Ellie Park, Photography Editor
More than 300 students filled the auditorium at Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall to hear from Korean Canadian director Celine Song on Tuesday. Song, the Academy Award-nominated director of “Past Lives,” was this year’s Pan Asian American Heritage Month, or PAAHM, keynote speaker.
The film, which is Song’s directorial film debut, follows two childhood friends, Nora and Hae-sung, as they reunite with each other and confront all that has changed — and remained the same — over the last 24 years. Song’s speech touched upon intentional creative decisions within the film, her experiences in the theater and film industry and her reflections on her bilingual, bicultural identity.
This year’s PAAHM celebrations centered on “Nostalgia and the Path Forward,” a theme that resonated with “Past Lives,” said Song.
“At the heart of the movie’s audience are immigrants,” she said. “And it can be in India, or it could be in France, or it could be in the United States. But wherever it is, the audience that this is for, at the heart of it, are people who have [had their] feet in two different spaces.”
Song’s address was preceded by a performance from “UNITY,” Yale’s traditional Korean drum and dance troupe — as well as introductions from Joliana Yee, director of the Asian American Cultural Center and an associate dean of Yale College, and Zahra Yarali ’24. Song’s speech was followed by a short Q&A session, moderated by Diza Hendrawan ’25 and Jenny Lee ’25.
According to Yee, the theme of “Nostalgia and the Path Forward” is an important reminder to carry lessons from the past with us as we are moving forward to the future.
“This year’s theme, ‘Nostalgia and the Path Forward,’ is a reminder in an…
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