🔗Thank you for visiting our home. You are welcome to come over anytime 🔗VCA graduating short film BUBBLE 🔗 

⭕️ Synopsis ⭕️

Bubble is a ten-minute family drama about a lonely immigrant mother and her daughter as they come together once a year to celebrate Chinese New Year. However, her daughter brings home a partner - a bubble tea drink. A night that’s supposed to be about togetherness goes awry because the mother cannot believe the daughter she’s raised has lost her mind and taken an object as a baby. NOTICE: Bubble tea is no longer playing the part of Pearl’s lover but as her Baby. (20/07/2019) 

 Hilda Zhang as Mama

An immigrant mother who takes her role as a mother seriously - as though it is a job. When her daughter returns home with a bubble tea baby, she questions what she did wrong. She's devoted herself to raise her daughter but neglects her own passions in life.

Brooke Rayner as Pearl

Pearl is like her mother, strong-willed and stubborn with her own beliefs. The only thing that understands her is Bub, her bubble tea partner. It brings her joy and acceptance. She wants to show her mother that she is capable of controlling her own life.

⭕️ Writer-Director Statement ⭕️

Hello 👋 My name is Gwendolyn Lin, but you can call me Gwen. I'm a Chinese-Kiwi currently studying at the Victorian College of the Arts. I am grateful that I have this opportunity to share my story and my graduate film with you.

I believe that people tell stories because it is an integral part of being human. Filmmaking is a beautiful baby formed by sight and sound. An artform that transports the audience to an alternate storyline - just to escape their own reality, or gain insight into another's reality. Through writing and directing shorts, I have learnt a lot about myself and others around me and- why people act or react the way they do.

This story was inspired by my own mother - to acknowledge our unspoken love for each other. Since writing this film, I have already learnt new things from my mother. I hope that in the future when I become a mother myself, I can rewatch this film to remind myself how amazing women are.

⭕️ Writer-Director Goal ⭕️

My goal for this film is to explore the role of a mother - and in doing so, understand my own mother and the mother I want to become in the future. People say, “You don't know what you've got until it's gone” so it’s pretty easy to take our mothers for granted since they never leave us alone. 

We need our mothers right from the first breath we take, but we will never understand the toll it had on them physically and mentally. As we grow up and become adults ourselves, the less we need them to nurture us and they find themselves lost without their maternal identity. 

I hope that we acknowledge the hard work that goes unnoticed, and mothers don’t let their role define who they are. 

⭕️ The Future of this Film ⭕️

The short film Bubble is a depiction of a maternal relationship from a middle-aged mother's perspective. In this story, Mama does not understand why and how her daughter is in this absurd relationship. She wants to be the one that her daughter loves and needs because without her daughter - who is she? 

Bubble is a ‘slice-of-life’ piece that shows moments of a family Chinese New Year dinner. Within this one night, the relationship between the mother and daughter explores what has occurred in the past, and how they expect their future to be.  

By observing this family, we are confronted by their private conversations and interactions. We believe this story can be a reflective experience for a mass audience around the world!

🎬 We've finished our shoot - Such a journey. The energy on set was so ‘BUBBLE’ that really helped each creative decision-making. Some moments really captured us - those moments captured us! Please head over to our FB page for more updates: https://www.facebook.com/BubbleShortFilm2019/ 

Your contribution will support our production design, and help us secure a house. These elements will enable us to create an intimate personal space that demonstrates the memories and the inner world of this family.