VIFF -- Review: We Are All Strangers

One of two wedding scenes in We Are All Strangers

We Are All Strangers (2026)

This film with seven Golden Horse nominations is the third in the trilogy by director Anthony Chen who also wrote and produced this drama about a father and son and how divergent their lives are despite living in the same social housing flat in Singapore.

Father Boon Kiat (Andi Lim) is a hardworking, humble cook who makes bowls of noodles at his hawker stall. His wife died 10 years ago, while his wayward son Junyang (Koh Jia Ler) doesn't know what he's going to do after completing mandatory military service, and refuses to help his father out, believing it is too lowly a job for him.

Tensions between Bee Hwa and Junyang

Instead Junyang romances an academically-minded girl called Lydia (Regene Lim) in senior high school, whose mother is a teacher and expects her to go to university. However, things go awry when Lydia gets pregnant and wants to keep the baby...

Meanwhile Boon Kiat has his eyes on Bee Hwa (Yeo Yann Yann), a "beer auntie" who sells beers to customers at the hawker centre. She is desperate to find a place to live after her boyfriend ran off with her savings which results in her having to stay with her younger brother's family.

The relationship between Junyang and Lydia is fast and intense, whereas Bee Hwa slowly develops a fondness for Boon Kiat, who has wanted to be with her for a long time, but is patient and kind, which she reciprocates.

Early on Bee Hwa remarks Singapore is so wealthy, but she isn't. It's a theme played throughout in We Are All Strangers, a fictional snapshot of characters near the bottom of society struggling to stay afloat.

Seven Golden Horse nods

The only character that isn't fully developed is Lydia, which is a pity because viewers may find it hard to understand what she sees in Junyang, and how she sees her life now that it has gone from privilege to struggle because of him.

Nevertheless director Chen's We Are All Strangers is a kind of winding morality play over two and a half hours: what happens when you don't work hard, don't know what you want to do with your life, or the consequences of not listening to your father's advice. 

We Are All Strangers

Directed by Anthony Chen

157 minutes

VIFF -- Review: Iron Boy

Clichy draws from his childhood in his first feature, Iron Boy

Iron Boy (2026)

Iron Boy is a lovely, funny, endearing animation feature debut by Louis Clichy, who has worked at Pixar on Wall-E and Up, and has directed two Asterix animation films.

Making its North American premiere at TIFF and then Vancouver at VIFF, Iron Boy won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes last spring.

The family lives on a farm in France

It's about Christophe, a 10-year-old boy whose family has a farm, and he is keen to learn how to drive the tractor, but he starts leaning sideways, which causes an accident and he must wear a torturous metal back brace to hold his head up 24 hours a day, even while sleeping.

But Christophe discovers the beauty of the sounds the organ makes in the church, and thanks to an encouraging teacher, the boy shows talent in playing the magnificent instrument, which soon becomes his passion, much to the chagrin of his father who is desperately trying to make ends meet and resents his son's inability to physically help out on the farm.

The scenes are beautifully hand painted with watercolours that look simple, and yet convey so much emotion and nuance, that viewers can easily relate to Christophe and his coming-of-age story, the financial pressures on the family, and tensions in familial relationships.

Christophe is keen to drive the tractor

The scenes along with the dialogue are both funny and heartbreaking, and the audience couldn't help but cheer at the end of the film.

It turns out Iron Boy was inspired by Clichy's own childhood, as he grew up on a farm in the Beauce region in north-central France until he was 10 years old and wore a back brace. His son Gary is the voice of Christophe, while the other voices are from non-actors, giving it a more realistic effect.

In French, the name is Le Corset, not Iron Boy, but possibly to avoid any misinterpretations, the English title is different. Nevertheless, hopefully Iron Boy will have a greater release, as it has universal themes of growing up, finding one's passions and standing up for oneself.

Iron Boy

Directed by Louis Clichy

90 minutes

VIFF -- Review: Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty

A scene shows Farruquito's brilliance as a dancer (centre) 

As I was writing my posts about Paris (finally finished!), I attended the 45th Vancouver International Film Festival and saw 12 films, a mixture of dramas, documentaries and animation.

