More about the release2 Notes
A Super 8 postcard of a place. Eli Han stars in this bustling morning scene at a small Chinese bakery in Chicago: Chiu Quon Bakery 超群茶餐廳 on Argyle Street.
Eli and I have been going to Chiu Quon every so often for a few years now, switching colors on the cta for the promise of cheap, cash-only goodies. After I left Chicagoland, Eli moved closer to Chiu Quon, and their bakery visits became walkable and more frequent than "every so often". I visited Eli in Chicago in early 2024 and filmed our visit there.
About a year later, I revisited the footage and asked Eli to record sound for me. They recorded the atmospheric bustle, the sounds of ordering, the crinkle of pastry being packaged. I layered it upon itself, with other things too (there's an easter egg in there for my DC friends). Eli's biggest note when I sent them the first cut was "I miss like... the loud-ass sound of the refrigerators?" So I added it back in, and it felt a lot homier, like how it feels inside Chiu Quon.
Chiu Quon is a film that meshes my senses of home, intertwining who&where I used to be with who&where I am now. No matter how I change, I know I can return to Chiu Quon and enjoy a 叉烧包 (bbq pork bun) that I wish had a little more filling, but tastes like home.
Release Notes (2)
The history of Eli Han and Mishkh
We met in 2019 and have been collaborators ever since. You can see some of our earliest works together under the "personal" section here.
Analog intentions
Chiu Quon was shot on Super 8. Why analog? It’s fun and artistically validating to feel a physical record, tactile in my hands, of the footage I have shot, a film-in-progress. A departure from the modern default that can make the act of filmmaking feel trapped within a screen. When I spend enough time focused on the digital side of filmmaking, sometimes I feel that I myself am trapped within the screen. Why Super 8? Historically, the accessible, on-the-go, family form of cinema, made for shooting home movies. So here is my home movie!
Release details
- Category
- film & videofilm & video - documentaryfilm & video - short
- Release Date
- 2 June 2025
- Catalog number
- F-001