Municipal

Portrait of the filmmaker's stepsister, Tracy, and her mother, Trang, both recent Arizona residents who moved from Vietnam. The film documents daily life amidst their new environment, the home of the filmmaker's father. The assembly of the film was guided by narration initially written and then recited by Tracy.

Documents the existence of Zhou Bao Yang, an 86 year old from China, who resides in the suburban outskirts of Los Angeles. The absences in Zhou’s life are only alluded to, and the causes of her discontent, if any, remain concealed. Originally translated from German into English, the film features passages translated into Chinese and narrated in Taishanese, Zhou’s spoken dialect. The words belong to the fictional schoolboy of Swiss author Robert Walser, who notes, “A boy can speak words of great wisdom and great stupidity at practically the same moment.”