Dìdi directed by Sean Wang, winner of the Audience Award and Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble at the Sundance Film Festival, will open the San Francisco International Film Festival which will take place from April 24 -28, 2024 in San Francisco, USA.

Dìdi by Sean Wang – USA | 2023 – 90 minutes

Sean Wang‘s auspicious, semi-autobiographical feature debut centers on a universally recognizable phase of adolescence — that moment we begin the lifelong process of self-determination. Set in 2008 Fremont, this Sundance audience award winner follows 13-year-old Taiwanese American Chris (Izaac Wang) in the fleeting months prior to freshman year as he clumsily pursues his first crush, nurtures his passions for filming and skating, and experiments with the dawning intensity of online relationships via AIM chat and MySpace. At home, Chris’s college-bound sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) and weary mother Chunsing (an illuminating Joan Chen) annoy him, while his acerbic grandma Nai Nai (Chang Li Hua, the director’s real-life grandmother) frets over his diet. All three women draw his ire as Chris stumbles through a series of hilarious coming-of-age situations. Nuanced and tender, Wang‘s film is a layered exploration of learning to love oneself against the Darwinian backdrop of teenage cliques, cultural conformity, and the maddening frustrations of growing up. (SFIFF 2024)

Screening Dates:
April 24, 2024 | Wednesday | Premier Theater at One Letterman | 7:00 pm
April 24, 2024 | Wednesday | Marina Theatre | 8:00 pm

About the director:
Among Fremont native Sean Wang‘s films is his latest short Nai Nai and Wài Pó (Festival 2023), which was nominated for a Best Documentary Short Film Academy Award®. His debut feature, Dìdi, won the Sundance Film Festival’s US Dramatic audience award and a US Special Jury Award for its ensemble. It is the recipient of support from SFFILM Rainin Grant, SFFILM Invest, and SFFILM Dolby Institute Fellowship.

For more information, please visit: https://sffilm.org/