REWIND

The scouts

A CalArts thesis film about memory and grandmother-granddaughter intimacy—competent, tasteful, exactly the kind of earnest coming-of-age animation festivals expect. There's nothing here that breaks the mold or makes me uncomfortable in the way the best shorts do.

Yu demonstrates formal control in her use of the VHS frame as both container and metaphor, situating herself within a lineage of memory-cinema that extends from structural film to contemporary digital work; the restraint shows training and intention.

The decision to let the videotape degradation and rewinding *become* the emotional texture—rather than using it as window dressing—is what transforms two minutes of archive footage into something that lands; it's a technical choice that does all the heavy lifting.