Join cinéSPEAK, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival for an evening length live table read of When The River Split Open; the debut narrative feature of Jess X. Snow.

For one night only, When The River Split Open will be read live in Philadelphia by César-nominated actress, Lucie Zhang, Denice Frohman, Jean-Jacques Gabriel, Anissa Weinraub and other local artists and scholars. This table read will be followed by a community feedback discussion facilitated by writer/director Jess X. Snow and producer, Petrus van Staden.

Thanks to UPenn Cinema & Media Studies for their sponsorship support!

**EVENT FLOW:

6:30 PM: Doors

Welcome Remarks

7:00 PM: Program Starts

Live Reading - Pt. 1

Intermission

Live Reading - Pt. 2

Q&A / Feedback Session to follow

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**COVID / FLU SEASON SAFETY**

Masking is required. If you feel unwell, we kindly ask that you stay home and rest.

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**TICKETS: $5-$20

This event is intended to raise funds to support this important project. We are suggesting donations of $5-$20 (or more!). Please give as you are able. No one turned away for lack of funds—please join us. Advance tickets can be purchased HERE

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ABOUT THE FILM:

On an overdue return to their homeland, Rain—a non-binary Chinese American escapes their overprotective maternal family to embark on a surreal journey through rural China to find their estranged father—whose life was entwined with the extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin.

Over five years in development, at the speed of the intimacy of Lost in Translation, drawing upon the sweeping family drama of YiYi, and elevated with the surrealism of Spirited Away, When The River Split Open is a queer road movie set in southern China. Grounded in themes of environmental justice and multispecies kinships, it’s a love story between two outsiders from opposite sides of the Pacific who help eachother heal in ways they couldn’t alone. Beneath it, lies a parallel love story between an elusive biologist and the extinct river dolphin. It is a ceremony of forgiveness: of the father and of the self.

Let Rain take you by the hand. Let Rain take you through the five stages of grief and show you the horizon that lies on the other side.

ABOUT THE CAST / ARTISTS:

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jess X. Snow is a filmmaker, multi-disciplinary artist and author born in Canada, of JiangXi Chinese heritage based in Philadelphia. Bringing their background in visual art, community murals and poetry into their film work, they were recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Their genre-bending shorts viscerally immerse audiences into the lives of flawed diasporic Asians struggling to become free. Their short film and producing work has played in community gardens and university classrooms, and festivals in five continents including BFI London Film Festival, BlackStar, San Francisco International Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, Sundance and TIFF.

RAIN (lead) is LUCIE ZHANG

Lucie Zhang is a French-Chinese actress. She received critical acclaim for her feature film debut as the lead role of Emilie in PARIS 13th DISTRICT (2021), directed by Jacques Audilard which premiered at Cannes (Main Competition) and earned her César and Lumières Award nominations for best breakthrough performance and an ICS award. Zhang was born in the 13th arrondissement of Paris to Chinese parents.

INGRID is DENICE FROHMAN

Denice Frohman is a poet and performer from New York City based in Philly. She has received support from The Pew Center for the Arts, Baldwin for the Arts, CantoMundo, Headlands Center for the Arts, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Currently, she is developing her one-woman show, Esto No Tiene Nombre, which centers the oral histories of Latina lesbian elders.

MENG (lead) is JEAN-JACQUES GABRIEL

From his early childhood in Haiti, jean-jacques gabriel has been focused on seeing, shaping, and amplifying beauty, which he defines as “a mixture of what circumstance commands and infinity implores”. The son of painter Jacques Gabriel, jean-jacques painted before he could walk and later studied painting and drawing at The University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

jean-jacques started teaching yoga to children in West Philly and then to incarcerated people. From the start, Black freedom has been central to jean-jacques’s yoga teaching journey, and helped root his wellness work in community care.

YI-YUN (night club owner) is ANISSA WEINRAUB (she/femme) is a theater-maker, educator, and organizer, living and working in Lenapehoking / Philadelphia. Her cultural work sits at the intersection of creativity, community-building, and political transformation. Her days are spent helping people claim their expressive, whole selves; facilitating ensemble-based devised theater processes; and convening groups of people to strategize toward collective change.

Anissa has shown work/collaborated with Cannonball Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Arts, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Cornerstone Theater Company, Wilma Theater, Simpatico Theatre, Directors Gathering, First Person Arts, Theatre Exile, and much more.

