Invasive Species
2023 · 13m · USA
Directed by Annie Ning
Tones: darkly comic, surreal, tender
A young Asian American sound artist grapples with imposter syndrome as it takes on surreal new extremes at her first artist's residency, where microaggressions and communal dining collide with her mounting self-doubt.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Sound artist's imposter syndrome at her first residency, immersed via diegetic-meets-internal sound design. The sound-design conceit is genuinely smart for the form — though microaggressions-at-the-residency is well-trodden territory.
Ning using sound design as the protagonist's interior landscape is exactly the right craft instinct for imposter-syndrome cinema, and 137K Vimeo views suggests the form is reaching its audience. The Marcel comparison sets a high bar; I'm willing to extend the credit.
A sound artist protagonist used as the actual frame for blurring diegetic sound design and psychological experience — that's a craft conceit where the protagonist's profession enables the formal moves. 137K views says the immersion is landing; 14 minutes is the right runtime for sustained anxiety.
Reviews
If you're one of the many people who has, or still is, falling victim to imposter syndrome, then today's film pick is one that is bound to resonate strongly. This immersive short employs the enclosed nature of its location and the specifics of its protagonist's practice, as a sound artist, to trap us in her headspace.
Ning made Invasive Species as she wrestled with her own imposter syndrome and feelings of anxiety and self-doubt, exploring the funny, ridiculous and also hideous parts of that feeling as a young woman.
Festivals
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023, Special Mention for Best Student U.S. Short
- Slamdance Film Festival 2024
- San Diego Asian Film Festival 2023, Best Narrative Short
- Raindance Film Festival 2023
- Denver Film Festival 2023