There comes a time in many lives when a kind of matter transference takes place in the relationship between parent and child. Like a sudden change of filter or aspect ratio, we see our mothers and fathers in new ways, realizing they existed before we did, thought thoughts and felt feelings entirely separate from our own. Almost always, it’s a flower of understanding that blossoms just a bit later than we would like and when it does, it asks of us an impossible question: what to do with this new knowledge, this strange flood of retrospective awe? Perhaps, when you’re far on the other side, looking back through the reverse end of time’s telescope, and if you’re Canadian director Anthony Shim, you make a film like “Riceboy Sleeps,” a familiar immigrant song sung in such an elegant, sincere voice that it feels like a whole new arrangement.
- 5/5/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
"She never stopped worrying for her son." 1091 Pictures has revealed the official US trailer for the release of this acclaimed Canadian indie film titled Riceboy Sleeps, from filmmaker Anthony Shim. It premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival last year, and won a bunch of other awards playing at fests throughout the fall. The film centers on So-Young, played by Choi Seung-yoon, a Korean immigrant single mother raising her teenage son Dong-Hyun after moving to Canada to give him a better life. It was shot around Vancouver and is based in part on filmmaker Anthony Shim's own childhood. Ethan Hwang stars as Dong-Hyun, with a cast including Hunter Dillon, Anthony Shim, and Jerina Son. This features many elegant long takes, telling the story of this boy growing up as an immigrant in Canada. It earned rave reviews and did well for an indie at the Canadian box office after first opening in March.
- 4/27/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The summer season is upon us and, per each year, we’ve dug beyond studio offerings (though a few potential highlights remain) to present an in-depth look at what should be on your radar. From festival winners of the past year to selections coming straight from Cannes to genre delights to, yes, a few blockbuster spectacles, there’s more than enough to anticipate.
Check out our picks below and return for monthly updates as more is sure to be added to the calendar.
Riceboy Sleeps (Anthony Shim; May 2)
So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon) didn’t want to leave South Korea. She had no choice. The father of her newborn son committed suicide and, as an orphan who was never adopted, she had no other family. So, with nowhere to turn and a boy who couldn’t legally become a citizen due to being born out of wedlock, she immigrated to Canada to start anew.
Check out our picks below and return for monthly updates as more is sure to be added to the calendar.
Riceboy Sleeps (Anthony Shim; May 2)
So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon) didn’t want to leave South Korea. She had no choice. The father of her newborn son committed suicide and, as an orphan who was never adopted, she had no other family. So, with nowhere to turn and a boy who couldn’t legally become a citizen due to being born out of wedlock, she immigrated to Canada to start anew.
- 4/25/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The title of Anthony Shim’s semi-autobiographical film comes from an insult hurled at young Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang) on his first day at school – his first taste of racism after moving from Korea to Canada. He will subsequently throw his gimbap in the bin and beg his mother So-young (Choi Seung-yoon) for a packed lunch more like those eaten by the other kids. There is no support whatsoever offered by the school, which treats his ethnicity as a problem to be solved and even asks his mother to give him a new name. She’s keen to fit in, and so he comes to be known as David in public – a name not used at home unless he’s in trouble. When she gets to know other Korean immigrants at work, So-young discovers that they, too, have changed their children’s names.
Taking away a name has been used throughout history as.
Taking away a name has been used throughout history as.
- 3/6/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Canadian sales agents licenses Viking, Into The Weeds to US.
Sphere Films International has reported key territory deals here on Anthony Shim’s TIFF Platform Prize and Busan audience award winner Riceboy Sleeps.
1091 Pictures has acquired the family drama for the US and rights have gone for Australia and New Zealand (Icon), South Korea (Pancinema), Spain (Yoda Films), Benelux (September Films), Taiwan (Creative Century), Singapore (Lighthouse Film), and Israel (Lev Films).
Theatrical releases are planned for spring in South Korea and Singapore with other releases expected to follow shortly after. Anthony Shim’s 1990’s-set film follows a Korean single...
