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Short film
Poster for Western Eyes

Western Eyes

2000 · 39 min

An intimate, quietly painful look at how beauty standards and racism shape self-image, leaving a lingering sense of sorrow.

Directed by
Ann Shin
Genres
Documentary
Starring
Maria Reba Estante, Sharon Kim
Overview
Two Canadian women of Asian descent are contemplating eyelid surgery. Maria and Sharon, of Philippino and Korean heritage respectively, believe their looks–specifically their eyes–get in the way of how people see them. Layering their stories with pop culture references to beauty icons and supermodels, filmmaker Ann Shin looks at the pain that lies deep behind the desire for plastic surgery.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
Directed by
Ann Shin
Genres
Documentary
Starring
Maria Reba Estante, Sharon Kim
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • identity
  • race
  • isolation
  • media
  • trauma
Places
  • big city
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • documentary
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence none
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action0
Horror1
Humour2
Realism9
Romance0
Tension4
Darkness6
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
documentary
Directed by
Ann Shin
Starring
Maria Reba Estante, Sharon Kim
Cinematography
Stan Barua
Runtime
39 min
Country
Canada

TMDBIMDb

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