“Happy Birthday, Grandma.” In just under a month from now, the 2024 Toronto Film Festival will kick off up in Canada. One of the short films that premiered at TIFF 2023 last year is now available online to watch after touring on the festival circuit for a year. Xie Xie, Ollie is a heartfelt, humble 9-minute short made by a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker / photographer named James Michael Chiang. It stars his own brother Oliver Chiang as Ollie (and he co-wrote the script with James). Intro from TIFF: “In his efforts to connect with his Chinese heritage, a biracial man discovers challenges and complexities he may not have expected in James Michael Chiang’s remarkably deft blending of drama and comedy.” The short film also stars Selena Kang, Jake Shannon, Esfandiar Baraheni, Ronald Hae, Yee Ling Wong, and Xiu Fen Song. This reminds me of Lulu Wang’s excellent film The Farewell for obvious reasons, which is also about the desire to connect with our family. This short has some seriously great cinematography and a very lovely score, too. // Continue Reading ›
No responses yet