For 11 days I had quite the schedule, in many instances seeing two films per day! It almost felt like a job, having to wake up early to take public transit downtown and get there at least 30 minutes before the screening to queue up in order to get a good seat in the movie theatre!

In some cases there was already a long line half an hour before. To pass the time I either chatted up someone in front of me in the queue, or read a book -- the most reading I've done in 11 days.

Some screenings included interviews with the filmmakers which just added a greater appreciation for their work.

Here are my brief reviews in the order in which I saw the films:

Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty (2025)

I've always found flamenco dancing fascinating because of its raw emotion and intense endurance, which is why I picked this documentary. Farruquito is the stage name of Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya, the third generation to dance in his family.

It was his grandfather Farruco who was a legend for creating his own steps that were inspired by nature, like horses' hooves as they run on the grasslands. He had one son who was destined to be great -- Farruquito -- but he died at the age of 18 in a car accident.

But when the young Montoya showed talent in dancing, he inherited his uncle's stage name and learned dancing from his grandfather, and music from his guitar-playing father. The budding Farrquito became quite the celebrity in Spain.

The documentary is filled with a treasure trove of old videos of the grandfather, and of Farruquito as a child -- watching them gives viewers an insight into how he learned from his master, and also the family dynamics. At the same time the film doesn't hold back on confronting Farruquito's demons and how he must reconcile them to move forward.

There is already a fourth generation coming up -- Farruquito's son, who is a teenager and beginning to develop his own style of dancing, which Farruquito is more than encouraging. 

Some of the present-day scenes are staged, but for the most part viewers get to know most of the key family members and their own take on what it's like to be part of this flamenco dynasty.

Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty

Directed by Santi Aguado Reuben Atlas

90 minutes

Thoughts on International Women's Day

Carnations for women on International Women's Day

It's International Women's Day and the first thing that comes to mind for me is when I was in Beijing in 2008 and was working in state media.

When it was noon that day, carnations were handed out to the females in the office, and we were told we could leave the office and have a half day off.

What?

It was kind of bizarre, and I said it was OK, I would rather stay, but was told no, it was an order to leave.

I can't remember what I did, but I was disappointed I was not told ahead of time!

A book to consider reading

On the other hand I'm thinking about the concept of "daughtering", where women in the family are expected to manage family dynamics, to organising gatherings to scheduling parents' medical appointments. It's a task that has no monetary value, but is assumed that the daughters will take on this role wholeheartedly.

"Daughtering" was coined by Dr Allison Alford, a clinical associate professor at the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business. She recently wrote a book called Good Daughtering: The Work You've Always Done, the Credit You've Never Gotten, and How to Finally Feel Enough.

She's done a lot of research into this topic, interviewing a lot of women, from the oldest sisters to the youngest, though it is the oldest who is the family anchor, and the other female siblings assist. However when the men decide to pitch in and organise a family event, everyone is in a twitter about how he's made such a lovely contribution. Sound familiar?

Alford says it's important to recognise this "daughtering" concept and that it is not just you doing all the work -- others are too. That said, she believes it is important to show others what you are doing, and that your efforts deserve to be valued.

Along the same vein is my last thought on International Women's Day is America Ferrera's monologue as Gloria in Barbie. It may be given by a fictional character but it resonates:

It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.

Gloria's monologue in Barbie

You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but you also have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but always be looking out for other people.

You have to answer for men's bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for me, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.

But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but always be grateful.

You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don't even know.

Picture of the Day: Hong Kong's Garbled Message

How much of this can you read in a few seconds?

The Vancouver International Film Festival began yesterday and sitting in the theatre waiting for my first film to start, there was a slide show of ads, and one of them was from the Hong Kong government.

As this slide was only shown for a few seconds, one had to take a picture of it to really read and understand what's going on.

What caught our attention was the tagline on the right: 

HK: Raise capital. Raise a family. Raise your heartbeat.

