How many Gen Z filmmakers say, nah, the story I'm feeling is a middle aged undocumented Chinese immigrant cook worried about survival in America. And it's 23 minutes long. You'll hear in almost every professional film course or, ahem, podcast, short films are hard to make or make your film shorter for festivals. And that advice is right, of course.

It's great advice. But it doesn't even begin to speak to what makes art and a singular vision special, and for my guest today, Taiwanese-American filmmaker Benny Chen, his vision is HAND (2026), which premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival this year, and I'm here for it.

Here for what's great about filmmakers like Benny. Understand the advice, and then if your vision calls for it, break it. It's the only way we got somewhere closer to the Holy Grail of independent filmmaking: authenticity. And that alone is the advice that can never be sacrificed.

In this episode, Benny and I discuss:

• what it was like seeing HAND in a theater -- props to the Cleveland International Film Festival;
• his journey from Taiwan to filmmaking;
• what he means by finding the balance between Eastern and Western cinema;
• if he feels HAND connects the two and how he describes the film;
• the run time of 23 minutes;
• casting middle aged people as a young filmmaker;
• the benefits of making a short film for his team;
• what's next for him and what does being a Taiwanese-American filmmaker mean to him.

Benny's Indie Film Highlight: WE WERE HERE (2026) dir. by Pranav Bhasin

Links:

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