Documentary short films using home footage and recordings like “Ài Bàba (Love Dad, 愛爸爸)” inspire me. I’m always intrigued with archival docs because you can either have too much footage to complete your work, or never enough. I wonder about the director’s challenges while storyboarding, especially if the film’s subject is personal.

I have so many questions about the process. I want to know what motivated the director (Connie Huang) to share this film with audiences outside of her mother + father. Have her parents seen the film, and what were their reactions?

I was enamored by the editing. The essence of the film lives within the narrative of the footage, and the overall tone and message can be gleaned only from what’s been recorded.

“Ài Bàba (Love Dad, 愛爸爸)” helped me reflect on my own relationship with my father, and the up-and-down relationship between my parents that reverberated throughout my adolescence.

This film felt enormously personal, and I hope Connie knows that someone else out there related to it, deeply.