THE FAREWELL WINS BIG AT THE FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Lulu Wang’s film “The Farewell” received the top award at this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, winning Best Feature. During Wang’s acceptance speech, she thanked her grandmother who inspired the film and stated that there are plenty of female filmmakers and although there are programs and encouragement, that is not enough.

“There has been a lot of conversation this year about how to encourage more women to be in film or get more women into the conversation. I just have to say, you don’t have to encourage women, there are lots of women making films and who want to make films and who are in film school. And so shadowing is great, programs are great but really what women need is just the job. Give them the freaking job. Give them the money…”

Actress Zhao Shuzhen who played Nai Nai in “The Farewell” won the award for Best Supporting Female Actress. Unfortunately Shuzhen was not available to accept her award because she was not able to leave her home in China due to the Coronavirus. Lulu Wang accepted her award on her behalf.

Best International Film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards was given to Parasite.

AWKWAFINA AND PARASITE MAKE GOLDEN GLOBES HISTORY

Awkwafina made history at the Golden Globes when she was honored for her role in “The Farewell”. Her win made her the first actress of Asian descent to take home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

The other actresses competing in her category included Beanie Feldstein, Emma Thompson, Ana de Armas and Cate Blanchett. During her acceptance speech, Awkwafina jokingly said, “If I fall upon hard times, we can sell this, so that’s good.” In addition to thanking Zhao Shuzhen who played her grandmother in “The Farewell,” she also expressed her sincerest gratitude to Director Lulu Wang for giving her the chance of a lifetime. Awkwafina, whose birth name is Nora Lum dedicated her Golden Globe award to her father Wally.

“I’d like to dedicate this to my dad, Wally. I told you I’d get a job, Dad. And to my grandma, my best friend, the woman who raised me. And to my mother, Tia, who I always hoped was watching from somewhere above, and I hope that she’s watching me now.”

There have only been 5 women of Asian descent who have been nominated in the category: Machiko Kyoin, Miyoshi Umeki, Yvonne Elliman, Hailee Steinfeld and Constance Wu.

Kinocine PARKJEAHWAN4wiki [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Also making history at the Golden Globes was the film, “Parasite” which won for Best Foreign Language Film. Bong Joon-ho’s movie was the first South Korean movie to win at the awards show. During his acceptance speech, Bong Joon-ho stated, “once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

SPECIAL SCREENING OF "THE FAREWELL" STARRING AWKWAFINA & TZI MA

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival just added a special screening of the Awkwafina and Tzi Ma starring film, The Farewell. The Sundance hit directed by Lulu Wang follows the account of Wang’s own life which was previously featured in NPR’s This American Life.

The Farewell tells the story of New Yorker Billi (Awkwafina), who emigrated from China to the US with her parents when she was a young child. Now years older, she discovers that her grandmother, Nai Nai, who still resides in China, is dying from cancer. Her family decides to conceal the truth from her grandmother and instead, create a plan to have an impromptu wedding as a cover for them to say their “final” goodbyes to their Nai Nai.

The LAAPFF special screening of The Farewell will take place at 7:30pm, Wednesday, May 8 at the Regal LA Live: A Barco Innocation Center. For tickets and more information, you can head to https://festival.vcmedia.org/2019/

The Farewell is scheduled to hit theaters July 12.