Tie a Yellow Ribbon
credits:
Director: Joy DietrichProducers: Joy Dietrich, Thomas Yong
Writer: Joy Dietrich
Cast: Kim Jiang, Jane Kim, Patrick Heusinger, Ian Wen
World Premiere
USA 2007 | 87 mins | HDCAM | English w/E.S.
IN PERSON (at select screenings): Joy Dietrich, Lars Bonde, Pil Bonde, Kim Jiang, Patrick Heusinger, Ian Wen, Theresa Ngo, Michael Bressman, Thomas Yong, Jay Lewis
New York filmmaker Joy Dietrich, who showcased her short film SURPLUS at SFIAAFF ‘01, returns with a feature-length film on the lives of three Asian American women desperately needing to feel some kind of connection. Jenny Mason, a jagged Korean adoptee, is unable to let go of her family’s past, and refuses to let anyone in emotionally. An aspiring photographer, her work’s visceral beauty seems frozen in time, much like her own inner turmoil. Her life intersects with two other Asian American women, Bea and Sandy. Bea, a delicate beauty, is afraid to be alone and doesn’t know how to handle the silent expectations placed on her. Sandy, dubbed a “mouse,” is a skittish, shy girl who can’t seem to find her own voice enough to be respected and noticed. As Bea and Sandy struggle to find love, acceptance and connection, they help Jenny see how she must stop running and face her own damaged past. TIE A YELLOW RIBBON is a rare view into the very real, emotionally complex interior of a Korean adoptee who needs to reconcile her feelings on race, identity and family, complexes that have nothing to do with a birth-mother search. One of the first feature films to address the abnormally high rates of suicide and depression among Asian American women, this groundbreaking work entices and challenges us to look at the hard, imperfect struggles that Asian American women face on a daily basis.
—Lynne Connor
