Rob Munday
Returning to our site almost five-years after we first featured her work, emerging filmmaker Maegan Houang is back on S/W with her unusual period drama Astonishing Little Feet. Based around the real-life story of Afong Moy, the first documented Chinese woman to come to the United States, Houang’s short provides a blend of historical depth and modern significance, laced with a touch of subtle horror.
“Like all American history, those early events still influence us today”
Period dramas are few and far-between in the world of short film, but Houang was drawn to this particular story due to its significance in Asian American history. With the writer/director wanting to dispel the common misconception that the Asian inhabitants of the U.S. only “‘just got here”, she used her narrative to prove that “we’ve been here for a long time”. While the narrative delves into the historical context, Houang emphasises that the story’s relevance extends beyond the past, asserting that “like all American history, those early events still influence us today.”
Celia Au as Afong Moy in Astonishing Little Feet
Described its creator as a “reimagining”, Astonishing Little Feet endeavours to explore the genuine history of Afong Moy, aiming to demonstrate how this unsettling past maintains an “eerily relevant” connection to present-day America. In a conversation with S/W regarding the genesis of her short film, Houang candidly acknowledges that part of the impetus behind creating the film stemmed from a necessity to process her own “painful experiences with objectification as an Asian American woman.” Adding that she believes Moy’s treatment serves as a precursor to the contemporary perception of Asian women in the United States as “exotic, hyper-sexualized, and submissive objects”.
“Afong Moy’s story finally let me see myself as part of a long history of structural injustice”
While delving into the shadows of Asian American history, Astonishing Little Feet emerges from a more optimistic perspective for Houang, with the filmmaker expressing an aspiration that the short provides Asian American women with “the same catharsis and insight” that she personally gained from reading Moy’s story. Reflecting on her own experiences as a young girl in the Midwest, Houang confesses, “I didn’t understand why the young men around me viewed me differently than my peers, why they viewed my body as an object or my mind as something to control.” Before concluded that she believes “Afong Moy’s story finally let me see myself as part of a long history of structural injustice”.
Screened at the Palm Springs Short Fest, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and other notable events, Astonishing Little Feet stands as yet another captivating showcase of Houang’s talent. With a number of upcoming projects to look out for – including a writing credit on Panos Cosmatos feature Nekrokosm, penning episodes of Shōgun (FX) and The Sympathizer (HBO) and her own feature (based on Astonishing Little Feet) and TV show in development with A24 – it’s easy to see why Filmmaker Magazine named Houang one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2023