Sphere Films International has reported key territory deals here on Anthony Shim’s TIFF Platform Prize and Busan audience award winner Riceboy Sleeps.
1091 Pictures has acquired the family drama for the US and rights have gone for Australia and New Zealand (Icon), South Korea (Pancinema), Spain (Yoda Films), Benelux (September Films), Taiwan (Creative Century), Singapore (Lighthouse Film), and Israel (Lev Films).
Theatrical releases are planned for spring in South Korea and Singapore with other releases expected to follow shortly after. Anthony Shim’s 1990’s-set film follows a Korean single...
- 2/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
A new trailer is being exclusively unveiled by Et Canada for “Riceboy Sleeps”, the critically acclaimed film from director Antony Shim that was named one of TIFF’s top 10 for 2022.
Filmed in Vancouver, “Riceboy Sleeps” tells the story of So-young (Choi Seung-yoon), a Korean immigrant single mother in the 1990s raising her teenage son Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) after moving to Canada to give him a better life.
Read More: Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’ Wins TIFF People’s Choice Award
“Determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind in her native country, she does her best to overcome the constant racial and cultural challenges that confront them,” the synopsis reads.
Game Theory Films
“As Dong-hyun gets older, he becomes increasingly curious about his Korean heritage and in particular, about his deceased father — a topic that So-young refuses to address,” the synopsis continues. “Instead, she...
Filmed in Vancouver, “Riceboy Sleeps” tells the story of So-young (Choi Seung-yoon), a Korean immigrant single mother in the 1990s raising her teenage son Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) after moving to Canada to give him a better life.
Read More: Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’ Wins TIFF People’s Choice Award
“Determined to provide a better life for him than the one she left behind in her native country, she does her best to overcome the constant racial and cultural challenges that confront them,” the synopsis reads.
Game Theory Films
“As Dong-hyun gets older, he becomes increasingly curious about his Korean heritage and in particular, about his deceased father — a topic that So-young refuses to address,” the synopsis continues. “Instead, she...
- 2/2/2023
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Anthony Shim moved with his family to the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam in childhood. He has had acting roles in both film and television, including in the 2013 film Evangeline and recurring supporting roles in the television series The Guard and 21 Thunder. His full-length feature debut as a director, Daughter, premiered at the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival. His second feature film, Riceboy Sleeps, premiered in the Platform Prize competition at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, and was named the winner of the Platform Prize.
Choi Seung-yoon is a dancer, choreographer and actor based in Seoul, South Korea. She began training in ballet at the age of five and has a BA degree in dance from Ewha Womans University. Early in her career, Choi produced and performed in her own dance productions that received grants from Arts Council Korea and the Seoul Art Council. Her work has...
Choi Seung-yoon is a dancer, choreographer and actor based in Seoul, South Korea. She began training in ballet at the age of five and has a BA degree in dance from Ewha Womans University. Early in her career, Choi produced and performed in her own dance productions that received grants from Arts Council Korea and the Seoul Art Council. Her work has...
- 12/6/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi dedicates award to ‘women of Iran and younger generation.’
Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s directorial debut drama A Tale of Shemroon won the Marrakech International’s Film Festival’s Etoile d’Or grand prize as the nine-day festival wrapped its 19th in-person edition over the weekend.
The Farsi and French-language film takes place north of Tehran and follows a boy and his younger brother who, following the death of their mother, attempt to launch a quick money-making business to help their family, but end up getting caught up in an illegal drug trade and Tehran’s wealthy world of corruption.
Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s directorial debut drama A Tale of Shemroon won the Marrakech International’s Film Festival’s Etoile d’Or grand prize as the nine-day festival wrapped its 19th in-person edition over the weekend.
The Farsi and French-language film takes place north of Tehran and follows a boy and his younger brother who, following the death of their mother, attempt to launch a quick money-making business to help their family, but end up getting caught up in an illegal drug trade and Tehran’s wealthy world of corruption.
