New York Jewish Film Festival 2021: Shorts Q&A Series
Part 3: Discussion with Miriam Luc-Berman & Panda Shi Berman, directors of “Mimi and Panda” (2019)
Presented virtually by the Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center, the 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival offers a selection of films from around the world that explore the Jewish experience. This year’s program of shorts features works by directors Harvey Wang, Miriam Luc-Berman & Panda Shi Berman, Dhimitër Ismailaj-Valona, Emily Cheeger, and Arkadij Khaet & Mickey Paatzsch. The Jewish Museum caught up with each filmmaker for a brief Q&A.
Mimi and Panda
Miriam Luc-Berman & Panda Shi Berman, 2019, Canada, 4m
The Jewish Museum: I love how Mimi and Panda are a pair, but you each approached the task of putting your films together differently. For example, Panda is filled with drawings and Mimi includes a lot of family photos. Was this something you two planned?
Panda Shi Berman: We didn’t plan to do it differently, but we ended up doing it in different ways since we had different ideas.
I am an artist and wanted to include some watercolor paintings. I thought it would be better to use paintings because I wanted to use more abstract ideas that you just can’t find in a photo. Since it’s my own story, I thought it was better to use my own art. I like how Mimi showed her whole family and included everyone, from both her mom and her dad’s side. I think both films turned out pretty great.
Mimi Luc-Berman: My story focuses on my photo at both the beginning and end and asks you to really look at it. I also wanted to show my family photos throughout the story. I decided to go with photos because that way, I could add my entire family in it and that makes it more personal to me — using all the people I know and love. I like that Panda took the time to paint her pictures, because it shows that she really put in an effort for this and showed off her talents.
JM: What are you both working on next?
PSB: I’m in a special cyber arts program at school, and so I make a lot of digital art projects. I really like doing visual arts, because I get to learn lots of new tools and techniques to improve my drawings. Mimi and I worked together on a special video for our Baba’s 80th birthday this year. And right now, I’m working on a project to animate a poem. I want to continue to explore my Jewish-Chinese identity in more films and share it with everyone!
MLB: I made another movie about my trip to Israel and Jordon last year. And I’ve made a stop motion video for a school project. I love digital arts, such as making short movies. I’m working on an audition for an arts high school, for their filmmaking program, so I hope to be making more movies in the future. I think it will be cool to do a project together with Panda, since we both are learning different things all the time, and we can put our ideas together to make something great about our family.
Miriam Luc-Berman & Panda Shi Berman are the directors of Mimi and Panda. This year’s program of shorts is available Jan. 20 at noon ET to Jan. 23 at noon ET: Get Tickets
— Madeline Weisburg, Curatorial Assistant, the Jewish Museum
