Book Talk
When aspiring writer Jessie Li meets her idol, acclaimed author Lydia Chen, at a campus book talk, she discovers that legends don’t always live up to their own stories.
Book Talk is a short film directed by Grace Sunny Sun, based on an original story by #1 New York Times bestselling author R. F. Kuang (Taipei Story, Katabasis, Yellowface, Babel, The Poppy War trilogy). The project grew out of Grace’s time as Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Signet Society of Arts & Letters.
The film follows Jessie Li, a student and aspiring writer who is chosen to assist Lydia Chen, her literary icon, during a book talk on campus. A biting coming-of-age story, Book Talk examines what it means to represent a community—and what we owe to those who see themselves in us.
- Rosalind Chao as Lydia Chen
- Zoe Lam as Jessie Li
- Amalia Yoo as Clemmie
- Hudson Yang as Victor
- Ashley Liao as Casey
- Kevin Pariseau as Prof. Michael Henley
- Based on a story by R.F. Kuang
- Co-Writer – R.F. Kuang
- Producer – Elle Xing
- Cinematographer – Caitlin Machak
- Editor – Ryan Chan
- Composer – Hrishikesh Hirway
- Executive Producers – Yuxiang Sun, Michael R. Honig, Susan Borowitz, Kay Hsu, Thomas F. Moore, Zach Heng, Christine Yi
