Aishe, a Uyghur woman trained by her military father, migrates to New York City where she finds herself laboring in Chinatown’s underground kitchens. She fatefully encounters Skinner, a young American soldier who has just returned from three tours in the Middle East. While falling in love, they discover the possibility of a better life together than the ones they believed they were destined to live alone. This is Preparation for the Next Life, a film by Academy nominated director, Bing Liu, starring Sebiye Behtiyar.

Playing in our Supersize MilkTea initiative, we worked with Voice ESEA, Move Midlands and ESEA Creatives Scotland to host screenings of this film at:

• Edinburgh | 6 December | Cameo, Picturehouse

• London | 8 December | Picturehouse Central

• Birmingham | 11 December | Mockingbird Cinema

• Manchester | 11 December | Treehouse Hotel

Each screening was followed by festive drinks and “Pichene” Uyghur cookies.

Our London screening was preceded by a live acoustic Dutar performance by Shohret Nur.

Thank you to distributor MetFilm Distribution for helping us make these screenings happen.

Preparation for the Next Life, is part of MilkTea’s Supersize, a project supported by the BFI with funding from the National Lottery.