, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra will never approve of her unless she keeps eating lungs.



When she finds her grandmother unconscious from a gas leak, Aria has a choice to make. How far is she willing to go to achieve her dreams?

  • Mia Watanabe Miller
    Director
  • Mia Watanabe Miller
    Writer
  • Jamie EP Williams
    Producer
  • Travis Snider
    Producer
  • Heeli Lounibos
    Key Cast
    "Aria Choi"
    S.W.A.T.
  • Miyuki Matsunaga
    Key Cast
    "Yayoi Suzuki"
    Day Shift, Birds of Prey
  • Darin Singleton
    Key Cast
    "Fred Bohem"
    Criminal Minds
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Psychological
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Arri Alexa Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Chapman University
Director Biography - Mia Watanabe Miller

Mia Watanabe Miller is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Between projects, Mia works part time as an Assistant Director on local independent film productions in California. She grew up in the Bay Area before getting her BFA at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and eventually her MFA at Chapman University in Orange, California. Her films are inspired by the strong women in her life as well as her unique experiences as a mixed race, chronically ill, autistic woman.

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