Paper Tiger

The Austin Film Festival is once again proving to be the perfect springboard for young filmmakers to present their first film here and, above all, to capture the attention of both the public and the international media. The film, written and directed by Paul Kowalski, is based on real events and raises questions on various themes such as armed violence, mental illness and immigration. Far from being only a psychological thriller, this film takes a real look at America today and the many shortcomings of this country that authorizes the sale of weapons and too often forgets the dangers that emanate from it.

After the death of her husband, Lily, an immigrant mother, is left alone to care for her son Edward, born in the United States. At school, Edward was bullied, his grades dropped, he hallucinated his dead father - and was diagnosed schizophrenic. After learning she has cancer, Lily hides it from Edward, while he secretly stops taking his medication and manifests a video game character who pushes him to shoot up his school.

Paper Tiger shows that independent cinema allows us to tackle certain subjects such as immigration head-on and, above all, analyzes the true source of the evil that eats away at some people and turns them into real dehumanized monsters capable of committing the worst atrocities. This perfectly mastered film leads viewers to wonder about our current world and the fact that it is time to act and find real solutions to prevent the reoccurrence of events like the one recounted in this film.

Paper Tiger
Written and Directed by Paul Kowalski
Produced by Bonnie Buckner, Paul Kowalski, Pin-Chun Liu
Starring Lydia Look, Alan Trong, Elaine Kao, Seth Numrich, Lynn Chen
Music by Lucas Lechowski
Cinematography: Ed Wu
Edited by Steven Wang
Running time : 94 minutes

Seen on October 29, 2020 (online access Austin Film Festival)

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