BITTERROOT (2024) with director Vera Brunner-Sung and actor Wa Yang

BITTERROOT (2024) with filmmaker Vera Brunner-Sung and actor Wa Yang

(2024, U.S., in English and Hmong with English subtitles, 85 min, DCP)

Note: this event will be held at Annie May Swift Hall at Northwestern

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In western Montana, recently divorced Lue (Wa Yang) lives with his widowed mother and keeps to a steady, quiet routine: his maintenance job, working his family stand at the farmers market, fly fishing on the river, and midnight outings for karaoke at the local bar.

When he is suddenly laid off, Lue joins a group of Hmong men to forage for coveted morel mushrooms in the mountains scorched by last year’s wildfires. Soon Lue discovers that the spirit world may still have influence over his life—and he must finally face the buried pain that destroyed his marriage.

"Superbly crafted...What impresses most profoundly about Bitterroot is the film's pristine confidence. There is no rush here, but trust in the narrative and the cast [...] with Brunner-Sung's direction gleaning so much from even the smallest of gestures." (Benjamin Poole)

Following the screening, director Vera Brunner-Sung and actor Wa Yang will appear for discussion.

Co-sponsored by the Pritzker Pucker Studio Lab for the Promotion of Mental Health Via Cinematic Arts, the Climate Crisis + Media Arts Working Group of the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Asian American Studies Program.