Identity is a big theme among five of this awards season’s short film favorites.

Amarela , which means “yellow” in Portuguese, is the third film in director Andre Hayato Saito’s trilogy exploring his Japanese ancestry. The short follows Japanese-Brazilian teenager Erika Oguihara as she manages racial microaggressions and the pressure of family expectations against the backdrop of the 1998 World Cup, and stars Melissa Uehara as Oguihara in her first film role. “The majority of the crew was Asian-Brazilians, so it was really beautiful to see each other on set, and seeing our stories being told by us because we’re used to hearing our stories being told by white people,” Saito said during a taping of THR Presents powered by MyMama Entertainment. “In recent years, Asian-Brazilians are get

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