Hong Kong. A world of opportunities.

"Raise capital" refers to Hong Kong being a financial hub, we all get that. But "Raise a family" seems odd as the next sentence, though perhaps a subtle hint that the city's birthrate is plunging, where in 2023, a woman in Hong Kong gave birth to 0.75 children during her childbearing years.

What does "Raise your heartbeat" mean? Blood pressure from stress comes to mind... 

The words are set against some images promoting the arts, like a rock concert, Chinese opera and an art installation. What does that have to do with the tagline?

It is only when we read the words on the left do we see it is referring to the West Kowloon Cultural District or "WestK" as it's known these days.

"Sitting on more than 40 hectares of harbourfront land, the West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the world's largest preserves of art, culture and entertainment, positioning Hong Kong as the premier arts and cultural hub of Asia," it reads.

"Already it boasts breathtaking architecture: the Xiqu Centre, home of year-round Chinese opera; the iconic M+, the first global museum of contemporary visual culture in Asia; and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which houses treasures from Beijing's Forbidden City. 

"With bike-friendly promenades, pet-friendly parks and indoor and outdoor performance venues, this exhilarating swirl of art, culture, lifestyle and nature adds a new dimension to the allure of Hong Kong as one of the most liveable, connected, family-friendly cities on earth."

Then there's the Toronto phone number for the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, and a QR code!

But really, this slide flashed on the screen for only a few seconds, once every five minutes or so. Hardly any of the viewers would have been able to read any of the text on the left column. And on closer examination, there are so many things going that it's quite confusing.

Perhaps a dramatic photo of Bruce Lee in Hong Kong would have gotten people's attention?

"Digital Parents" Give Emotional Support Online

Jiang (left) and Pan are "digital parents"

There is a huge response on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok on videos of "digital parents". In one video, a middle-aged couple look into the camera and talk to their adult daughter as they visit her and bring her presents, or in another consoling a student on a failed exam, or a teenager dealing with a breakup.

For many young people in China who feel like their parents don't understand them, or are not at home much or perhaps more focused on their work than their families, these "digital parents" are surrogates or ideal versions of who they want their mothers and fathers to be.

"It's very difficult for people to get the emotional support they need, so people turn to digital platforms," said Xie Kailing, an assistant professor in international development at the University of Birmingham in an interview with Rest of World. 

Pan's daughter films the videos

"It's part of the human longing for intimacy within a hyper-individualised, hyper-competitive society."

The "digital parents" are Jiang Xiuping, 48, and husband Pan Huqian, 50, and they are parents of an influencer who sells clothes on Douyin. Once she invited her father to be on her livestream as a guest, and so many viewers commented on how the father-daughter relationship was so close. 

That sparked the idea for the daughter to create videos of her parents to speak directly to the camera as if they were addressing the viewers as their children. "We don't write any scripts," explained Pan. "We are simply recreating how we brought up our own daughter."

The family has filmed various scenarios, like going shopping in a supermarket from the point of view of a toddler, and teaching a child how to ride a bike, with the camera being shaky, as if the child was losing his or her balance.

While the couple pitches products like food, skincare products and homeware which has earned them several thousand yuan or a few hundred US dollars, it's the scenarios that have touched a nerve.

"I felt like a stray cat that got picked up and kissed," says one comment that was liked 26,000 times. "Thank you for letting me know what it's like to have a mom," said another.

Some address Pan and Jiang as "dad and mom" while calling their own parents "father- and mother-in-law". 

The couple are idealised parents to young viewers

Jiang says there are children as young as 12 years old who have reached out to the "digital parents", saying they suffer from depression.

Assistant professor Xie says many children feel they missed out, particularly those from rural families, as their underprivileged parents did not have the time or financial resources to meet their needs. There is also the additional issue of not enough mental health resources in China, and the family-oriented culture, where children are pressured to do well in life to make their parents proud and support them financially as they get older, putting more pressure on both the parents and children.

