Life Is Elsewhere 何處是彼岸
Dir. Jiamin Zhao, Prod. Roku Long, USA, 2022, 15MIN
Yan, a graduate student, chooses her Chinese-American student Lynne as the subject of her thesis on identity. As their lessons deepen, Yan’s disillusionment with her hometown collides with Lynne’s fascination for it—until a moment of crisis forces Yan to rediscover the beauty she once rejected.
Trailer from Life is Elsewhere
Starring Jiseun Cho, Erin Luo, Anita Ho
Director of Photography, Lorena De Leon
Chicago, Illinois, 2023
“Jazmin’s work has always carried a strong sense of Eastern sensibility — a quiet poeticism rooted in her cultural background. Life Is Elsewhere is no exception. Her stories often drift between home and distance, the familiar and the foreign, capturing that subtle tension between attachment and escape.
In this film, we continue to explore the idea of belonging — how people define themselves between where they come from and where they dream of going. Through the lens, questions of identity are never answered directly, but revealed in the delicate emotions that arise when one stands between two worlds.”
