An exploration of mise-en-scène, When Grapes Grow on a Willow Tree is a short film that illustrates oriental representation within western cinema; bringing into discourse representation, psychoanalysis, and stereotype.

Visually assembled to speak to the audience both visually and on an unconscious level, the film is composed to depict the enigmatic signifiers of representation. Who has the power to represent other cultures? How does one represent that culture, and to what purpose? Particularly, the short film questions western cinema examples that are founded upon imagination, fantasy, fetishism, and binary structure— enigmas which were a result of poor or unsuccessful transition of culture and language.

By reimagining and deconstructing the western representation of the east we can break down the visual theme that has been assembled through stereotypes. What is left then are enigmas to be interpreted and gaps for the viewer’s imagination to fill in the rest of the story.