‘DEATH EDUCATION’ (Sundance 2025 short) An undeniably thought-provoking and respectful lesson.

Sundance 2025 banner logoDEATH EDUCATION

死亡教育课

WORLD PREMIERE

Death Education red bags Sundance 2025

Yuxuan Ethan Wu‘s Sundance 2025 short DEATH EDUCATION has no soundtrack. Wu’s cinematography and Tairui Zhu‘s location sound set the tone for the entire film. This pensive piece opens in quiet stillness, then transitions into jarring images of things the public never sees — a sterile metal morgue of a funeral home and the cremation of an unknown child. 

death education students Sundance 2025The Chinese tradition of Tomb Sweeping Day gets a stark contrast as teacher Jianbo Qian brings his students, grades 7 to 12, to a communal burial for unnamed ashes. Each one carefully handles a red bag filled with the remains of people unclaimed by loved ones. It is an exercise exploring death, respect, and reflection.

Death Education Sundance 2025Heartbreaking, eye-opening, and thoughtful, in thirteen minutes, DEATH EDUCATION has an unshakable impact. It begs you to think beyond your comfort zone. It is a beautifully universal lesson in empathy.


DEATH EDUCATION: CHINA, 2023, 13 min. In Mandarin Chinese. Directed by Yuxuan Ethan Wu; Field Producer: Zheng Hua; Cinematographer and Editor: Yuxuan Ethan Wu; Sound Design: Dave Cerf; Location Sound: Tairui Zhu; Sound Mix: Guodong Zhang; Colorist: Fu Shu; Poster by Qin Zhaoying.

Remaining DEATH EDUCATION Screenings:
Tuesday, January 28th
3.00 p.m.

 

Broadway Centre Cinemas 3
Saturday, February 1st
8.10 p.m.

 

Megaplex Redstone 2
January 30 – February 3
Sundance ONLINE

SYNOPSIS

In China, on the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, families visit graves to honor their ancestors. It’s a moment for the living to connect with the dead, where the words on tombstones tell stories of lives lived and relationships formed. Yet, in funeral homes, there are unnamed ashes— some belonging to children as young as two years old, others left behind for decades. These unclaimed ashes, without names or histories, remain forgotten, with only the date of their cremation marked. Through the ritual of a communal burial, Teacher Jianbo Qian seeks to open up the conversation about death for his students, many of whom are encountering this subject for the first time. The attending students, ranging from seventh to twelfth grade, pick up red bags of scattered ashes, reflecting on the emotions of loss and grief.

FILMMAKER: Yuxuan Ethan Wu (吴雨轩)

Ethan is an emerging filmmaker and photographer based in the Bay Area. He graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts Production and a minor in Photography. Born and raised in Changsha, China, Ethan has lived in various cities, including Beijing, Boston, and New York City. He frequently travels between the U.S. and China and is currently residing in Palo Alto, where he is pursuing an MFA at Stanford University in the Documentary Film Program. His work has been featured by major news outlets, such as Phoenix New Media, Tencent, NetEase, and TJ Sports. His documentary films have been showcased at renowned international festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, and art house venues like the Anthology Film Archives.

For more Sundance coverage, click here!

‘FISHTANK’ (HollyShorts 2024) A wildly effective metaphor.

HollyShorts 2024 logoFISHTANK

Wendi Tang’s stunning new short FISHTANK follows Jules (Tiffany Chu), a Chinese American woman, who has been sober for a year, but can’t stop vomiting goldfish. Things take an unexpected turn when she suddenly meets a fish enthusiast.

fishtank

In Wendi Tang‘s HollyShorts film, FISHTANK, Jules is sober, but now, instead of vomiting from alcohol, she throws up goldfish. When she meets a new partner who seems to love the fish, her path to recovery gets slippery.

Jay Swuen‘s cinematography is elegant and immersive. Startling angles and stunning close-ups keep you both entranced and off-kilter. The soothing score from Caroline Ho lulls us as this little emotional rollercoaster twists and turns.

Tiffany Chu navigates the complexities of this role with grace. Her physical performance is award-worthy, weaving in and out of sick fits and clouded happiness.

This incredible metaphor for self-worth and addiction, gaslighting, and abusive relationships mesmerizes with its creative magical realism. FISHTANK is unlike anything I’ve seen all year. It is an unexpected reclamation of power.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/912507205

Fishtank | Trailer from Wendi Tang on Vimeo.

  • Year:
    2024
  • Runtime:
    0:17:04
  • Language:
    English
  • Country:
    USA/China
  • Premiere:
    West Coast
  • Rating:
    G
  • Director:
    Wendi Tang
  • Screenwriter:
    Wendi Tang
  • Producer:
    Philip Yuzhong Ge
  • Cast:
    Tiffany Chu; Isaac W. Jay
  • Cinematographer:
    Jay Swuen
  • Editor:
    Yijuan “Reggie” Zhao; Christine Ho
  • Production Design:
    Cyrum A. Ramírez
  • Sound Design:
    One Thousand Birds

FISHTANK is the Tribeca Women Filmmaker’s Program Winner, the Film Pipeline Short Script Competition Winner in 2022. The film played at the deadCenter Film Festival and SXSW Sydney and will screen at the upcoming Oscar-qualifying Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival and HollyShorts Film Festival.

Wendi Tang is a Los Angeles-based writer/director. She graduated from the NYU Tisch/Stern dual degree program. Wendi’s work focuses on character-driven stories that explore various corners of female narratives. Her short films have been selected by numerous Oscar-qualifying film festivals worldwide, including Flicker’s Rhode Island IFF, the Norwegian Short Film Festival, deadCenter Film Festival, Hollyshorts, and more.  She is a 2022 NYC Women’s Fund winner and a BAFTA Connect Member. She’s currently developing her first feature film.

Philip Yuzhong Ge is a Chinese producer based in LA.  A graduate of the AFI Producing program, Philip produced 30+ short films, music videos, and commercials. These works have been featured by platforms such as 88rising and Nowness China. His narrative and documentary works were selected by and won awards at multiple Oscar-qualified festivals including Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Charlotte, Shorts Shorts, and deadCenter. Philip’s most recent producing credits include Worthy (LALIFF/Netflix Inclusion Fellowship), and Gungnir (Sundance TAAF AAPI Collab). Philip is also a 2024 Film Independent Project Involve Producing Fellow and a 2022 Telluride TeamLAB fellow.

HollyShorts 20th banner

For more short film reviews, click here!