BAAFF Opening Night: Dealing with Dad
Director: Tom Huang Run Time: 106 min. Release Year: 2022
Starring: Ally Maki, Dana Lee, Hayden Szeto, Karan Soni, Peter S. Kim
Boston Asian American Film Festival Opening Night!
Q&A with filmmaker after the screening
MARGARET CHANG is rocked from her perfect alpha-mom-corporate-manager life when she has to go back to her hometown to deal with her overbearing dad, JIALUO. Her dad is kind of an outspoken jerk but is now despondent and won’t leave the house. Since she can’t deal with her parents by herself, she drags along her older sad sack brother, ROY to help her. When they arrive to their childhood home, they discover that their mom SOPHIE (equally overbearing) and youngest angry comic book nerd brother LARRY (still living with parents) are happy with this situation… as it turns out, their dad is much more pleasant depressed than well. The siblings struggle to deal with his depression, and wonder if it’s even worth getting him better. In the meantime, they reconnect as a family by bickering and reminiscing about the bad times with Dad, discovering that their familial bond is stronger than they ever realized.
Preceded by REYNA
Directed by Jenielle Ramos Salarda
Animated | 6 mins | English, Tagalong
Reyna is a 2D animated short film about Vina, this year’s lead Queen in the Santacruzan festival, who struggles to get ready after members in the community make negative comments about her appearance. Joy, Vina’s supportive sister, helps her to get ready and encourages Vina to embrace herself as she is by discussing the historical context and origin of these harmful comments before leading the festivities.
