Parity Pipeline

Parity Pipeline

My Heavenly City

Directed by Sen-I Yu

Life as transplants in New York City through three sets of characters: A lonely interpreter, two young hip-hop fans in love, and a family plagued by young child’s mental illness; to explore human connections and finding hope.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
  • SCREENINGS
  • AWARDS
  • CREDITS
  • GALLERY

Genre

Synopsis

MY HEAVENLY CITY depicts three inter-related stories about life as transplants in New York City: A Mandarin-English interpreter who witnesses the suffering of others, gains new perspectives on her own life; two young hip-hop enthusiasts who become disenchanted by their New York adventure, find a tender love within each other; and a middle-aged couple struggles to keep family intact as they cope with their mentally ill young son. Three sets of characters connect and inspire one another in their journey to find hope in this heavenly city.

Bio

Sen-I Yu is a New York based, award-winning filmmaker originally from Taiwan. She recently wrote and directed her feature directorial debut MY HEAVENLY CITY, a film which explores the theme of blending into America, loneliness and human connections. “My Heavenly City” was selected in the 43rd Hawaii International Film Festival and was nominated for NETPAC Award, an award to the best Asian feature film by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema in the global market. Since September 2023, “My Heavenly City” has launched its worldwide theatrical release and has reached six countries/regions, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, United States, UK and Australia, receiving positive reviews from media such as The Guardian: “Fresh, thoughtful takes on immigrant experience,” “Sen-I Yu’s sympathetic and humane film traces three loosely woven stories of people dealing with loneliness and stress in New York City…” The short film version of MY HEAVENLY CITY won the 2020 NYC Women’s Fund by the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and NY Foundation for the Arts. Another feature project, MY BEAUTY QUEEN MOM, won the 2015 HAF/Fox Film Development Award, a Screenplay Development Grant from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and a Bronze Award at the “Film Taipei” screenplay competition. Her screenplay CALIFORNIA MOMMY was a 2018 SFFILM Rainin Grant Finalist. Sen-I’s earlier short film ACUPUNCTURE GIRL was a Student Academy Award Regional Finalist

Screening History

Hawaii International Film Festival 2023

Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival 2024

Awards History

Hawaii International Film Festival 2023 - NETPAC Award Nominee

Feature Film Production Fund by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture 2020

Taipei Film Commission International Co-Production Grant 2020

Best Narrative Feature - University Film and Video Association Conference 2024

Credits

Actor - Vivian Sung

Actor - Keung To

Cinematographer - Grant Greenberg