MICHELLE

Growing up can be hard, especially a shy Asian American girl who’s being picked on by grade school bullies. But when things get hard, it helps to find a hero to inspire you. For this young woman, it’s figure skating icon: Michelle Kwan.

THIS FILM IS AVAILABLE ON DEMAND. 

About the Filmmaker: Kenya Gillespie is a Japanese American filmmaker and composer based in Austin, TX. His narrative short film JEREMIAH received its international premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival (Cinéfondation) where it was nominated for the short film Queer Palm. It won Best Score at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and was nominated for the Jury Prize for Best American Short Film at the Champs Élysées Film Festival. He was also nominated for the 2019 Kodak Excellence in the Craft of Filmmaking Award and is a two-time recipient of an Austin Film Society Grant for JEREMIAH and his narrative short film MICHELLE.

Kenya received a BA in music from Yale University and an MM in music composition from Rice University. He is currently an MFA graduate student in Film Production at the University of Texas at Austin.

Precedes

WHITE ELEPHANT + MICHELLE

Directed by Andrew Chung

Pooja is a 90’s kid caught in a struggle between her Indian heritage and Canadian nationality. She thinks high school is a bore until she meets and falls for Trevor.