The Taste of Pho

Germany, Poland201984 minPolish, Vietnamese with English subtitlesDrama, Family, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

What does a hot bowl of lovingly prepared soup remind you of? The taste of home? The warm embrace of a loved one? For Long, a widower and cook at a Vietnamese restaurant in Warsaw, his famous pho is his pride, and his grade-school daughter Mia is his joy. But their world changes when the restaurant is sold, forcing Long to learn to make sushi. Meanwhile, Mia is frustrated by her father's caring but old-fashioned ways, while fearing he is moving on from the memory of her late mother.

Japan-born, Polish-educated director Mariko Bobrik’s first feature tells a tender and bittersweet look at an intergenerational immigrant family with a confidently light touch from (perhaps) an unexpected Eastern European source. While Poland is their home, Long and Mia both must navigate what the idea of home means for them when dealing with change, while finding a better understanding of each other.

– Aram Siu Wai Collier