Children of Invention

Nominated for Grand Jury Prize!

Writer/Director: Tze Chun

Cast: Cindy Cheung, Michael Chen, Crystal Chiu

Producers: Mynette Louie, Trevor Sagan, Dan Cogan and Dave Saltzman

Elaine Cheng (Cindy Cheung, LADY IN THE WATER) wants nothing more than to help her family out of tough economic times. She works odd jobs and can’t get any help from her estranged husband. But after she and her two children Tina (Crystal Chiu) and Raymond (Michael Chen) are evicted from their home, Elaine has no choice but to squat in an unfinished apartment building. Elaine, now more desperate than ever, finds herself getting wrapped up into a suspiciously vague pyramid scheme. With Elaine at home less and less, Tina and Raymond try to maintain a normal life going to school and entertaining themselves by making simple, childish inventions out of the few things they find around the apartment. However all this changes for Tina and Raymond when one day, Elaine never comes home.

"An Official Selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Tze Chun’s CHILDREN OF INVENTION’s making a bold statement in the world of independent film. The film is a poignant and perceptive glimpse into the struggle of a young Asian American family trying to live their version of the American Dream. Chun brilliantly creates his characters beyond the film they inhabit and transplant them into the world we all live in. His prior work includes Official Sundance Selection WINDOWBREAKER and Tribeca Film Festival’s All Access Program feature ARTIFICIAL DISSEMINATION. Chun was also chosen as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s '25 New Faces of Independent Film' in 2007."

Rose Pergament, DisOrient Associate Director:

[86 minutes]