Plays in Shorts Program: Or Forever Hold Your Peace
Sunday, June 15
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Regal Gallery Place

701 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Death Education

Director

Yuxuan Ethan Wu

Producer

Yuxuan Ethan Wu

Editor

Yuxuan Ethan Wu

Consulting Editor

Co-Editor

Assistant Editor

Cinematographer

Yuxuan Ethan Wu

Additional Cinematography

Music

Sound

Dave Cerf, Guodong Zhang

Narration

Contact

Yuxuan Ethan Wu, ethanwufilm@gmail.com

On Tomb Sweeping Day, families visit graves to honor their ancestors—a moment for the living to connect with the dead, where tombstones tell stories of lives lived and relationships formed. Yet in funeral homes, countless ashes remain unclaimed: some belonging to children as young as two, others left behind for decades. Without names or histories, only the date of cremation marks their existence.

Through the ritual of a communal burial, Teacher Jianbo Qian invites his students—many confronting the reality of death for the first time—to grapple with these forgotten lives. Ranging from seventh to twelfth grade, the students gather red bags holding the scattered ashes, each step of the ceremony stirring reflections on loss, memory, and grief.

Director, Death Education

Yuxuan Ethan Wu (吴雨轩) is an emerging filmmaker and photographer based in the Bay Area. He graduated from Emerson College with a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts Production and a minor in Photography. Born and raised in Changsha, China, Ethan has lived in various cities, including Beijing, Boston, and New York City. He frequently travels between the U.S. and China and is currently residing in Palo Alto, where he is pursuing an MFA at Stanford University in the Documentary Film Program. His work has been featured by major news outlets, such as Phoenix New Media, Tencent, NetEase, and TJ Sports. His documentary films have been showcased at renowned international festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, and art house venues like the Anthology Film Archives.