narrative film

Play, Then (2024)

Narrative Short | Drama/Family | English and Mandarin | 2024 | 8 min

Lucas, a 17-year-old Chinese American cellist, must face his relationship with music when asked to play for his grandmother.

I wanted to create a film that highlights the beauty and power of classical music, an art form traditionally perceived as antiquated and irrelevant, in bridging linguistic and intergenerational gaps. By featuring an Asian American protagonist, I intend to spotlight the stories of Asian American classical musicians, a group seldomly represented in narrative media. Many films that depict classical music often center white, elite musicians on prestigious stages, but my film subverts such narratives and grounds a classical music performance in the mundane lives of a Chinese American family. Play, Then is a culmination of my undergraduate studies as a musician and a filmmaker, created in collaboration with talented liberal arts students across the Claremont Colleges.

Credits

Writer/Director – Isabel Li
Director of Photography – Oriole Song
Producer/1st AD – Brandon Isem Cáceres
2nd AD – Kishore Rajesh
Sound Mixer/Script Supervisor – Phyllis Chee
Gaffer – Alex Martin
Sound Editor – Jacqueline Cordes
Soundtrack Cellist – Ella Moriarty
Soundtrack Pianist – Jisue Choi
Tyler Phan as "Lucas"
Jocelyn Yow as "Mother"
Ling Zhi as "Grandmother"
Special thanks to Prof. Ming-Yuen Ma, Prof. YouYoung Kang, Jaimie and Christine Yu, Scripps College Music Department, Tuan Anh Nguyen, DFI Rentals, Intercollegiate Media Studies, MS190

Official Selections

2025 UCLA Shorttakes Film Festival - Finalist, LA Premiere
2025 Summer California Women's Film Festival
2025 WashU Film Fest - Midwest Premiere
2025 Lowell Asian American Film Festival - East Coast Premiere
2025 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest - Bay Area Premiere

Supported by

The Marian and Charles Holmes Performing Arts Grant
Hive Creativity Grants
5x5 Films

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