On February 15, 2025, the Liu Shiming Art Foundation hosted a short film screening, Her (Invisible) Cities, in collaboration with Sorry Not Sorry, a platform dedicated to amplifying Asian and Asian diasporic voices in cinema. Held at the Liu Shiming Art Gallery, this event showcased three short films by Tang Yi, Shu-Ying Chung, and Kyuri Jeon, each exploring themes of migration, displacement, and resilience through the lens of Asian women’s experiences.
Through personal narratives and experimental storytelling, the films examined the struggle for belonging, the weight of personal and political decisions, and the intersections of history and identity. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with directors Shu-Ying Chung and Kyuri Jeon, who engaged in a conversation about their creative process and the larger social themes their films address.
A Cinematic Exploration of Diasporic Experiences
The three films presented in Her (Invisible) Cities offered perspectives on the emotional and cultural landscapes navigated by Asian women across different generations and geographies:
Yokelan, 66 (Dir. Tang Yi, 2022) – A touching story set in Manhattan’s Chinatown, the film follows a 66-year-old widow who joins a dance class in search of love and connection, portraying themes of aging, loneliness, and community in diasporic spaces.
Removable (Dir. Shu-Ying Chung, 2022) – A gripping drama about an immigrant woman who, after reporting her abusive husband to the police, grapples with guilt when his deportation is set in motion. The film examines the moral and emotional complexities of survival within an unforgiving legal system.
Born, Unborn, and Born Again (Dir. Kyuri Jeon, 2020) – A visually arresting experimental documentary that delves into gender, history, and erased narratives, reflecting on 1990—the Year of the White Horse, when South Korea saw record-breaking sex-selective abortion rates.
These films, though distinct in style and approach, collectively emphasized the power of storytelling as a means of reclaiming agency, challenging societal norms, and preserving cultural memory.
Filmmakers in Conversation: Navigating the Personal and Political
In the Q&A session, Shu-Ying Chung and Kyuri Jeon shared their inspirations and explored the deeper socio-political contexts of their films.
Shu-Ying Chung discussed how Removable was inspired by real-life cases of immigrant women whose lives were upended by deportation policies, yet whose voices remained absent in mainstream narratives:
"In news reports, you always see the men at the center of deportation stories, while the women—often their wives—are pushed to the margins. Their pain, their choices, their resilience—it all goes unspoken. With this film, I wanted to shift the focus back to them, to explore how they process guilt, survival, and the impact of a single decision on their lives."
Similarly, Kyuri Jeon reflected on her experimental approach to storytelling, which intertwines historical myths and contemporary realities to explore gender-based oppression and systemic violence:
"I find that I am drawn to questions rather than answers—what does it mean to be unborn? To be erased? To exist in the gaps of history? The form of the film itself mirrors these tensions, unfolding through layers of memory, uncertainty, and contradiction."
The discussion shed light on how both directors see their work as a space for reflection rather than resolution, inviting audiences to engage with the nuanced intersections of personal narratives and political structures.
Below is the full transcript of the Q&A discussion.
Brandy Wang
I first encountered Removable in 2022, and rewatching it now in 2025, it still feels incredibly relevant. The frustrations expressed in the film remain real and pressing. There’s also a common thread across all three films—the characters navigate invisibility and resilience. The title Invisible Cities acknowledges realities that are often unrepresented. In your creative process, how did you capture these unseen aspects of life, whether literal, emotional, or historical?
Shu-Ying Chung
My film was inspired by real deportation cases. While researching, I noticed how media coverage often reduced women in these stories to mere props—positioned next to their husbands being deported, their voices erased. One case stood out where a husband was deported for domestic violence, yet the news omitted that context, still portraying the wife as part of a torn-apart family.
That silence stunned me. Her story was inconvenient to the narrative, so it was ignored. I had so many questions—how did she feel? What was she thinking? Removable became my way of exploring her story.
Kyuri Jeon
I gravitate toward unanswerable questions—ones that demand multiple perspectives rather than a single answer. Some of the questions that guided this film were: How did I arrive here? What does it mean to be unborn? I exist, but not in the way society expects me to. I wanted to explore those vulnerabilities and connect them to larger cultural structures—misogyny, patriarchy, gender roles. My creative process involves laying out all these contradictions and allowing meaning to emerge through the work itself.
Your films balance intimate narratives with broader systemic critiques—whether about gender roles, immigration policies, or societal expectations. How do you approach that balance in your storytelling?
Shu-Ying Chung
I didn’t set out to make a political statement with Removable. I wanted to reflect real life. If you tell a story honestly, it will speak for itself. I’ve had audience members ask me what policies I think should change, but I’m not a politician—I’m a filmmaker. Policies often fail to capture the complexity of real life, but films can. While my characters’ lives are shaped by politics, their experiences don’t provide clear policy solutions. Instead, I hope their stories encourage deeper thought and empathy.
Kyuri Jeon
When making this film, I thought about reclaiming the language and technology used against my existence. The derogatory terms used to describe women— ‘maneater,’ ‘house destroyer,’ ‘too much to be a woman’—who defines those? The same applies to medical technologies like sonograms. I wanted to repurpose those tools and redefine them in my own terms, creating agency in the process.
What advice would you give to emerging filmmakers interested in telling intersectional stories?
Kyuri Jeon
The pandemic taught me that the speed of artmaking doesn’t have to conform to the speed of the world. Right now, everything feels like it’s moving at double speed to make up for lost time. But storytelling should have its own rhythm. Filmmaking isn’t just about production—it’s about building connections and communities through art.
Shu-Ying Chung
Immigration issues have existed long before they became trending topics. The cases that inspired my film happened during Obama’s presidency, even though media attention only surged under Trump. The problems are always there. Filmmakers need to find the stories that resonate with them, regardless of media trends. My advice? Just start. Your first script, first draft, first film won’t be perfect, but you must make something before you can refine it. Keep going.
Audience Q&A
(the below is selected from 3 audiences participating the Q&A section)
(Audience asks about changes in the editing process.)
Kyuri Jeon
My process was very flexible—I was editing while making and writing. Some parts were intuitive, but others required structured planning. The first part of my film came together quickly after a significant event, while the second part took almost half a year to refine.
Shu-Ying Chung
We shot Removable in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The script wasn’t perfect, and unexpected challenges—like a crew member showing COVID symptoms—forced us to shut down for two days. That loss of time meant I had to restructure the story. In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise. It shifted the focus more to the wife’s perspective, which was the right decision. The final film is the result of that evolution.
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