NZIFF 2023: Q&A - Director Anthony Shim, Riceboy Sleeps

Tell us about your film -where did the idea come from

My film is about a single Korean mother and her son's struggles living in Canada during the 90s. The film is inspired by my own childhood growing up in Vancouver and my relationship with my mother. After my father passed away I had become curious about my roots and heritage so I began visiting Korea more and more often which over time became a way of grieving for me. I wanted to try and capture that journey from early adolescence to becoming a young adult and embracing my Korean-Canadian identity as a result of losing a parent. 

When did you begin shooting and did it all go according to plan?

We shot the film during August 2021 for 15 days in Vancouver and then another 4 days in South Korea in September. A lot of it did not go according to plan, but enough went right that our film came out okay. Sometimes things not going according to plan can be a real blessing in disguise so I try to embrace whatever obstacles come my way.

What’s the best reaction you’ve had to your film?

There have been so many amazing reactions to the film that it's hard to single out any one. I would say whenever people approach me after a screening and share how moved they were by the film and made them appreciate everything their parents did for them, that's pretty special. 

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is..... 

Making films -- any film -- is so tough, but this particular story was just so personal and important to me that nothing was going to stop me from making it.

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is....... 

This is tough, but I think the scene (spoiler alert!) when they say bye to the grandpa is pretty hard not to feel something, at least for me.

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........

Because of the way this film is edited, or the lack of editing, it made it hard to trim anything down and instead I had to just fully remove scenes. I had to cut one scene out that had to do with the Teenage Dong-hyun and his friends and that created this domino effect where I ended up having to remove like 7 or 8 scenes as a result. That was tough. Especially because I love all the actors in those scenes and the work they did.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......

Live your truth. 

The one film I want to see most at NZIFF is....... 

La Chimera. Alice Rohrwacher is one of my absolute favourite filmmakers in the world.