zah - illusions (2025)
music video
Directed by ZAH & Alger Ji-Liang
Edited by ZAH & Alger Ji-Liang
Director of Photography: Alger Ji-Liang
Starring: x/o, mada, MA$$SANK, bottegavanesa
short film
1 min 10 secs
After an unexpected night, Kevin is confronted with an awakening at the restaurant table with his Mom. This 1-min ultra-short was created for the 18th annual Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (2023), a film competition held by the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Peking Duck won best screenplay and best performance (Liam Ma) in its 1-min ultra short category, and screened at the 2023 edition of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
Writer, Director - Alger Ji-Liang 梁家傑
Assistant Director, Producer - Jess Wong 黃卓翎 (@jaywongerz)
Director of Photography, Producer, Sound Engineer - Aidan Chin 陳志強 (@chin.aidan)
Assistant Camera, Gaffer - Aaron Lum (@aaronjjlum)
Sound - Pablo Balderas (@jos.pab)
Hair and makeup - Xander Chen (@xanderterrinartistry)
Production Assistant - Katrina Goetjen (@katrina.no9)
BTS photographer - Reiko Inouye (@reikoinouye)
BTS videographer - Parisa Rafat پریسا رفع (@parisarattyfatty)
Editors - Jess Wong 黃卓翎, Alger Ji-Liang 梁家傑
Colourist - Patrick Gong (@pat.gong)
Translation, Typography - Jin He 何錦龍 (@studioabt)
Soundtrack: Unconditional by DJ Houseplants (@djhouseplants)
3 min 41 mins
i see you when you see me (2023) is a tender exploration of archival home video and personal iPhone footage. This video work attempts to create dialogue between my mother and I through the weaving of cuts the reciprocal act of the recording and preserving memory through the archival hand of the “artist” behind the camera. Working on this piece made me realize how similar I am to my mother, and it lets me see her the way she sees me.
Screenings:
2023 The Polygon Art Gallery
mourning orange (2022)
video work
2 min 50 secs
mourning orange is a multi-frame, multi-fragmented video work that meditates on grief and reinterprets the semiotics of the orange within diaspora Chinese-Canadian culture and domestic space. This video work was made possible through The Lind Prize Filmmaking Workshop with the support of The Polygon Gallery and The Cinematheq ue. Thank you for your support.
Screenings:
2023 Liquidation World
2022 Eastside Culture Crawl
2022 Polygon Gallery
motherland 母懷之地 (2021) - password: motherland2021
short film13 min 14 secs
A grieving boy moves across the liminal spaces of his memory to connect with someone he’s lost. Through this act, he must confront the tension and trauma within his body to find solace. motherland 母懷之地 (2021) is an experimental movement film commissioned by F.O.R.M (The Festival of Recorded Movement) in Vancouver, Canada. Special thanks to Sarah Wong, Joshua Lam, Shiun Okada, Veron Xio, Sophia Wolfe, and Tamar Tabori.
Writer, Director, Performer: Alger Ji-Liang
Director, Producer, Editor, Craft Services: Joshua Lam
Choreographer: Sarah Wong
Director of Photography, VFX: Shiun Okada
Background Actors: James Albers, Suyu He, Hubey Razon, Martin Yeo, Ophelia Zhao, Alexander Yeung
1st AC: Rachel Chen
2nd AC: Kasra Asad
Grip / LX, On-Location Sound: Osmar Wong
BTS Photographers: Hubey Razon, Gloria Wong
Production Assistant: Michelle Strauss
Production Gear: Sam Lin, Rachel Chen, Brian Cheung, Sam Lin, Shiun Okada
Sound Designer, Music Composer: Veron Xio
Colourist: Patrick Gong
Editing Supervisor: Ian Tan
Foley Artist: Alger Ji-Liang
Music: motherland; written & produced by Veron Xio
Music: Unconditional; produced by DJ Houseplants
Rehearsal Space: Gold Saucer
Production Gear: Cineworks
Catering Sponsor: Fife Bakery
Screenings:
2024 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival (Hong Kong, SAR)
2024 DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon (Eugene, OR)
2023 FURIES Contemporary Dance Film Festival (Marsoui, QC)
2023 IMAGES Festival (Toronto, ON)
2022 Vancouver Asian Film Festival (Vancouver, BC)
2022 SFU ArtsLive (Vancouver, BC)
2021 Festival of Recorded Movement (Vancouver, BC)
my pain is our song (2021)short film, performance
6 min 20 secs
When the body is broken and continues to walk without pause, it mourns for stillness. The body is a vessel that remembers. my pain is our song is a documented performance video work exploring memory and hidden scores of trauma in the body through repeated acts of cold water exposure. This site specific work is a response to grief and the subject's innate connectedness to the water, and to bodily discomfort to remember his body.
Screenings:
2023 XINEMA (VIFF Studio Theatre)
2021 Health Initiative for Men - Summit Conference
2021 Errance, UBC Graduating Exhibition
2023 XINEMA (VIFF Studio Theatre)
Collections:
2021 Quarantine Qapsule (Digital Archives): Emily Carr University of Art and Design & Mysuem Toronto
Press:
2023 - the CiTr February/March 2023 Issue
https://www.citr.ca/discorder/february-march-2023/my-pain-is-our-song/
at the table (2020)multi-frame video
4 mins 35 secs
at the table is a multi-frame video installation exploring the semiotics of the dinner table in the cultural domestic space. Drawing from Sara Ahmed's theorization of objecthood, orientations, and the performance of the family unit, the piece exhibits family dining occasions. Through video fragmentation and sound application, the work bleeds in and out visually and auditorily to animate feelings inside and outside of the frame - a juxtaposition between ease and tension, tenderness and rage. Divided into 6 frames, the dinners are cropped to create a binary across the table. Interior and exterior sound is used to emote the passive-aggressiveness of the domestic dinner.