Occupational Hazards (Shorts Program)
Co-presented by University of Washington Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.
Thank you for your interest in working as an Asian in America. We are so proud of your contributions to this country. Your hard work has greatly benefited and helped sustain this global empire of capitalism and conquest. As long as you follow our rules, you won't have to worry about any of the occupational hazards. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact HR.
We Were the Scenery
Directed by Christopher Radcliff
Runtime: 15 minutes
The story of Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che, who, in 1975, after fleeing the Vietnam War by boat and docking in the Philippines, were utilized as background extras in the filming of APOCALYPSE NOW.
No Land Beneath Our Wings
Directed by Vimel Meng
Runtime: 14 minutes
When Asian immigrant and working-visa holder Iris discovers that her work has been erased once again during a key presentation, she decides to fight back. Trapped by her visa status yet desperate for justice, she hunts for lost footage that could expose her manager’s racism — only to confront what resistance might cost her. As colleagues stay silent and the system tightens around her, Iris must choose between survival and defiance — in a world that never promised her land beneath her wings.
Denial
Directed by Katherine Ichinose
Runtime: 5 minutes
A short film inspired by the current events of Lokken v. United Health Group.
How to Find a Career that Loves You Back
Directed by Ethernet Wang
Runtime: 25 minutes
Beneath the unblinking gaze of a surveillance drone, human lives are reduced to data points, labeled and sorted with clinical precision. Khloe, a trans software developer at Scryr, has built a fragile sense of stability inside this defense technology company, believing certainty is worth the cost. When Scryr sends Khloe to her alma mater’s career fair to highlight their workplace diversity, she is paired with the seasoned and world-weary Joyce, the company’s only other trans woman. Presenting at the fair and recruiting young hopefuls unsettles Khloe and forces her to question the values behind her work. What begins as a routine trip becomes an emotional reckoning with ambition and the price of stability in a world that demands sacrifice.
Horse Fly
Directed by Alex Park
Runtime: 14 minutes
In a future of fragmented nation-states, a disillusioned intelligence officer serves as the final human authority for an automated drone system, bearing the silent moral weight of lethal strikes she experiences only through a screen.
Daily Worker
Directed by Ting Su
Runtime: 10 minutes
Digitizing union newspapers in the quiet of a darkroom, a filmmaker reflects on her relationship to labor and the meaning of work.
Sands Street
Directed by Claro de los Reyes
Runtime: 18 minutes
A steward and a welder from different backgrounds forge an unexpected bond in 1940s Brooklyn.
Frozen in Time
Directed by Caleb Soon
Runtime: 4 minutes
A music video for "Frozen in Time" by Vinius, which, through playful surrealism, explores the post-2020 social malaise experienced by many Americans, alienation from nature, and feeling stuck in an endless cycle of meaningless labor.
Shitfly
Directed by Julian Park
Runtime: 15 minutes
In a burning city at the end of the world, a delivery driver must journey to visit his ailing father before it’s too late.
In-Person
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Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute
Sat, May 30 · 4:05 PM – 6:05 PM
Virtual
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Available to viewers in the United States
June 1–7, 2026