Mila Zuo
Directing
Biography
Mila Zuo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC, as well as the Graduate Advisor for the Cinema & Media Studies graduate programs. Her research areas include transnational Asian cinemas; film-philosophy; abject and enchanted epistemologies; star studies; digital and new media; and critical theories of gender, sexuality, and race and ethnicity. In addition to her scholarly work, Zuo writes, directs, and produces narrative films, visual essays, documentaries, and music videos. Her award-winning short films have screened in international film festivals and universities, including Carnal Orient (2016) which premiered at Slamdance Film Festival, and her short narrative film Kin (2021), which was the recipient of the 2019 Oregon Media Arts Fellowship, and screened at HollyShorts Film Festival. She is currently working on her first feature, Mongoloids, a hybrid docu-fiction project about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and its impacts across generations. This research creation work is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Insight Development Grant.
Known For
In this poetic, fragmented portrait set in rural Oregon, three white millennials struggle to come to terms with their increasing sense of alienation from contemporary society. Their despair leads them to confront their perceived adversities in the most terrible way imaginable. A searing critique of white American values, KIN invites its viewers to contemplate the troubled and long-brewing reality of Trump's America.
Kin
A dark and strangely surreal snapshot of sexual desire aimed at the exotic.
Carnal Orient
A collection of 190-second short films created in response to COVID-19, commissioned by filmmakers Usama Alshaibi and Adam Sekuler.
CINEMA-19
Inspired by Wim Wenders' Room 666, this collaborative project asks 17 filmmakers about the current state of cinema. Selfie style confessionals explore divides in the contemporary media landscape, and ask whether there is still a place for independent filmmaking.