AAPI IN THE REPRO CONVO with Lilly Hu and Seri Lee

05/31/22 • 62 min

rePRO PERIODICAL VOL. 04: AAPI IN THE REPRO CONVO with Lilly Hu of Cold Wall & Seri Lee of NAPAWF

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Repo Film Podcast as part of the Repro Periodical Newsletter, where each month we share a short film and conversation centered around a theme. May is Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and given that the majority of our film team are part of the AAPI community, myself included, we fully realize the importance and timeliness of looking at the way we approach and help justice impacts AAPI Folks.

This month, we're featuring the stunning short film Cold Wall and a short interview with writer and director Lilly Hu, who is originally from China. Cold Wall was her award winning IFC thesis film, which is about a young Chinese high school student experiencing an unplanned pregnancy while studying abroad alone in Los Angeles. Cold Wall follows Bei Bei a.k.a Katie as she negotiates her own unwanted pregnancy in an American culture that she doesn't fully understand.

In the second half of this episode, I'll be speaking with Seri Lee, the national campaign and membership director for the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, also referred to in our interview by its acronym NAPAWF, Seri and I talk about the scary time we are living in, staring down the barrel of Roe v Wade being overturned. What reproductive justice is and why it is important for the AAPI community and what we as everyday people can do, even in small ways to ensure abortion access reproductive health and human rights is a reality we can all work toward.

It is a time filled with uncertainty right now. But as Seri quotes, black American abolitionist Mariam Kabir in our interview, "Having hope is a discipline." I love that quote so much and we will not give up. So I hope you enjoy this conversation.

SHOW NOTES:

COLD WALL (Dir. Lilly Hu)
- Watch on Vimeo
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN'S FORUM | NAPAWF
- napawf.org
- Sign your name on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Abortion Solidarity Statement – https://www.napawf.org/abortionsolidarity
Our Blues (Netflix)
Sign up for our free, monthly rePRO Periodical
Visit reprofilm.org for more information

Support the show

If you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you will get each episode of the pod straight to your inbox. Learn more at reprofilm.org or at @reprofilm The rePROFilm Podcast is executive produced by mamafilm. Looking forward to bringing you our next conversation!

rePRO PERIODICAL VOL. 04: AAPI IN THE REPRO CONVO with Lilly Hu of Cold Wall & Seri Lee of NAPAWF

SHOW NOTES:

COLD WALL (Dir. Lilly Hu)
- Watch on Vimeo
NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN WOMEN'S FORUM | NAPAWF
- napawf.org
- Sign your name on the Asian American and Pacific Islander Abortion Solidarity Statement – https://www.napawf.org/abortionsolidarity
Our Blues (Netflix)
Sign up for our free, monthly rePRO Periodical
Visit reprofilm.org for more information

Support the show

Previous Episode

A PERIOD PIECE with Shuchi Talati

rePRO PERIODICAL VOL. 04: A PERIOD PIECE featuring Shuchi Talati, Director/Writer of 'A Period Piece'

This month we’re focusing on menstrual health and all things periods. Yes, the topic that literally billions of people around the world experience, yet is still heavily stigmatized in so many ways. From menstrual products being taxed as “luxury goods” in a number of countries, to the lack of access to period products, and women and girls being shunned from their communities and forced to stay in potentially dangerous spaces because menstruating is considered “dirty” or “unclean” by certain groups, it’s clear we have a long way to go to dismantle harmful cultural norms. But one of the most exciting areas we are seeing change in, is film and media. From the 2018 Oscar-winning short documentary “Period. End of Sentence”, to more recently Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ driving a tonne of conversations on social media about how periods are included in family films, this is what we need to see more of! No more silence!

We are speaking with an acclaimed filmmaker Shuchi Talati, whose short narrative film 'A Period Piece' is breaking silence and taboos in powerful and beautiful ways. Shuchi is originally from India and her work challenges dominant narratives around gender, sexuality, race and South Asian identity. Shuchi is also a writer / producer for documentaries. Recent credits include We Are: Brooklyn Saints for Netflix, and Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas for HBO, where one of Shuchi’s episodes was nominated for a GLAAD award.

Released in 2020, ‘A Period Piece’ follows main character Geetha, a control and order loving Indian-American woman who finally has sex with her lover Vehd one afternoon in her apartment, but things quickly turn messy when period blood stains her pristine couch and a fight erupts while they are having sex. The film has enjoyed nearly 2 years of a successful festival run, including being screened at our very own rePRO Film Fest, as well as SXSW in 2020. Dismantling stigma around menstruation starts with having open conversations and normalizing this very normal thing!

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Next Episode

UNDUE BURDENS with Andrea Raby & Marie Khan

Andrea Raby and Marie Khan in conversation with Asha Dahya

In this bracing conversation, “Undue Burdens” director/producer Andrea Raby and Marie Khan, director of operations for Midwest Access Coalition break down what each of us can do to preserve abortion access and why wearing Handmaid costumes and wielding wire hangers isn’t helpful.

“We have ... abortion pills. We have practical support funds. We have abortion funds. We have mutual aid organizations. We have radical harm reduction spaces.” — Marie Khan on the structures that are in place now that people didn’t have access to 50+ years ago.

Andrea Raby is a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker and producer whose films have played in festivals across the U.S. Her latest short film “Strikers” is supported by IF/Then Shorts. She was a fellow of the 2019 Double Exposure Film Festival with her short film “Undue Burdens.” Her producing credits include podcast “Love is Not” and short documentary “A Galaxy Sits in the Cracks.” She is currently a co-producer on director Ruth Leitman’s in-progress documentary “No One Asked You.”

Marie J Khan (she/her) came on board with Midwest Access Coalition (MAC) in 2016, a practical support organization assisting and funding abortion seekers traveling for care. As the director of programs, she works closely with partner clinics and hospitals, and is a hotline coordinator providing comprehensive logistical planning, booking, and funding for travel/lodging/childcare/food for MAC clients. Marie grew up in Southern Wisconsin, in a conservative Christian space. Once she was able to access more reproductive resources and broaden her worldview, she realized she had much to learn. Connecting with her own South Asian community has been critical in her ongoing process of understanding herself. She’s worked exclusively at bars, nonprofits, and public universities, and is thankful for the radical and fearless thinkers who have helped her survive and thrive.

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rePROFilm Podcast - AAPI IN THE REPRO CONVO with Lilly Hu and Seri Lee

Transcript

Asha Dahya 00;00;13;12
Welcome friends. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Repro Film Podcast as part of the Repo Periodical Newsletter, where each month we share a short film and conversation centered around a theme. May is Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and given that the majority of our film team are part of the AAPI community, myself included, we fully realize the importance and timeliness of looking at the way we approach and help justic