FACT presents the premiere of Andrew Thomas Huang’s coming-of-age fantasy, which follows a Chinese-American girl living in 1960s Los Angeles.
Lily Chan and the Doom Girls follows the titular Lily, a repressed Chinese-American girl who discovers her own voice when she is adopted by an anarchic and glamorous girl gang, the Doom Girls.
The short is a glimpse of Andrew Thomas Huang’s debut feature film, TIGER GIRL, a surreal coming-of-age fantasy set in 1960s Los Angeles that unfolds as Lily Chan discovers a tiger living in the attic of the home she shares with her socially anxious and domineering mother.
“As a standalone short film, Lily Chan & the Doom Girls shows another dimension to my growing practice of telling coming of age stories about Asian diaspora”, explains Huang. “It is important for me to tell this story as a period piece to show that Asian youth lived and thrived at this time in American history even though we were not represented.”
“I grew up seeing photos of my Chinese family in the 60s but have yet to see them on screen. Doom Girls is a first sample of this world and I will be expanding it in my longer feature TIGER GIRL which is currently being supported by the Sundance Directors Lab.”
“Doom Girls was also an opportunity to workshop scenes with young talented Asian American talent. The film stars actresses Mimi Lu as Lily, Hojo Shin as Janine, Michelle Park as Cookie and Linda Ngo as Margie.”
Made with support from Google Creator Labs, the short was shot entirely using a Pixel 4 smartphone over the course of a single day. Cinematographer Andrew Yuyi Truong worked with Google’s technology to give the film its uniquely filmic look.
The short also features music from Japanese Breakfast, aka Michelle Zauner, who reworked her track ‘Moon on the Bath’, from her 2016 album Psychopomp, especially for the film.
For more information about Andrew Thomas Huang and his work, you can visit his website and follow him on Instagram.
Lily Chan and the Doom Girls Credits:
Written & Directed by Andrew Thomas Huang
Produced by Evaline Wu Huang
Cast:
Lily – Mimi Lu
Janine – Hojo Shin
Margie – Linda Ngo
Cookie – Michelle Park
Cinematographer – Andrew Yuyi Truong
Production Designer – Stella Deng
Editor – Armen Harootun
Costume Designer – Stephanie Strate
Makeup & Hair artist – Kelly Park
Casting Director – Charlene Lee
Sound Designer – Judy Kim
Colorist – Gabe Sanchez
Music by Japanese Breakfast
BTS stills by Sergey Nikitenko
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