Lucky (Terry Chen) once had a streak of fortune as wide as the sky. A tattooed former gambler, he has since settled down with a mortgage, wife, and two daughters. But it’s winter in Calgary and, with his family to look after and a fledgling electronics repair shop incurring numerous bills, he’s feeling under pressure from all sides. When he falls for a tax scam, Lucky scrambles to recover his losses and goes all in at the card table, risking his livelihood and marriage in the process. Meanwhile, his wife Noel (Oliva Cheng) and eldest daughter Grace (Conni Miu) face their own moral dilemmas…
A vibrant and essential addition to Asian-Canadian film, Lucky Star is a complex examination of a Chinese-Canadian family at a crossroads. Director Gillian McKercher helms a tense and gripping narrative about familial bonds, deceit, and sacrifice, exploring the crucial choices a person can make to change their life, for the better – or for worse.
Oct 3: Q&A with director Gillian McKercher and actors Terry Chen, Austyn van De Kamp, Conni Miu & Olivia Cheng
Oct 5: Q&A with director Gillian McKercher and actor Summer Ly
Presented by
Media Partner
Terry Chen, Olivia Cheng, Conni Miu, Andrew Phung
Canada
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Terry Chen, Olivia Cheng, Sidney Chiu
Producer
Guillaume Carlier, Amanda Verhagen, Matt Drake, Nicola Waugh
Screenwriter
Gillian McKercher
Cinematography
Charles Hamilton
Editor
Xi Feng
Production Design
Dale Marushy
Original Music
Rebecca Bruton, Meredith Bates
Gillian McKercher
Gillian McKercher is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and co-founder of Kino Sum Productions. Before she dedicated herself entirely to cinema, she worked in engineering and the DIY Calgary arts scene. Gillian’s work often explores family, labour, and the intersection of energy and the environment. Her first feature film as writer/director, Circle of Steel, won an Audience Award at the 2018 Calgary International Film Festival. She developed her sophomore feature, Lucky Star, while a resident at the Canadian Film Centre with the support of the CFC/Netflix Project Development Accelerator and Harold Greenberg Fund.
Filmography: Circle of Steel (2018)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Hanging by a Wire
The Himalayas, Aug 22, 2023: a cable car bearing 8 passengers (six of them schoolkids) is left dangling 900 feet above the ground when two out of three cables snap. This nailbiting documentary recounts the increasingly frantic rescue attempts.
The Sun Never Sets
At the suggestion of her much older (divorced) boyfriend, Wendy (Dakota Fanning) takes a summer to reevaluate her life and date other people. She's reluctant at first, but then reconnects with an old flame... A gentle indie comedy from Joe Swanberg.
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.