NARRATIVE SHORT
NOVEMBER 2, 2022
USA | 13 minutes | 2021
Drama short film directed by Shan Jiang
Starring Carol Landis, Mika Wurf
Apricot Jam
A mother reconciles with the disappearance of her daughter years after.
Interview
CineAsian Films (CAF): What was the inspiration behind Apricot Jam?
Shan Jiang: I wanted to depict a scenario where a person finally lets go of something very important despite having been lost for a while. In this case, I imagined a scenario where the person gets to re-encounter this important being and even relive some of the fond memories together while having the conscious thought in the back of the mind that this is probably the true closure.
CAF: What were some of the challenges you faced during production?
Jiang: Upstate [New York] weather. I intended to contrast the sunny atmosphere with the gloomy one for different moments throughout the story. For example, I wanted the scene where the daughter appears to be very sunny and high-contrast. But looking straight at a window wasn’t helping because it was clearly gloomy outside.
CAF: What do you hope people can take away from watching this film?
Jiang: We all grasp when the thing we try to hold onto is already inevitably gone, and that grasping feeling has a reverberating effect even after you have technically arrived at a “closure.”
CAF: Are you working on anything new?
Jiang: Yes. I’m about to direct a short film where a father fails to defend his own daughter in front of his business partner – a tale where an older, upper class white man’s comfort zone is being confronted by a woman’s awakening self-defense, and that woman happens to be his daughter. On the other hand, I am writing my thesis film that is more on the surreal, experimental side, but it deals even more with some poignant aspects in my life, especially when it comes to identity.
Apricot Jam is one of the many great projects shared with CineAsian Films through our submissions process. If you’d like to join them, submit your project.
Credits
Director, Writer: Shan Jiang
Producer: Zhouanqi Liu
Co-producer: Stephanie Fine
Executive Producer: Betsey Grupp
Cinematographer: Mengyuan He
Editor: Olivia Wu
CineAsian Films 