[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Connections Short Films” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_align=”center” title_text_color=”#B27D30″ title_font_size=”50px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Screening 1: 9.30am-10.21am I Screening 2: 12.15pm-12.06pm I Screening 3: 3.00pm-3.51pm” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_align=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Sun & Gold Ballrooms” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_align=”center” title_text_color=”#282B51″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#282B51″ text_font_size=”17px” header_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The second shorts program, Connections, examines the nuanced process of integration, adaptation, and identity formation after migration. The films in this program explore how migrants and refugees navigate daily life in new environments. Themes of belonging, alienation, cultural exchange, and identity negotiation recur throughout, often with a mix of humor, tension, and introspection. These films highlight not only the challenges of integration but also the small, meaningful acts through which connection is sought, negotiated, and sometimes denied. In doing so, Connections foregrounds the ongoing emotional labor of establishing oneself in an unfamiliar world.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/cc2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2025\/06\/Learning-English.jpg” title_text=”Learning English” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Learning English” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_font_size=”40px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Directed by Jean Liu” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#99B9C1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 2024, <\/span>11 minutes<\/span><\/p>\n The first short,<\/span> Learning English<\/span><\/i>, introduces us to Hannah, a recent Chinese immigrant in the U.S. who is eager to improve her English. When she accidentally receives a misdialed call, she capitalizes on the moment to forge a makeshift, one-sided exchange. <\/span>Learning English<\/span><\/i> deftly uses humor to depict the often-absurd realities of navigating a new language, especially the internal contradictions of wanting to integrate while being repeatedly dismissed or ignored. As the program opener, this film by Jean Liu embodies the tentative and often awkward first steps toward connection in a foreign culture.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/cc2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2025\/06\/customs.jpg” title_text=”customs” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Customs” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#B89553″ title_font_size=”40px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Directed by Armita Keyani” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#99B9C1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Norway, 2021, 14 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n Customs<\/span><\/i>, the second short of our Crossing series, follows a Chinese backpacker arriving in a quiet Norwegian village using a Homestay app, only to encounter a breakdown in hospitality and communication. As silent expectations clash with unspoken discomforts, director Armita Keyani reveals how even seemingly welcoming environments can harbor tension. With its meditative pacing and restrained emotion, <\/span>Customs<\/span><\/i> serves as a fitting conclusion to Connections, bringing into focus the fragility of cross-cultural relationships and the emotional uncertainty that lingers beneath everyday exchanges.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/cc2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2025\/06\/Sla\u030a-rundt-busken.jpg” title_text=”Sla\u030a rundt busken” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”Beat Around the Bush \/ Sl\u00e5 Rundt Busken” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_font_size=”40px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Directed by Joern Utkilen” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#99B9C1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 2020, 14 min<\/span><\/p>\n The third short, <\/span>Sl\u00e5 Rundt Busken (Beat Around the Bush) <\/span><\/i>follows Melina, an 18-year-old refugee attempting to enter the job market in Norway. Through dry, almost surreal humor, <\/span>Beat Around the Bush <\/span><\/i>portrays how migrants are often forced to conform to arbitrary standards and face subtle forms of exclusion. This film by Joern Utkilen critiques institutionalized gatekeeping within host countries, raising questions about who gets to \u201cbelong\u201d and under what conditions. As part of Connections, the film examines the bureaucratic and social dimensions of integration with nuance and irony.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/cc2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1715\/2025\/06\/African-Family-Dinner.jpg” title_text=”African Family Dinner” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_heading title=”African Family Dinner” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#B89553″ title_font_size=”40px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_heading title=”Directed by Ibrahim Mursal” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#99B9C1″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Norway, 2024, 13 min.<\/span><\/p>\n African Family Dinner, <\/span><\/i>the last short,<\/span> is a biting social comedy that follows Mona, a young Norwegian, attempts to impress her Ghanaian boyfriend\u2019s family over dinner, only to fumble through assumptions and cultural missteps. Through its sharp dialogue and layered humor, <\/span>African Family Dinner<\/span><\/i> interrogates diasporic identity and performative multiculturalism. It asks what it means to \u201cknow\u201d a culture and how misunderstandings reveal deeper tensions about race, ethnicity, and belonging. Within the Connections program, this film by Ibrahim Mursal broadens the discourse to include the ways cultural exchange unfolds within immigrant communities themselves, not just between migrants and host societies.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The second shorts program, Connections, examines the nuanced process of integration, adaptation, and identity formation after migration. The films in this program explore how migrants and refugees navigate daily life in new environments. Themes of belonging, alienation, cultural exchange, and identity negotiation recur throughout, often with a mix of humor, tension, and introspection. 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