This USC short film by Dean Yamada and Leilani T. Abad (see also The Nisei Famer) had me for about 7 of its 11 minutes. It's about an angst-ridden young girl (hey, what filmic teenager isn't angst-ridden these days?) still coming to grips with her long-deceased mother. She's distant, and she shuns affection, even from the sk8r boi who tries to get close to her.

But then our heroine gets all Sylvia Plath, pacing in her bedroom while fading in and out of the scene, culminating in a freakin' poetry reading in a cafe. If I'd written that poem, I sure as hell wouldn't have read it out loud to anyone! Director Leilani Abad otherwise gets a good performance out of Cinderella Gatcheco ($5 for your name, kid) and has a deft handle on technical direction.