LUCKY GRANDMA

Filmmakers in attendance.

Last year, director Sasie Sealy and her creative partner Angela Cheng participated in the Tribeca Film Festival and AT&T’s Untold Stories program, where they won a cash grant of $1 million to produce LUCKY GRANDMA. OG Chinese actress Tsai Chin stars as the coolest curmudgeon this side of this West Coast Premiere.

Veteran actress Tsai Chin (THE JOY LUCK CLUB, A LEADING MAN, CASINO ROYALE) turns in a compelling and funny performance as an ornery, chain-smoking Chinese grandmother with a small-time gambling habit. She cherishes her independence, which worries her family. When a local fortune-teller predicts a most auspicious day in her future, Grandma decides to work off that newly acquired good luck and head straight to the casino. She goes “all in” and lands herself on the wrong side of luck. She soon becomes entrenched in the the middle of a NYC Chinatown gang war. Realizing she cannot simply walk away from this turf war, Grandma decides to get some muscle and employs the services of a bodyguard from a rival gang.

Director Sasie Sealy brings to life a dark comedy about immigrant life, the vulnerabilities of aging, and an unexpected friendship. Set in alleyways, casino buses, and underground mahjong parlors with a cast of richly drawn characters, including Taiwanese breakout talent Corey Ha as the bodyguard. In the end, LUCKY GRANDMA is a love letter to Chinatown and an homage to all the badass ‘poh-pohs’ out there in Chinatowns everywhere. —Anderson Le

Co-presented with Community Partners: 626 Night Market

CREDITS
Director: Sasie Sealy
Co-Writer: Angela Cheng, Sasie Sealy
Producer: Cara Marcous, Krista Parris, Milton Liu
Director of Photography: Eduardo Mayen
Cast: Tsai Chin, Corey Ha, Michael Tow, Woody Fu, Wai Ching Ho