Director Ying Chen Shu’s latest film “Bruised Peach” to screen at NY Shorts International Festival

Taiwanese filmmaker Ying Chen Shu’s latest short film “Bruised Peach” is screening this month at the New York Shorts International Festival following the completion of its post-production.

Focusing on raising awareness of cyberbullying cases and how online bullying can affect people, “Bruised Peach” is aiming to help audiences understand more about its impact in society.

With cyberbullying becoming an increasingly global problem, director Ying Chen Shu conceptualized the film in order to highlight how women in particular are being impacted by online abuse, with online bullying having significant repercussions on wellbeing and people’s daily lives. The short was also recently selected by the Alvsbyn Film Festival in Sweden.

Originally from Taiwan, the filmmaker graduated from university with a B.S. in Journalism, but pursued her passion for film, eventually moving to Los Angeles in 2017 to start her career. The director/writer over the last several years has focused on creating films that spread awareness of different issues that women face throughout their lives.

For her latest film “Bruised Peach,” the director teamed up with award-winning Iranian cinematographer Khashi Tahamtan, who worked on several of her previous productions that were shot on location in Los Angeles. The cinematographer recently won the Best Cinematography Award from Europe Film Festival U.K. for short film “Sullivan,” which was also directed by Shu.

With many barriers still to overcome for women directors in Hollywood, Ying Chen is aiming to inspire her generation to keep making films despite the challenges so that their stories can make a positive change in society.

Following the success of her previous short films including “Ataraxis,” which won the Los Angeles Film Award with Honorable Mention, the director has been working on a series of productions this past year, with another short  “Nu Sheng” also set to premiere at the Detroit SheTown Women’s Film Festival later this year.