The short film “Show Me Your Love” wins the People’s Choice Award at Markham Teen Arts Council’s 24 Hour Film Challenge.

Masked in what seems like a typical lull-of-life storyline, the short film “Show Me Your Love” reveals the growth of a teenager as his 87-year-old grandfather develops Alzheimer’s disease.

The film premiered on March 11 at the Flato Markham Theatre, where it won the People’s Choice Award and a $100 prize.

Written by Ethan Choi, Michael Liang, Serena Yip and Oswin Wong, the story revolves around director Justin Wu’s personal experience of living with his grandfather on his father’s side, who battles Alzheimer’s disease.

When Markham Teen Arts Council announced the return of its annual 24 Hour Film Challenge, Wu and his partners decided to enter.

The event poses a challenge for teams to create the best film within a 24-hour deadline. Members of five have to incorporate a given line of dialogue, prop and sound effect.

With the line of dialogue “I love you,” a banana peel as the prop and the sound of sizzling, the writers meld Wu’s personal story using the Asian diasporic experience to juxtapose western forms of expressing love verbally while also embedding the theme of over-prioritization.

“It pains me every time I visit him. When my dad has to leave, my grandfather is like ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’”

Through the microfilm, Wu hopes to share his firsthand experience to both teenagers and mature adults who might have had similar frustrations and may have taken a violent approach.

Wu believes that while the western world might express love in a more explicit manner — as with the “Pride and Prejudice” scene shown in the film — the eastern experience might be revealed in more subtle, nurturing ways, such as through cooking.

In the film, just as the character on Justin’s screen was saying “I love …”, Justin’s grandfather enters, nagging him to “eat dinner now” in Cantonese.

Not only does the film depict the different perspectives of love, but also suggests a theme of appreciating how elders may show their love.

Prompted by the dialogue, this film opted to show the realization that love was there all along, but it was only apparent when the protagonist realized he was missing an ingredient in the dish he was cooking.

“It is open to interpretation,” says the director, “but the missing ingredient could be the child’s love.”

To view the film, visit youtube.com.