Kelly Yu’s fictional documentary short ENDLING has qualified to be considered for the 97th Academy® Awards

Kelly Yu tells a profound story of mortality in her absurdist new short ENDLING. Told in a fictional documentary style, this charming film follows a documentary crew as they interview Richard (Dennis Dun), the man responsible for taking care of Pao Pao, the last surviving goldfish on earth.

This film was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival, was part of the official selection at HollyShorts, and was made as part of Indeed’s Rising Voices program – an initiative set up to discover, invest in and share stories created by BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers. Rising Voices was created in collaboration with Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad Productions, Ventureland and 271 Films. This incredible short film has qualified to be considered for the 2025 Oscars®.

A documentary crew interviews the man responsible for taking care of the last surviving goldfish on Earth.

Kelly Yu is a Swedish-born, New Orleans raised, Chinese-American writer and director. Her work is driven by a deep fascination with finding humanity in the absurd, as well as exploring complex familial relationships and cultural identity often through an “east-meets-west” lens. Her short films have screened at film festivals around the world, with her first short PLUM TOWN winning the Grand Jury Award at Boston Independent Film Festival, the NFFTY New Talent Award for ‘Best Director Under 25,” and premiering online on the renowned platform “Short of the Week.” Her second short film ENDLING was executive produced by Emmy award winning actress Lena Waithe and premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. Kelly holds a B.F.A from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is based in LA currently developing her first feature film.

Lead actor Dennis Dun, famously known for his role as Wang Chi in John Carpenter’s ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ as well as ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘Year of the Dragon’. The film also stars Ava Capri known for ‘Love Victor’ and ‘Do Revenge’ starring Camilla Mendes and Maya Hawke and was a recurring character in ‘Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’.

Connor Williams is an Emmy-nominated film and TV producer based in Los Angeles. He freelanced as an associate producer and production coordinator across television shows, feature films, and music videos. Key projects include Lee Daniels’ The Deliverance, the Primetime Emmy Awards, and the Kids Choice Awards. He is currently a supervising producer at Done+Dusted Entertainment.
Po Wei Su is a Taiwanese filmmaker and producer also based in LA. He started in the commercial and music video space and then immigrated to the US to work in narrative. Po’s unique background as a Taiwanese filmmaker enables him to combine his Eastern cinematic sensibilities with his newfound Western style. His passion for uplifting underrepresented voices has led him to produce projects for Tribeca Rising Voices Season 2,3 and 4.
This genre blending short film has qualified to be considered for the 97th Academy® Awards.