- 11/20/2022
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s story of brotherly bonds and criminal excess “A Tale of Shemroon” took home top honors at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday, closing out a 19th edition that saw a robust and welcome return to in-person events after two year’s of pandemic-forced delays.
Dehkordi’s feature debut follows a pair of brothers pulled deeper into the drug trade as they supply any number of illegal thrills to Tehran’s wealthy and hard-partying youths. While remaining a family drama above all, the Marrakech winner certainly evokes the simmering ennui felt by a young generation of Iranians and now boiling over into protest and rage on the real streets of Tehran.
Visibly moved, director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s collected his Etoile d’Or by dedicating the prize to “all the Iranians fighting for their freedoms, to those who are faced with death sentences. This award is for...
Dehkordi’s feature debut follows a pair of brothers pulled deeper into the drug trade as they supply any number of illegal thrills to Tehran’s wealthy and hard-partying youths. While remaining a family drama above all, the Marrakech winner certainly evokes the simmering ennui felt by a young generation of Iranians and now boiling over into protest and rage on the real streets of Tehran.
Visibly moved, director Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s collected his Etoile d’Or by dedicating the prize to “all the Iranians fighting for their freedoms, to those who are faced with death sentences. This award is for...
- 11/19/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim-Dehkordi’s feature directorial debut A Tale Of Shemroon won the top Étoile d’Or—the Festival Grand Prize – at the Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday.
The feature, which was among 14 first and second films competing in the festival’s main competition, world premiered in the San Sebastian’s New Directors section earlier this year.
Set in contemporary Tehran, the timely work revolves around two brothers living with their invalid father, and still reeling from their mother’s death.
The older brother hits on a moneymaking scheme to break out of the family’s humdrum existence which brings him to contact with the city’s gilded youth, but things do not go to plan.
Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino was president of the jury this year, joined by British actress Vanessa Kirby German actor Diane Kruger Australian director Justin Kurzel, Lebanese director and actor Nadine Labaki,...
The feature, which was among 14 first and second films competing in the festival’s main competition, world premiered in the San Sebastian’s New Directors section earlier this year.
Set in contemporary Tehran, the timely work revolves around two brothers living with their invalid father, and still reeling from their mother’s death.
The older brother hits on a moneymaking scheme to break out of the family’s humdrum existence which brings him to contact with the city’s gilded youth, but things do not go to plan.
Oscar-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino was president of the jury this year, joined by British actress Vanessa Kirby German actor Diane Kruger Australian director Justin Kurzel, Lebanese director and actor Nadine Labaki,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Anthony Shim joins the likes of Kamila Andini (“Yuni”) and Pablo Larrain (“Jackie”) with the historic win of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform Prize for his debut feature, “Riceboy Sleeps.” In this sober slice-of-life, he tells a 2-part story of a single immigrant mother, So-young (played by newcomer Choi Seung-yoon) surviving in the heart of Canada with her son, Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang) in the 1990s. In the beginning, the two learn to navigate the social labyrinth of being East Asian in a mostly white town. They displace their background – and by so doing, their dignity – little by little to assimilate. They replace gimbap with sandwiches; exchange Korean names for English ones; turn the other cheek instead of fighting back. In the first half of “Riceboy Sleeps,” the all-too-familiar seeds for internalized self-hatred sow and flourish before viewers the silver screen.
Riceboy Sleeps screened at Toronto International Film...
Riceboy Sleeps screened at Toronto International Film...
- 9/24/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
After 11 days and over 200 films, Toronto International Film Festival finally came to a close on Sunday. On the ground, much of the buzz seemed geared towards upcoming fall releases, like “Glass Onion: Knives Out”, “The Fabelmans”, “The Woman King”, and “Pearl.” TIFF juries seemed to think otherwise, however. Independent productions have taken home most of the awards, with a good half of them being Asian identifying filmmakers took home near half of the awards. Of these, at least 25 percent identify as Asian Canadian, and at least three do not identify as cisgender male. The range has also been notable. With productions ranging from Mongolia (“Snow in September”) to Palestine (“A Gaza Weekend”), from sleepy towns in Canada (“Riceboy Sleeps”) to film sets in the Philippines (“Leonor Will Never Die”), the list of movies reveals the sheer diversity in the continent of Asia – and all the diasporas accompanying it.
