ThereB次元官网网址檚 been nothing tranquil about the B.C.-set immigrant drama B次元官网网址淩iceboy SleepsB次元官网网址� since its buzz-laden debut at Toronto International Film Festival last year.
After its September premiere, the mother-son film collected a slew of festival awards, including $25,000 prizes at TIFF and the Windsor International Film Festival, the title of best Canadian film at the Vancouver International Film Festival and an audience prize at the Busan International Film Festival.
Last week, B次元官网网址淩iceboy SleepsB次元官网网址� was declared best Canadian feature by the Toronto Film Critics Association, an annual honour that comes with a $100,000 prize.
Now, writer-director Anthony Shim says heB次元官网网址檚 excited to finally put the family drama before general audiences as the movie opens in theatres March 17.
The staggered rollout across Canada includes Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver, with future release plans in Korea, Singapore and the United States.
Shim notes the film will test the publicB次元官网网址檚 appetite for cinema now that the pandemic seems to have waned.
B次元官网网址淚t feels like, B次元官网网址極h, wow, this is a real movie.B次元官网网址� The trailer is playing at Cineplex now so, even that idea is like, B次元官网网址極K, this is real. ItB次元官网网址檚 not just a festival movie,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� says Shim.
B次元官网网址淚 hope people will see it but the movie theatre business is a tough one right now. IB次元官网网址檓 trying to stay optimistic but trying to not have unrealistic expectations for it.B次元官网网址�
Shim says critical and industry acclaim have already ushered in new creative partnerships and projects, including an offer to direct an episode of the Showtime drama B次元官网网址淭he Chi.B次元官网网址�
Reached recently in Chicago where the show films, he says B次元官网网址淭he ChiB次元官网网址� producers caught the film at TIFF and were so impressed they tapped him for episode four of the upcoming sixth season.
B次元官网网址淭here was so much buzz around the filmB次元官网网址�. IB次元官网网址檝e met with a lot of other companies as well, since then,B次元官网网址� Shim says of the whirlwind that followed TIFF.
B次元官网网址淭hey were one of the companies that really stood out to me, the type of people that I want to be working with in the future,B次元官网网址� he said of the Lena Waithe-created drama that follows residents of the South Side of Chicago.
While he doesnB次元官网网址檛 specifically aspire to episodic work, Shim says he welcomes the experience since he may want to develop his own limited series or TV project one day.
Mostly heB次元官网网址檚 keen to bring to life his own written work.Invariably these stories are about families and the complex dynamics that can both bind and strain kin.
While not autobiographical, he says B次元官网网址淩iceboy SleepsB次元官网网址� draws on much of his experience as an immigrant growing up in small-town British Columbia.
It stars newcomer Choi Seung-yoon as a South Korean widow struggling to establish a new life in 1990s Canada with her son, played early in the film by child actor Dohyun Noel Hwang and later by teen actor Ethan Hwang.
Shim says the hardest part of casting was finding quasi-bilingual actors who had the right mix of Korean and English language proficiency.
B次元官网网址淭hat balance was so importantB次元官网网址�. Certain actors were great, looked perfect for the part, but their Korean was not good enough,B次元官网网址� he says.
They looked at B次元官网网址渉undreds of peopleB次元官网网址� and turned to a Korean casting director to find Seung-yoon B次元官网网址� a dancer with very little acting experience who nevertheless nailed the role of a headstrong mother bewildered by the casual but constant racism she encounters.
B次元官网网址淚t was her first audition ever. And just the way she held herself, the way she spoke, it was just so blatantly perfect,B次元官网网址� says Shim.
Seung-yoon says she submitted a tape to gain experience with auditions, and initially feared actually getting the part. During an interview at TIFF, she says she was happy she was B次元官网网址渂rave enough to take this job.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭his role of So-young is so demanding. But somehow, when I first read the script, So-young came so naturally to me. I could resonate with her life and her emotion and her choice,B次元官网网址� Seung-yoon says.
B次元官网网址淪he never avoids her truth of life. That kind of braveness I like.B次元官网网址�
Seung-yoon says her ballet background came in handy for the shoot. Most scenes employed a single shot, requiring a form of choreography she understood innately.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not only about dialogue, itB次元官网网址檚 about the whole body movement,B次元官网网址� she says.
Shim says heB次元官网网址檚 already turned his attention to his next feature B次元官网网址� an adaptation of a novel that he connected with B次元官网网址渙n a very deep levelB次元官网网址� but would not reveal just yet.
B次元官网网址淭he novel that IB次元官网网址檓 speaking very vaguely about, it felt like a continuation of some of the questions and ideas that I was exploring with B次元官网网址楻iceboy Sleeps,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he says.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e also got a script that IB次元官网网址檝e been writing myself for a while. ItB次元官网网址檚 an original screenplay that IB次元官网网址檇 like to make at some point as well.
B次元官网网址淏ut yeah, itB次元官网网址檚 been tough to find time to write over the last few months.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擟assandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
