Director Wayne Wang returns from Hollywood to indie filmmaking with THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA, a complex drama about the conflicted emotional landscape of a young woman at a crossroads. Based on a short story by award-winning writer Yiyun Li, the film stars newcomer Li Ling in a stunning debut as Sasha, a pregnant teen who travels alone from Omaha to San Francisco for an abortion.

When Sasha arrives in California, she struggles with her decision to end her pregnancy, the product of a one-night stand with close friend Yang. She clashes with her host, Boshen (Brian Danforth), an older man deported from China for his AIDS activist work. The source of this hostility lies in their overlapping history: he, too, had a tryst with Yang.

Unable to cope with the strain of the triangulated romance, Yang cuts off communication with both Boshen and Sasha. In a desperate effort to lure Yang back into their lives, Boshen tries to convince Sasha to keep her baby. But Sasha’s resentment and anger quickly come to a head, and she storms out after an argument to wander the streets alone. In Chinatown, she meets a local karaoke bar hostess, X (Pamelyn Chee). Fascinated by her bravado and independence, Sasha spends an evening of debauchery with X and her clientele.

Shot through the kinetic lens of cinematographer and co-director Richard Wong (COLMA: THE MUSICAL, AAIFF06), the camera confronts Sasha’s vanity with great intimacy, but she remains emotionally aloof and unpredictable. For director Wang, this paradox is the hallmark of a new generation of post-Tiananmen Square Chinese youth—endlessly self-documenting their lives with cell phones and computers, while embracing a sense of historical amnesia and emotional instability.

Sasha shifts from ferocious recklessness—slipping her hands into the purses of dinner guests—to defiant vulnerability as a patient in a health clinic. She is an ethically ambivalent and fiercely independent creature, neither ingénue nor fallen woman.

Wang and his co-director work to shape a new future for Asian American film, which diverges from a mainstream portrayals. Defying the predictions of recent films such as HAROLD AND KUMAR, Wang, like his protaganist, explores the potential for an Asian American cinema with a independent sensibility that is both complicated and uncertain.

Wayne Wang, Richard Wong, and Ling Li will be in attendance.

Join us for the Opening Night Gala following the screening. Following the gala, join us at the M.A.T.H. Club's Opening Night Afterparty@Forbidden City. Car service to Forbidden City will be provided by Toyota.

See also: On Asian/American Aesthetics

Read more: From Far To Near: Asian American Cinema Expands and Interview with Wayne Wang.