PORTLAND FESTIVAL OF CINEMA, ANIMATION & TECHNOLOGY 2023 REVIEW! First, it was George Floyd, and then it was a spree of Asian hate. Frank Harts brings the two together in his short film, Two Wongs.
Two brothers, Jimmy (Johnny M. Wu) and Cedric (Celester Rich), sit at a local lobster shack in Maine, enjoying a fine meal of its most recent catch. Jimmy is ready to explode as the two are about to avenge the death of their mother, Momma Lee. Cedric listens as Jimmy’s rage percolates. Cedric is the calmer of the two and forces his brother to consider what Momma Lee would want. As they say, “Two Wongs…”

“Jimmy is ready to explode as the two are about to avenge the death of their mother…”
With a five-minute runtime, Two Wongs runs quickly and gets to the point. In this time of racial violence and division, Harts asks us to consider all of us to walk down a different path. The story ends as soon as it starts but boasts two emotional performances from Wu and Rich. Good camera work and staging make for an engaging story.
Two Wongs screened at the 2023 Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology.