United States of America 2022
Duration: 02:46
Directed by: Insun Park, Jin Pei Lua
Screenplay: Insun Park, Jin Pei Lua
Animation: Insun Park, Jin Pei Lua
Technique: Insun Park, Jin Pei Lua
Music: Ryan Lafford
Production/School: Ringling College of Art & Design
Dialogue language: English
Subtitles language: English

The bell rings for Lunch at an elementary school. A flurry of arms grasp at brown paper bags, but a Korean-American girl is surprised to find a tupperware in her backpack. It is full of Japchae noodles. Compared to her friends, who brought sandwiches, she feels out of place. She thinks everyone will be disgusted by, so she conceals everything, but her lunch refuses to hide! The lunchbox shakes and out comes a dragon made of noodles! It looks so happy to see her, and it is so excited to meet everyone. The dragon perks up at the sound of laughter and flies out of the classroom. The girl chases it down the hall. She manages to trap the dragon in her lunchbox as it's about to reach the exit, but the dragon continues to drag her along. At the climax, she yells “Stop! They’re not gonna like you, and they’re not gonna like me!” This reveals her deepest fears, and the dragon stops immediately. She opens the box, and the dragon looks up at her. Her rejection of the dragon has hurt it deeply. She apologizes, and the dragon forgives her. It lifts a compartment in her lunchbox lid and reveals three sets of chopsticks. The food was made to be shared. The girl’s face lights up with hope, and the dragon returns to his place in the lunchbox, becoming regular Japchae noodles. With a newfound courage, the girl shows her lunch to her friends. Her friends are excited to see this new meal, and in the end, they share food and eat lunch together.

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