Over the phone, my mother reads and explains the inspiration behind the poem, “Snow”. As she speaks, family stories spill out illustrating our messy immigration path and the diversity of the Chinese diaspora. The result is an intimate glimpse into how a splintered family can still connect over the frosty element—snow.
LANGUAGE : English, Mandarin Chinese COUNTRY : USA YEAR : 2025 DURATION : 10m DIRECTOR, ARTIST : Hai-Li Kong COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER : Yu Shi
Director statement : This film was inspired by my mother’s homework assignment. For her art class, she was prompted to create a painting inspired by a poem. She chose “Snow,” written by her late sister, Cheng Sait Chia. Posthumously, Chia has been called “a leading light” by The Globe and Mail and “a lost Canadian poet” by Arc Poetry.
I thought it would be fun for my mom and I to create together. So I co-opted her homework assignment and made it my own. I would create a video inspired by the same poem.
An homage to my aunt, who I never met, this film reiterates her work and reveals the personal and socio-political tensions from which her words were birthed from.
Bio : Hai-Li Kong is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and editor who is passionate about stories involving immigration, Asian diaspora, and intergenerational narratives. She currently works in post at Wavelength Productions, where she has contributed to award-winning feature documentaries, narrative films, TV series, and branded content. She also serves as the Archival Programmer for the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) and consulting programmer for Think!Chinatown’s Chinatown Storytelling Festival.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
