The Spirits in My Head

"I just wanted to be myself, someone who would be free enough to move the line around, between Chinese and American within a wider range and far outside of the spectrum."




Mae Li is a Chinese-American graduate student trying to claim her independence as an adult while struggling with her identity. Mae meets Spirit, who takes her on journeys into her mother's childhood in rural Hainan during the 1970s and 80s. As Mae begins to understand more about her heritage and her mother, she confronts the attitudes and ideals that the women in her family have about spirituality, work and life's milestones. But when an old family secret shakes the already delicate relationship Mae has with her mother, it threatens to unravel the very foundation of Mae's life.




The Spirits in My Head is an exploration of self-identity, purpose and the relationship between child and parent. It brings to light how we can be shaped by the expectations of ourselves and others, but reminds us that we must be the ones to decide who we are and what path we will follow in life.