HUANG AN (Dad) is ADAMU CHAN

Adamu Chan is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and community organizer whose artistry is deeply rooted in relationships and lived experience. Based in the Bay Area, Adamu discovered his passion for filmmaking during his incarceration at San Quentin State Prison, where he used his unique perspective to craft powerful visual stories that amplify voices often silenced. His films invite viewers into conversations about social justice, resilience, and the transformative power of community.

ZHOU HONG (Mom) is MAYA YU ZHANG

Maya Yu Zhang 张宇 (b.1991, Zhengzhou, China) is a non-binary community organizer, artist and filmmaker. They foster equity, inclusivity and intercultural empathy by creating systems, images, performances, stories and communities. Maya’s solo and collaborative projects have received the Director's Choice Award at Black Maria Film Festival, the Best Documentary Short Award at Indie Memphis Film Festival, and Vanguard Award for Experimental Film at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival.

PRODUCER & STAGE DIRECTIONS: Petrus van Staden is a South African producer and editor based between NYC and South Africa. He produced and edited the short film, MTHUNZI (2019; Locarno, SXSW, Special Jury Mention at AFI Fest) which was released for streaming on Topic and HEAVEN REACHES DOWN TO EARTH (2020; New Directors New films, Clermont- Ferrand, Palm Springs), was released on Mubi in January 2022, and received a Vimeo Staff Pick. Recently he was a participant of the Film Independent Producing Lab, Red Sea Souk, DEENTAL-ACP Producers Network at Cannes Marché Du Film, and Marrakech’s Atlas Workshops.

ZHOU YUAN (Aunt) is LILY XIE

Lily Xie (she/they) is a Chinese-American artist and educator whose socially-engaged work explores desire, memory, and self-actualization for frontline communities. In collaboration with grassroots organizers and frontline communities, she uses her background as an artist and urban planner to facilitate creative projects with a focus on public space, housing, and racial justice. The magic they create together often takes shape in animation, print media, and video. Lily lives on Lenni Lenape land (Philadelphia, PA).

XIAO CHEN (real estate agent) & ZHOU JIAN (Uncle) is JONATHAN DICKSTEIN

Jonathan Dickstein is a MFA dropout from Philadelphia’s Tyler School of Art. Currently they are a professor of South Asian religions whose research focuses on the (in)visibility of animals in society and the problem of anthropocentrism. Jonathan works in Indian and non-Indian philosophy, critical animal studies, social justice studies, and food studies. Their writing has been published in Capitalism Nature Socialism, Food Ethics, Religions, and Philosophy East & West. Locally you can find them conspiring with Food Not Bombs comrades, making pottery, riding a bike, or lounging on a West Philly porch.

ABOUT THE COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS:

PHILADELPHIA ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL (PAAFF):

The Philadelphia Asian American Film Foundation serves as a platform that exhibits and celebrates the works of AANHPI (Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) storytellers, primarily through film and video art programs to a wide audience. As the main hub for AANHPI media, culture, and entertainment in the Greater Philadelphia area, we exist to empower and advocate for a diverse creative community that includes performing, culinary, fine arts, and more. By forming alliances with like-minded local and national organizations, we are building a more inclusive and informed community that fulfills our mission.

To provide access and create a pathway for future generations to honor, learn from, and share their own AANHPI experiences and personal histories through filmmaking and other forms of storytelling. We strive to push the creative community forward with year-round advocacy and networking opportunities, creative workshops, and exposure through showcasing and connecting to distribution platforms.

Learn More: paaff.org

Follow: @PhillyAAFF

CINÉSPEAK:

cinéSPEAK is a Philadelphia-based arthouse cinema and journal that cultivates experiences and opportunities for filmmakers and moviegoers, celebrating and strengthening local community and global movements for collective liberation.

Our multidisciplinary work directly supports emerging artists, filmmakers, and writers through screenings, salons, and cultural reporting—all of which center the stories from those historically excluded in the film and media industry. We bring independent films to new audiences, partnering with community organizations to create a more equitable and nourishing cinema ecosystem.

cinéSPEAK is an independent charitable 501(c)(3).

Learn More: cineSPEAK.org

Follow: @cineSPEAK // Stay in the loop: https://bit.ly/cinéSPEAKMail