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Warning: Themes of racism, mental illness, and drug use.

The opening night selection for this year’s KCFF is a special film by anyone’s standards.

The second feature by Vancouver-based actor-turned-filmmaker Anthony Shim, this poignant drama is both acutely specific to the experience of a Korean immigrant family in the 90s Canadian suburbs, and profoundly universal as a heart-wrenching story of a mother and son whose close bond is threatened by great changes and challenges.

Choi Seung-yoon is spellbinding as So-Young, a woman who must rebuild her life after leaving South Korea and arriving in Canada with her headstrong son Dong-hyun (played as a boy by Dohyun Noel Hwang and by Ethan Hwang as a teen). The push-and-pull dynamic that exists in any parent-child relationship is exacerbated by the unspoken pains of the characters’ past, along with outside factors like the racism that Dong-hyun weathers at school and the sexism that So-Young faces at work. Their tensions and sorrows are leavened by displays of resilience and moments of joy, all of which makes for a film of rare richness and power.

This film may be of interest to those who have experiences in an immigrant family. This film is part of a 4-day Canadian film festival that is open to the public. This screening is at Queen's, in the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

/theisabel/whats-on/riceboy-sleeps, Cost is $15, buy tickets online. Departments may have free passes to give to students.

Learn more at: https://kingcanfilmfest.com/films/