Description/Abstract: Paper Words (Chimera Productions/ITVS, 2010) is a short, beautifully rendered film in 3-D animation that tells the sweet, enchanting story of Mei, a happy and bright five-year old girl from China who uses her imagination to settle into kindergarten in the Midwest. Misunderstood by others, including her teacher, Mrs. Cooper, Mei's experience touches our hearts and minds as we grow to understand her winsome personality and reflect on the film's wider relevance to central themes in immigrant and bilingual education, English as a second language, psychology in education, and early childhood education, among other areas.

Paper Words is directed, produced, and written by Joyce Lee, an award-winning Asian-American independent filmmaker with a fine arts background in drawing, painting, and creative writing. Lee's short debut film, Foreign Talk, was one of the first few media projects to explore the tensions between African-Americans and Asians after the Los Angeles riots. Her films have aired on National PBS, cable stations, and festivals worldwide. Her work has won awards and cash prizes, including an ABC New Talent Development Grant for her screenplay "My Secret Wish." She also won the prestigious Women in Film General Motors Emerging Filmmakers Grant and the Robin Eickman Award. Lee is also the director and co-producer of Poetry Inside Out, a sister film to Paper Words, which shows the academic possibilities when resources become to available to multilingual children.

Persons interested in attending may rsvp the library by Friday, July 13th.

Where: 305 Russell