“Telluride Film Festival Presents” The Farewell (2019)

Written and directed by Lulu Wang, the film follows a Chinese family who decides to schedule an impromptu wedding after learning that their grandmother only has a short time left to live.  Premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

The film was based on Wang’s own grandmother’s illness and her personal relationship with her family, her colleagues and to the world as an immigrant, and on a story she originally shared on This American Life. Vanity Fair wrote, “Wang movingly tells us not just a story about the negotiations of familial love, but also of the immigrant experience, of revisiting one’s homeland to, in some senses, say goodbye to it.”

RogerEbert.com wrote that Wang “achieves a masterful tonal balance throughout…She’s made a film about death that’s light on its feet and never mawkish.”  

The film features Awkwafina, an American actress and rapper (OCEAN’S 8, CRAZY RICH ASIANS), whose performance has been garnering extraordinary critical acclaim.  

The Washington Post wrote, “Awkwafina delivers a breakout dramatic performance in the tender, funny The Farewell,” while The Wall Street Journal praised her. “Awkwafina stars – and shines – as a young Chinese-American woman who visits her dying grandmother in China…the lovely paradox of The Farewell is that everyone in it tries to hide their feelings as long as they can, yet their story goes straight to your heart.”

Thursday, August 22 – One SHOW Only – 6:15pm at the Nugget Theater.

The movie is Rated PG.  98 minutes. Tickets are $10.  No Nugget passes, please.