But while Pan and Jiang act like the perfect parents, their real lives were not so wonderful -- they had a wedding-planning business that was derailed when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. As a result they had to close their physical shop because they couldn't afford rent.

"People are under great pressure in this society," says Pan. "We should show more empathy to all the parents."

Indeed. While Pan and Jiang might be what young people are pining for in their parents, they should not expect their real fathers and mothers to be like these "digital parents" because it's not reality. People also need to accept their parents and their situations for what they are and make the most of it. Because in the end, everyone is human and have his or her faults.

Review: Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Ginger and Rocky are back... with a daughter called Molly

The other day I watched the sequel to Chicken Run -- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Hard to believe the original was made 23 years ago! Aardman Animations is famous for making claymation stop-motion animation that's painstaking to make, but as a viewer, so much fun to watch. 

If you remember Chicken Run, the chickens bust out of the hen house when they realise chickens are being killed by Mrs Tweedy to make chicken pies. The chickens then settle in a place far away from farms and people.

Stop-motion animation is painstaking to make

In the sequel, the leader of the flock, Ginger, gets together with Rocky the Rooster and they have a baby chick called Molly, and becomes much like her mother.

But the chickens soon discover some development is afoot near where they live and Molly sees trucks going to a special place she wants to check out, but her mother doesn't want her to leave...

Dawn of the Nugget starts with a quick refresher for viewers who may not have remembered Chicken Run, and then fast-forwards to the present. All the old characters are still there, like Babs the bird who is sweet but clueless, Mac a Scottish chicken with some smarts, Fowler, the elderly rooster who constantly talks about his Royal Air Force days, and the two rats, Nick and Fetcher who help the chickens.

Part of the storyline involves some other chickens living in a utopia, which immediately reminded me of Barbie! What a strange coincidence, which in a way made it more amusing. 

This utopia scene looked familiar to Barbie

Nevertheless the action scenes were quite clever and unexpected, while the humour was a bit muted, but funny towards the end.

Mel Gibson wasn't called back to reprise his role, and was replaced by Rocky, while Julia Sawalha didn't return as Ginger either and instead Thandiwe Newton took on the role. 

People who watch Netflix will be able to see Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on December 15 onwards. Good family fun for 98 minutes.

 

Community Group Masks Up

Shi and Ly have been handing out N95 masks since May

While Hong Kong still continues to insist that people wear masks despite the hot and humid temperatures in the mid 30s, the health authority in British Columbia has been wishy-washy in advising the public.

On the one hand it warns people that the seventh wave is here, but then stops short of insisting on a mask mandate and giving out second boosters unless people are 70 years old and older or immunocompromised.

This has frustrated two people in Vancouver that they have taken matters into their own hands and have started handing out N95 masks to people for free on the street.

Mostly Chinese seniors and families get masks

Jane Shi and Vivian Ly are the organisers of Masks4EastVan, which they started in May, two months after BC lifted mandatory masking requirements in most indoor spaces.

"We're still in the middle of the pandemic. It's not over," Ly said. "We're seeing this kind of dissonance where... cases [are] still going up, but there aren't enough public health measures to fill in those gaps.

"We're left to fill these gaps in ourselves with these kinds of community initiatives."

So far they have handed out 4,000 masks and 250 rapid antigen tests since Masks4EastVan began, to mostly Chinese seniors and families.

Officials say those who choose to wear a mask "should be supported", but it is a personal choice under provincial guidelines.

The community group, which is funded by donations, is also receiving requests from Downtown Eastside residents and long-term care workers.

They want to hand out 12K masks

"We're hoping to distribute 12,000 masks by the end of the year," Shi and Ly said. "What we want is a collective response to this pandemic, not an individual one."

Others have said they are done with Covid-19, but the reality is that it is not done with us.

Anecdotally there are more people that I know who are getting infected, and the best and cheapest way to protect oneself (other than being a hermit) is to wear a mask when interacting with others.

The BC health authorities really need to step up and strongly advise people to wear masks instead of letting them be. While symptoms are mild, it's better to avoid the possibility of long Covid, so why not do that by wearing a mask?