MUTE (2022)

The night before her high school subject selection is due, 16-year-old Lani must confront her tired and overworked mother, Alba, about studying music instead of chemistry at school. Having agreed to do chemistry at the bequest of Alba, Lani puts off the conversation until the last minute. On the final night before Lani's selection is due, Alba is pinned with the responsibility of fixing a major work crisis leaving Lani to weigh up what's more important; her desire to pursue a passion or her duties as a daughter.

Genre: Coming of Age, Family Drama, Student

Runtime: 14:59 minutes

Director's Statement: 

Mute addresses the inter-generational challenges of changing cultural and social values within families of collectivist cultures living in individualistic countries. 

Despite wanting to be an artist as a child, I abandoned that dream in my teens feeling pressure to be a good daughter to my hardworking, single mother. After 5 years studying science and information technology at university, I was confronted with a profound unhappiness. Having reflected on what I had learnt from my parents own careers, I decided to revisit the dream of being an artist as an adult when most of my friends were kick starting their careers. Still learning how to tell stories visually, I used my graduate film as an exploration of the 'what if'? What if I had taken the step to pursue passion and push against what I 'should do' when I was a teenager? 

Through the process of making this film I came to understand that my own unhappiness was not a product of what I was doing with my life, rather a lack of connection with my family highlighting the importance of mutual understanding and respect within family units. This is at the heart of Mute as a story.