Filmmaker Statement

I’ve always been drawn to the chaos of ordinary life—the strange ways internal struggles find their way out. Shame, identity, insecurity—these things rarely announce themselves directly. Instead, they show up in awkward silences, misguided schemes, offhanded comments, and the comedy of trying too hard to fit in. There’s absurdity in our motivations, and often a surprising tenderness too. As a Chinese immigrant growing up in North Carolina in the late ’90s and early 2000s, I learned that clash of cultures and assimilation doesn’t always arrive as a dramatic conflict. More often, subtly trickled through laughter, contradiction, and moments I didn’t fully understand until I was an adult. In many immigrant communities, the unspoken task is to deconstruct your culture just enough to fit in. That’s both heartbreaking and, frankly, hilarious. The tension between honoring your home and figuring out your journey has shaped so many of my stories—and We are Kings is no exception. This shor