Extraordinary Aliens

Feature-length documentary Extraordinary Aliens began as a personal effort to document a specific milieu: people who migrated from China to the United States for advanced arts education and lingered in New York City as artists and workers. It follows four artist friends — Lu Zhang, Xingze Li, Yulin Gu, Yushu Wang — as they create work, earn a living, what they eat, and how they find home. The film expands into broader stories about why and how we stay, or not stay; why and how we make art, or are not able to; about the transformation from privileged students to constrained laborers; about being queer; about what kinship means to us when we are away from home and how money and care weave through; and, memory, emotion, vulnerability, and interdependence; and last but not least, about making home meals together and sharing recipes.