But without further ado,...
But without further ado,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon) didn’t want to leave South Korea. She had no choice. The father of her newborn son committed suicide and, as an orphan who was never adopted, she had no other family. So, with nowhere to turn and a boy who couldn’t legally become a citizen due to being born out of wedlock, she immigrated to Canada to start anew. There she would build a home for the two of them and a wall in front of her past. Questions about Dong-Hyun’s (Dohyun Noel Hwang at six and Ethan Hwang at sixteen) father were delayed indefinitely and ultimately left unanswered no matter how many times he asked. So-Young only wanted to look forward and, eventually, so did Dong-Hyun. Until their future together was unceremoniously stolen away.
Writer/director Anthony Shim knows this sense of being caught between worlds well considering he too was a Korean...
Writer/director Anthony Shim knows this sense of being caught between worlds well considering he too was a Korean...
- 9/11/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
TIFF: ‘Riceboy Sleeps’ Director Talks Minimal, Single Camera Coverage: “That Was The Scariest Thing”
Click here to read the full article.
Hollywood directors routinely capture on a movie set extra camera footage and angles, or “coverage,” to later give them options in the edit suite.
Not Anthony Shim, director of Riceboy Sleeps. He avoided shooting coverage when his single camera rolled on the set for his Korean and English language immigrant drama having its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
“We didn’t shoot any coverage. That was the scariest thing,” Shim told The Hollywood Reporter about he and director of photography Christopher Lew’s single camera going instead for one-take, choreographed and continuous wide camera shots that cover all the dialogue and visuals in a scene.
In the hands of a master director, such as Martin Scorsese and his opening Copa shot in Goodfellas, minimal camera coverage could be the making of cinematic legend. But for a second feature director like Shim,...
Hollywood directors routinely capture on a movie set extra camera footage and angles, or “coverage,” to later give them options in the edit suite.
Not Anthony Shim, director of Riceboy Sleeps. He avoided shooting coverage when his single camera rolled on the set for his Korean and English language immigrant drama having its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
“We didn’t shoot any coverage. That was the scariest thing,” Shim told The Hollywood Reporter about he and director of photography Christopher Lew’s single camera going instead for one-take, choreographed and continuous wide camera shots that cover all the dialogue and visuals in a scene.
In the hands of a master director, such as Martin Scorsese and his opening Copa shot in Goodfellas, minimal camera coverage could be the making of cinematic legend. But for a second feature director like Shim,...
- 9/11/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Academy Award winner Buffy Sainte-Marie (An Officer and a Gentleman) has been set as the latest honoree of the TIFF Tribute Awards, which return to an in-person gala fundraiser during the 47th edition of the Toronto Film Festival, at Royal York Hotel on September 11th. TIFF also announced today that its gala will feature a musical performance by songwriter, poet, filmmaker and artist Mustafa. Presenters confirmed for the event include Darren Aronofsky, Olivia Colman, Sam Hunter, Sarah Polley and Jason Reitman, with more names to be announced in the coming days, alongside TIFF Rising Stars Natalia Aranguren, Gabriel Labelle, Isaiah Lehtinen, Carmen Madonia, Thuso Mbedu, Joshua Odjick, Aaron Pierre, Choi Seung-yoon and Ty Simpkins.
Sainte-Marie will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, recognizing leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Past recipients in the category include Alanis Obomsawin in 2021 and Mira Nair in 2020.
Sainte-Marie is an Indigenous Canadian-American singer-songwriter composer,...
