What happens when generational dependency causes a forced role reversal that’s both tender and heartbreaking, as the child becomes the caregiver and the mother becomes the dependent? Writer-director Ziyu Luo explores this complicated and delicate dynamic in her debut short film, American Daydream. Set in New York’s Chinatown, the story centers on the life of Marilyn (Jessica Lee), a young Chinese-American gynecologist who yearns to pursue her dreams of moving to Los Angeles and trying her luck as an actress. The only caveat is the guilt she carries for possibly abandoning her undocumented immigrant mother (Yan Cui), who has come to rely on her to survive in the U.S.

Luo tells Deadline her poignant story of love, sacrifice and the difficult bonds with our families.

DEADLINE: How did you get into film? Were your parents creative?

ZIYU LUO: I always wanted to be an artist when I was little. However, in China, filmmaking is very expensive compared to other art forms. So my parents encouraged me to learn painting, which is much cheaper. I tried, but it didn’t go well and I didn’t have much passion for it. So when I grew up and had a good savings account, I decided to do the things I always wanted to do. I wanted to be a director. The ambition to make films was partly my own belief and partly my parents’. I think they had a big impact on me in making films. They were born in a very chaotic time in China during the Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s. When they were younger, they experienced what was called the Great Famine, where many people died from lack of food. Later, they wanted me, but there was a one-child policy and the local government tried to force my mother to abort me. But when I was a child, my grandmother told me that when the local authorities came to our house, they threatened that if my mother did not obey, they would tear the house down. My grandmother cried and begged them to leave our family alone, but my mother, being the incredibly strong woman that she is, refused and fled her hometown to another city where no one knew her and secretly gave birth to me. So that deep resilience has shaped me.