Writer-director Li Dong is making his feature film debut with the film Stealing School and we’ve got the trailer for this fascinating looking film.
The story is told through the view of a female Asian student, studying at one of the finest universities in the land. April Chen (Celine Tsai), an Asian-Canadian programming prodigy who comes under the scrutiny of her professor’s teaching assistant, played by Jonny Keltz, for plagiarism. She is forced to undergo a trial and only a week before graduation!
It’s an interesting vehicle on a myriad of fronts. There’s the racial element, the higher education element, and then the honor system which exists at educational institutions across the world. They all wind up under a microscope of Dong’s lens in the most fascinating of ways, as teased by the above trailer.
One thing it will do for sure, have you questioning what it means to be “innocent.” In today’s society, that question could not be more pertinent.
Dong reported that, “Like many immigrant children, I was raised to believe that the prestigiousness of a person’s career directly correlated with how good of a person they were, morally speaking. I was also raised to believe that no such prestigious career would be attainable without first paying for the privilege of a university education. Finally, I was told that my own race and appearance would have no effect on my future prospects in life, or on how people treated me here in Canada. At some point during my life, I realized these were all lies. This film is about my revelation at the bold hypocrisy that pervades throughout the esteemed institution of higher education, and indeed perhaps all western institutions held in high regard. Despite the potentially weighty subject matter however, my first and foremost aim is for Stealing School to be fun and entertaining!”
Look for Dong’s debut feature on U.S. digital platforms on February 26.
Here’s the full synopsis for Stealing School:
April, a brilliant programmer with a promising future, is accused of plagiarism by Keith, a teaching assistant who drags her in front of an academic hearing to prevent her from graduating. While operating under the guise of an impartial panel, the three tribunal judges each have their own illicit motivations and personal biases that will secretly steer the course of the trial. By aggressively questioning a colorful group of witnesses, both April and Keith build their cases while becoming increasingly acrimonious towards each other. As tensions rise, the facade of civility and political correctness begins to erode, revealing sinister and unflattering sides of all parties concerned. Behind the closed doors of a prestigious institution of higher learning, what began as a seemingly honorable pursuit of justice slowly turns into a chaotic display of corruption, pettiness, and naked self-interest.