Sainte-Marie will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, recognizing leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Past recipients in the category include Alanis Obomsawin in 2021 and Mira Nair in 2020.
Sainte-Marie is an Indigenous Canadian-American singer-songwriter composer,...
- 9/7/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Eddie Redmayne, Viola Davis, Lee Jung-jae to participate in on-stage conversations.
TIFF has announced the In Conversation With… series and the talent development programmes and participants.
On-stage conversation participants include Eddie Redmayne, Viola Davis and Lee Jung-jae, while Sarah Gadon is announced as the TIFF Micki Moore Residency.
The festival has also unveiled the 10 Industry Selects roster of acquisition titles. TIFF runs from September 8-1.
In Conversation With…
The In Conversation With… series features Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land and Whiplash whose December release Babylon is expected to be an awards contender; Viola Davis and Gina Prince-Bythewood,...
TIFF has announced the In Conversation With… series and the talent development programmes and participants.
On-stage conversation participants include Eddie Redmayne, Viola Davis and Lee Jung-jae, while Sarah Gadon is announced as the TIFF Micki Moore Residency.
The festival has also unveiled the 10 Industry Selects roster of acquisition titles. TIFF runs from September 8-1.
In Conversation With…
The In Conversation With… series features Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land and Whiplash whose December release Babylon is expected to be an awards contender; Viola Davis and Gina Prince-Bythewood,...
- 8/23/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Slate includes Nigerian comedy-drama ‘Niagara’.
Sphere Films International, formerly WaZabi Films, heads to Toronto with sales rights to TIFF Platform pair Viking and Riceboy Sleeps and Australian Discovery selection Sweet As.
Viking is a French and English-language sci-fi drama directed by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur about researchers who try to replicate a manned mission to Mars in the hopes of solving conflict among the real crew.
Luc Déry and Kim McCraw of micro_scope produced Viking, which Lafleur co-wrote with Eric K. Boulianne. Hamza Haq stars alongside Fabiola N. Aladin, Marie Brassard and Larissa Corriveau.
Lafleur’s first film Continental,...
Sphere Films International, formerly WaZabi Films, heads to Toronto with sales rights to TIFF Platform pair Viking and Riceboy Sleeps and Australian Discovery selection Sweet As.
Viking is a French and English-language sci-fi drama directed by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur about researchers who try to replicate a manned mission to Mars in the hopes of solving conflict among the real crew.
Luc Déry and Kim McCraw of micro_scope produced Viking, which Lafleur co-wrote with Eric K. Boulianne. Hamza Haq stars alongside Fabiola N. Aladin, Marie Brassard and Larissa Corriveau.
Lafleur’s first film Continental,...
- 8/9/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Slate includes Australian Discovery selection ‘Sweet As’, Nigerian comedy-drama ‘Niagara’.
Sphere Films International, formerly WaZabi Films, heads to Toronto with sales rights to TIFF Platform pair Viking and Riceboy Sleeps.
Viking is a French and English-language sci-fi drama directed by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur about researchers who try to replicate a manned mission to Mars in the hopes of solving conflict among the real crew.
Luc Déry and Kim McCraw of micro_scope produced Viking, which Lafleur co-wrote with Eric K. Boulianne. Hamza Haq stars alongside Fabiola N. Aladin, Marie Brassard and Larissa Corriveau.
Lafleur’s first film Continental, A...
Sphere Films International, formerly WaZabi Films, heads to Toronto with sales rights to TIFF Platform pair Viking and Riceboy Sleeps.
Viking is a French and English-language sci-fi drama directed by Montreal’s Stéphane Lafleur about researchers who try to replicate a manned mission to Mars in the hopes of solving conflict among the real crew.
Luc Déry and Kim McCraw of micro_scope produced Viking, which Lafleur co-wrote with Eric K. Boulianne. Hamza Haq stars alongside Fabiola N. Aladin, Marie Brassard and Larissa Corriveau.
Lafleur’s first film Continental, A...
- 8/9/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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