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Indie director/writer Alice Wu made her feature debut with Saving Face, a delightful rom-com based on her personal experience of coming out as a lesbian to her conservative mother. Dr. Wilhelmina "Wil" Pang is a successful surgeon in New York City. When her traditionalist mother falls pregnant and is banished from the family home, the two become roommates. Wil must juggle keeping her lesbian relationship hidden, whilst also trying to find her mother a suitable Chinese bachelor to marry. Tackling cultural expectation and generational divides, Saving Face is a feel-good queer story starring Michelle Krusiec (nominated as Best Actress at the Golden Horse Film Festival for her performance in this film), Joan Chen (Twin Peaks), and Lynn Chen.
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Saving Face (2004)
97 min
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.