NARRATIVE SHORT
AUGUST 31, 2022
USA | 1 minute | 2022
Drama short film directed by Cassandra Hsiao
Starring Tessa Wong, MoniQue Rangell-Onwuegbuzia, Andy Valdez
Of Choice
A young woman must make a life-changing decision.
Interview
CineAsian Films (CAF): What was the inspiration behind Of Choice?
Cassandra Hsiao: I completed OF CHOICE as part of CAPE’s Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, where we were given just four lines of dialogue and asked to make a micro short, no longer than 1 minute! After receiving those four lines of dialogue, I must’ve came up with more than 20 different possible scenarios until finally settling on this one. I knew I wanted a gritty, female-forward story.
CAF: What were some of the challenges you faced during production?
Hsiao: OF CHOICE marks my directorial debut! The main challenge was that I was new to the whole process and learned a ton from my cast and crew. Learning curve was steep but I gained so much from the journey of writing, producing, directing and editing this short.
CAF: What do you hope people can take away from watching this film?
Hsiao: I hope people are intrigued by these two girls’ stories, and experience a feeling of catharsis within this one minute short.
CAF: Have you been working on anything new?
Hsiao: Always grinding. I come from the world of theater so I’m returning to my roots by working on a full length play about old wounds, creating our own versions of reality, and controlled forest fires.
Of Choice 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, Co-writer: Cassandra Hsiao
Co-writer: Alice Wu
Cinematographer: Andrew Prawoto
Composer: Yali Arbel
Camera & Sound Operator: Edwin Chang
Script Supervisor: Eric Fan
Sound Editor: Jeremy Hsiao
CineAsian Films 