Part one of two: 

Part two of two: 

 Directed and edited by Calvin Sun. Produced by Aretha Choi, Marilla Li, and Calvin Sun.

***WINNER of the audience favorite “One to Watch Award” in the longest running Asian American film festival in the world; the 30th Annual Asian American International Film Festival!!!***

Director’s Note:

We do NOT intend to show that issues like anorexia and bulimia are specifically Asian American problems. We instead wanted people to see that Asian Americans teenagers struggle with eating disorders just like any other American.

It has been a phenomenon that issues such as eating disorders has been an extremely taboo subject among Asian Americans who come from more conservative backgrounds.

We also must reveal the contradiction of how Asian American girls are pressured in this society to look both “western” and “Asian.”

This includes pressures on how many Asian American girls are supposed to play up this well-known image of looking innocent, weak, and petite as “attractive”, but at the same time mainstream media depicts Asian American females as alluring, “exotic,” and sexy.

We want to show that some are finally speaking out on the issue.

An otherwise taboo subject to talk about among specifically Asian Americans, students at Columbia University are now tired of keeping mum about the issue and are speaking out.

This video does not aim to cover every single ground regarding the topic; instead it seeks to begin dialogue with a generalized approach to the problems as a first step. We want first to show that Asian Americans are like any other American struggling with issues of body image while at the same time facing pressures coming from their own respective cultures.

This video certainly focuses on the former point; We hope that the latter will be explored more in the future. 

We also hope that the people in this video will inspire others around the world to undertake similar projects that would focus deeper into these issues regarding body image and perhaps more specifically Asian American body image.

Therefore, this is only the beginning.

Produced by Aretha Choi & Marilla Li.

Directed & edited by Calvin Sun.