On Wednesday, April 10, filmmaker and DePauw alum Linh Tran ‘17 came to DePauw to screen her 2023 Slamdance Grand Prize-winning film, “Waiting for the Light to Change.”
From her experience in theater acting, she began to try her hand at directing and film editing. Her works include documentaries and fiction films that are inspired by memories of childhood and early adulthood.
“Waiting for the Light to Change” is a gentle and profound film, which is also Tran's debut directorial work. The story revolves around the character Amy (Jin Park) along with her best friend Kim (Joyce Ha) and a group of friends at a lakeside cabin during a week-long vacation in Michigan. The climax occurs when Amy's feelings for Kim's boyfriend Jay (Sam Straley)are revealed.
The film delves into the difficulties Amy must face, such as her significant weight loss and the complex thoughts as she struggles between friendship, love, and self-love. It also provides viewers with a sense of empathy, as each character has their own personality, unhappy childhood, inner dialogue, and challenges in early adulthood. Tran’s diverse camera angles and clever cinematography techniques add depth to each character and the film as a whole. Being set at a lake house, the film is accompanied by the sound of waves crashing, and Tran subtly shared that she wanted “the beach to be a character itself.”
At the end of the film screening, students also had the opportunity to chat with Tran and Professor Chris White. When asked about the motivation behind creating such a slow-paced film, Tran shared that she tries to build the most intimate and natural moments in the conversations between the characters because “it seems like there is nothing around in these moments, but actually there is.” She also shared that the most exciting part of the whole process is working with the actors and seeing all the pieces come together. On the other hand, the film was challenging to make. Because it is her debut film, the entire team only had one week to prepare, and she realized there were many things from the outlined plan that the film crew couldn't accomplish.
You can watch “Waiting for the Light to Change” on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, Google Play, and YouTube.