Interview: Yuxuan Ethan Wu – Death Education (2025 Sundance Short)

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Among the select few documentary short films chosen for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival is Death Education, a poignant story set in China in places we don’t always associate with the final resting place. Following a high school teacher who introduces her students to the concept of mortality through an end-of-life visit during Tomb Sweeping Day, where they participate in burying unnamed ashes at a public cemetery. Directed by Chinese-born filmmaker Yuxuan Ethan Wu, currently a student at Stanford University, the documentary explores the intersection of ritual, education, and the act of confronting death, highlighting the living’s connection with the departed. I had the opportunity to sit down with the filmmaker while in Park City to discuss the origins of the project, his stylistic and tonal choices, and how this film fits into his short film career.

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society) and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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