Me, Mom, and Mona

Directed and produced by Mina Shum
20 minutes • 1993
Available on DVD and VHS

In this evocative and entertaining documentary, the women of the Shum family­Su Yee Shum and her two daughters Mina and Mona­share in a discussion that reveals the impact of conflicting values on their lives. Patriarchal expectations imposed by cultural traditions and by Mr. Shum clash with each woman's independent identity and feminist aspirations. In order to survive, the women construct a mythology about themselves within the family that satisfies Mr. Shum's demands of how women should behave. The gap between mythology and personal reality often proves to have amusing consequences. Family photographs and home movies further enrich this complex picture of relations between the sexes and generations in one family.