• Centrepiece Presentation: Dim Sum Funeral

    Oct 11, 11:42 PM by administrator

    Program 8: Centrepiece Presentation

    Sat. Nov. 7th, 7:00 PM

    Family can be a serious source of drama and along with this undoubtedly comes inside jokes and hilarious universal truths only understood through dealing with your blood relatives. Anna Chi’s DIM SUM FUNERAL, is a family film about finding oneself and reconnecting with loved ones in a time of loss despite how you feel about each other. This is preceded by TAKE 3, a short film from New Zealand about battling stereotypes using the best weapon—humour.

    Dim Sum Funeral



    Director: Anna Chi | Writer: Donald Martin | Producer: Jeffery Lando | Executive Producers: Tom Berry, Ray Cuerdo, Isa Lorenzo, Donald Martin, Clark Peterson, Andrew Reimer | Co-Executive Producer: Andrew Ooi
    Narrative | HDCAM | Colour | 2008 | 95 min | Canada & USA

    Death brings a contentious family together (though that doesn’t mean they get along) in this comedy-drama from director Anna Chi. When elderly Mrs. Xiao (Lisa Lu) dies in her sleep at home, her housekeeper and close friend Viola (Talia Shire) contacts her four adult children in hopes they’ll come home to help with the funeral. Unfortunately, Mrs. Xiao didn’t have many friends besides Viola, her children all have issues with her, and given her zeal to assimilate into American culture, the siblings are more than puzzled that she insisted upon a traditional Chinese funeral lasting a full seven days.

    Alexander (Russell Wong), a successful doctor, is still coming to terms with his overly strict mother and philandering father, and is unexpectedly reunited with his ex-wife (Kelly Hu), who he lost through his own infidelity. Elizabeth (Julia Nickson), a writer, also crosses paths with her former spouse (Adrian Hough) while she mourns both her mother and her young son. Victoria (Francoise Yip) has never been able to forgive her mom after she rejected her for marrying an African-American. And MeiMei (Steph Song), an actress who wants to have children with her significant other Deedee (Bai Ling); they’ve been having trouble finding a suitable sperm donor, though they think one of the monks at the funeral may be just what they’re looking for. DIM SUM FUNERAL received its world premiere at the 2008 AFI Fest.

    VANCOUVER PREMIERE

    Previous Screenings/Awards: Pusan Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest, Whistler Film Festival; Leo Award Nominations: won Best Supporting Male Actor for Chang Tseng; Best Lead Female Actor for Steph Song

    preceded by:

    Take 3



    Director/Writer: Roseanne Liang | Producer: Owen Hughes
    Narrative | Beta SP | Colour | 2008 | 12 min | New Zealand

    The audition room is a minefield for three Asian actresses who are expected to be Asian in ways they’re not completely comfortable with. When the humiliations mount, they transcend their professional rivalry in one gleeful act of solidarity, empowering themselves with the very stereotypes that they’ve been subjected to.

    CANADIAN PREMIERE

    Previous Screenings/Awards: 2008 Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Honourable Mention), Louis Vuitton Hawaii Int’l Film Festival, 2009 San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival

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