Paradise Aquarium

An evening of short films curated by Emily May Jampel featuring works from four emerging New York-based filmmakers depicting themes of water, city life, and the search for connection. Presented in collaboration with NowHere.
This program of short films features works by Eve Liu, Jeannie Sui Wonders, Alexa Lim Haas, and Kevin Xian Ming Yu. Following a Chinese manicurist in Miami, a nonbinary Asian-American from Queens attempting to reconnect with their estranged father, a middle school girl at a sleepover in suburban Michigan, and two unhinged female filmmakers in Chinatown Manhattan who decide to break up with their boyfriends and make a bold decision with their lives, these films capture dynamic individuals across the Asian diaspora navigating new environments, family tensions, isolation and fervid rivalry.
These award-winning films have collectively screened at festivals worldwide, including Cannes Directors' Fortnight, Venice, Sundance, SXSW, New York Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, Aspen Shortsfest, and more. These four directors are currently developing their first feature-length projects and represent some of the most exciting new voices in independent film today.
This program is co-produced and curated by Emily May Jampel, presented in partnership with NowHere.

Program
7:00pm - Doors
7:30pm - Screening begins promptly
8:15pm - Q&A with filmmakers in attendance moderated by Emily May Jampel
9:00pm - Finish
Films:
Moon Lake dir. Jeannie Sui Wonders
Agua Viva dir. Alexa Lim Haas
Yú Cì (Fish Bones) dir. Kevin Xian Ming Yu
Nervous Energy dir. Eve Liu

Curator

Emily May Jampel is a director, writer, and actress from Honolulu based in Brooklyn. Her films have screened at festivals including Palm Springs, Aspen ShortsFest, and Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. She previously worked as Development Executive at The Department of Motion Pictures and served as creative consultant on Constance Tsang's feature Blue Sun Palace, which premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week 2024 and received four Independent Spirit Award nominations. Emily is a 2026 NYSCA grantee and 2024–2025 UFO Short Film Lab fellow hosted at BAM, and was listed on the 2024 Dazed100.

Filmmakers

Eve Liu is a Chinese Australian filmmaker based in New York City. She holds an MFA from NYU Tisch, where her thesis film, Nervous Energy, was executive produced by Spike Lee and screened at Cannes, SXSW, and NYFF, among others.

Jeannie Sui Wonders is a filmmaker based in New York City. She began her career with Roger Corman and Sofia Coppola, and studied filmmaking at Harvard. Her debut fiction short film, MOON LAKE, premiered in competition at the 2024 81st Venice Film Festival.

Alexa Lim Haas (she/they) is a Filipino-American artist, filmmaker, and bodyworker from NYC. Their interdisciplinary practice moves between film and somatics, exploring liminal femmes, tropical futurism, and nonverbal communication. They are best known for their short film Agua Viva (Sundance, Rotterdam, SXSW), following an immigrant manicurist navigating mistranslation and intimacy.

Kevin Xian Ming Yu (they/them) is a non-binary filmmaker from Queens, NY. Kevin received the 2025 NewFest/Netflix New Voices Filmmaker Grant and they were a 2024 Film at Lincoln Center Artist Academy Fellow. Their latest short film ”i saw you in the flood”, premiered at SXSW 2026 and their previous short “Yú Cì (Fish Bones),” premiered at SXSW 2025. Both films were supported by the UFO Short Film Lab. Kevin is committed to telling stories that start empathetic conversations across generations within Asian-American communities and diaspora.

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