Bitterroot 

(2025, 85m) dir Vera Brunner-Sung. In western Montana, recently divorced Lue keeps to a steady, quiet routine: his maintenance job, working his family stand at the farmers market, fly fishing on the river, and midnight outings for karaoke at the local bar. He lives with his widowed mother, Song, whose efforts to find him another wife are unwelcome and increasingly difficult to avoid. Song worries that she can’t get through to him, seeking guidance from ancestors. The order that Lue clings to begins to crumble when he is suddenly laid off. He hides the truth from Song and scrambles to find work, but she senses something is wrong. She consults her shaman for help, but Lue only pulls further away. Soon Lue discovers that the spirit world may still have influence over his life—and he must finally face the buried pain that destroyed his marriage.

This series is part of The SEAD Project’s 2025/2026 residency at the UMN College of Liberal Arts Engagement Hub (CLA) and its ongoing collaborative cultural and educational project, “Mekong Journeys: Stories of Abundance.” Curated by Palita Chunsaengchan, Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian Cinema and Media Cultures at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and The SEAD Project, this film program aims to support the mission of The SEAD Project. The screenings are free to the public with thanks to the generous support of the CLA Engagement Hub and the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota.

4:00 FREE