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"We can't afford to make mistakes like others..." The trailer has debuted for an indie film titled Smoking Tigers, a coming-of-age story about a young woman which is also the feature directorial debut of Korean-American filmmaker So Young Shelly Yo. This premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival last year, and won Best screenplay & Best Performance, before picking up awards at the Denver & Austin Film Festivals as well. Over one summer spent at an elite academic bootcamp, a lonely Korean-American teenager hides her problematic family & lower-income background to fit in with her new wealthy friends, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood. The film is "about traversing the demands of being a young, first-generation American grappling with teenage angst while lifting up the family members struggling (and at times flailing) around you." The film stars Ji-Young Yoo, Jung Joon Ho, Abin Andrews, Erin Choi, Erin Yoo, and Phinehas Yoon. It...

Since the tremendous commercial success of the film “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018, there has been a gradual increase in the number of pictures being produced in America that depict the lives of its Asian citizens. This trend allows for the presentation of the experiences of this over 20 million-strong group of people to a broad audience. Such portrayal can be seen in “Smoking Tigers”, a full-length debut by So Young Shelly Yo. The movie, made by a first-generation Korean-American director, screenwriter, and editor from California, was praised by critics and received several awards, including for the Best Performance, the Best Screenplay, and the Nora Ephron Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Smoking Tigers is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase

After her two previous shorts, “Moonwalk with Me” from 2018 and “Soft Sounds of Peeling Fruit” from 2021, So Young Shelly Yo continues to touch on the topic of a...