ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor is an upcoming narrative feature film by Trevor Zhou about home, expectations and stepping into the person we’re truly meant to be.
Kendrick returns to Ann Arbor, Michigan, after twenty years and reconnects with Jane, his former best friend who never left. Over the course of a night, a nostalgic walk turns complicated as they reconcile their attraction to each other, their cultural differences and how the years apart have changed them.
Director’s Note
When I was five, my family immigrated from Beijing, China to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Despite being born in another country, Ann Arbor is the place I call home.
In my Ann Arbor, specific places are imbued with meaning. To someone else, Huron River Bridge is just a bridge, but to me, it was where I would go to think. It’s where I would lay down and stare at the stars, feeling insignificant but understood. It’s where a close friend and I wondered why we never dated in high school.
Kendrick is who I would be if I had done everything my parents expected of me: be a doctor, marry a Chinese girl, start a family. Through Kendrick, I play out the “what if” to examine if happiness could exist in this alternate reality.
Ann Arbor is a film that explores the meaning of home from both the immigrant and American perspectives while exploring the intersections of the immigrant experience, privilege and cultural generational trauma. So many of us shoulder the heavy expectation of others throughout our lives. Ann Arbor tells us that it's never too late to choose your path and live the life you want to lead.
