Actor Keith Ward as Jonathan Keltz. Images ( Sicily Publicity/ Vertical Entertainment)
Asian-Canadian writer/director Li Dong’s debut feature film Stealing School spotlights systematic racism through the eyes of a female Asian student at a prestigious university in this satirical courtroom comedy-drama, released on U.S. digital platforms on February 26, 2021.
Stealing School is a black comedy parable that reflects the modern-day anxieties and fears of an entire generation of millenials who are facing uncertain futures.
Film tell the story of April Chen (Celine Tsai), an Asian-Canadian tech prodigy accused of plagiarism by her teaching assistant (Jonny Keltz), and forced to stand trial a week before graduation. Complex and layered relationships unfold, and racial tensions and systemic biases are exposed as the trial unravels, forcing viewers to question their ideas of innocence.
Actress April Chen as Celine Tsai and actor Keith Ward as Jonathan Keltz on set. Images ( Sicily Publicity/ Vertical Entertainment)
Through the story of a simple trial set in the halls of academia, the film explores a myriad of controversial and pressing issues involving race, gender, uneasy power dynamics and the questionable value of a liberal arts education in a fastly-globalizing and tech-dominated world.
From the director, “Like many immigrant children, I was raised to believe that the prestigiousness of a person’s career directly correlated with how good of a person they were, morally speaking. I was also raised to believe that no such prestigious career would be attainable without first paying for the privilege of a university education. Finally, I was told that my own race and appearance would have no effect on my future prospects in life, or on how people treated me herein Canada.At some point during my life, I realized these were all lies.The purpose of a university is to educate, but as a business, the product that it’s selling is an idea of hope, status and opportunity. However, in the modern day, that product is becoming both stale and obsolete and society’s opinion of higher education is starting to shift.This film is about my revelation at the bold hypocrisy that pervades throughout the esteemed institution of higher education, and indeed perhaps all western institutions held in high regard. The grand ideals and high morals championed by the universities conflict with the all-too-human behavior of the people who embody that institution, to the point where it’s apparent that the teachers are just as immature, petty and dumb as their students”
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