Vietnam2019105 minVietnamese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, Family, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Open Captions
Son of a prominent family in Vietnam, Van returns from America for the first time in nine years with his partner, Ian. Coming back to a community with expectations of patriarchy and legacy, Van tries to find the right moment to tell his mother, Mrs. Hanh, about his love for Ian. With the heir unable to bear children, the family fights over their inheritance, surmounting to a violent reveal of truths. Everybody has a secret. An intricately assembled ensemble, Goodbye Mother is a queer story and more.
Director Trinh Dinh Le Minh portrays characters with dignity in this uplifting story, providing positive resolution to otherwise challenging conversations within the Asian family dynamic. Paired with colour palettes that lends itself to the beautiful scenery of Vietnam, the portrayal of queer lovers making plans for the future provides an enriched leading story that normalizes queer Asian narratives in cinema.
– Bertha Lee
Hong Dao
Lanh Thanh
Vo Dien Gia Huy
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Busan International Film Festival, 2019
Hawai’i International Film Festival, 2019
&PROUD Yangon LGBT Film Festival, 2020
Trinh Dinh Le Minh
Trinh Dinh Le Minh is an emerging director from Vietnam. His narrative short The Scent of Fish Sauce has travelled to film festivals including Palm Springs International Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival and the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. He is also an alumni of Berlinale Talents and Talents Tokyo.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
14A
CW: Mild violence against queer person, Gay slur
ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 15, 2020 at 8PM
This masterclass explores the narrative construction of A.K.A Don Bonus, contextualizing the film in its era but also situating it in contemporary conversation. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
Cambodian-born Sokly “Don Bonus” Ny takes a Hi8 camcorder into his final year of high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, documenting intersecting events happening at school, at home, and amongst friends and family.
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.
Founded in Toronto in 1997, Reel Asian is Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival and a year-round cultural organization dedicated to championing Asian and Asian diasporic artists and storytellers. What began as a grassroots film festival has grown into a national platform supporting filmmakers and audiences through screenings, education, industry initiatives, artist development, and community programming presented across Toronto, the GTA, and online across Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
