Contains mature themes. Goodbye My Dove contains a scene of war violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

This short film set awakens the quiet sentience of place, honoring its sacredness and subtle influence in our lives. It opens with We Used to Take the Long Way Home, following a protagonist’s return from emigration and revealing – through moments of reunion – how both she and her homeland have quietly changed. These shifts echo in Little Bird, where home becomes a fragile background: a disheartened woman must choose between evicting tenants from a crumbling unit or risking her job to stand in solidarity with fellow refugees. Surrender continues this exploration of displacement within the confines of a hospital ward, as a mother and daughter confront separation while navigating care systems rarely honoring the complexities of Asian American life.

The theme of place and identity deepens in Today Is My Day Off (Von 0 Auf 180), where a father and daughter face the imminent closure of their family bistro – a space that has long sustained both their bond and their livelihood, and whose loss surfaces long-buried emotions. The set closes with Goodbye My Dove, a quietly resonant story in which two siblings search for their mother and, in the process, find a deeper connection with the land itself – a place where peace and conflict quietly coexist. Across city streets, rustling leaves, and four enclosing walls, these films transform space into a living character – its rhythms woven into the fabric of the everyday. 

By Jenn Thảo Nguyễn