World Premiere
Timothy Yeung’s film is a story of big losses, small triumphs, and moments of grace amid the grind of capitalism — in other words, life itself. Four Hong Kong immigrants are living lives of desperation in Scarborough, Ontario: Dan (Patrick Tam) was a pop singer on the rise before his move to Canada, now he’s barely scraping by; Eva (Harriet Yeung) is a lonely woman whose commitment to her aging mother has held her back in life; Fan (Theresa Lee) is a part-time sex worker struggling to break into real estate; Tony (Anthony Wong) is an aging widower whose factory job is at risk.
Through these characters, Yeung explores diasporic alienation, economic hardship, and social isolation. His film is rich in cultural specificity, but that never obstructs his wider view. Building outwards from private hopes and personal pain, he creates a rich social document that cradles within it four precious human portraits. Tam, Yeung, Lee, and Wong are superb — their performances ring with commitment and authenticity.
Oct 5 & 6: Q&A
Presented by
Media Partner
Community Partner
Anthony Wong, Theresa Lee, Patrick Tam, Nina Paw, Harriet Yeung, Dmitry Chepovetsky
Canada/Hong Kong
2025
In Cantonese, Mandarin and English with English subtitles
Sexually suggestive scenes
Open to youth at International Village
At Fifth Avenue
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Ridley Tsui, Annie Lee, Michael Mosca, Candy Tsui, Tracy Shum, Walter Yee, Phoebe Ho
Producer
Kim Yu
Screenwriter
Timothy Yeung
Cinematography
Jeff Wong
Editor
Victor C.H. Fan, Timothy Yeung
Production Design
Helen Kotsonis
Original Music
Matthew O’Halloran
Timothy Yeung 楊永光
Timothy Yeung is a Canadian-born Chinese filmmaker and NYU Tisch graduate whose work explores identity, diaspora, and emotional inheritance. His short film 90 Days (2013) premiered at VIFF and received Honourable Mention for Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film. The short screened at numerous festivals and was later acquired by Sundance Selects. A TIFF Filmmaker Lab alumnus, Yeung’s debut feature Finch & Midland is a co-production between Hong Kong and Canada.
Filmography: 90 Days (2013)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Everyone Is Lying to You for Money
In which former OC star Ben McKenzie brushes off his economics degree and digs into the cryptocurrency conundrum. If bitcoin is truly all about transparency, how come no one can explain it?
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.
Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real
Do You Love Me
Lana Daher's bravura and defiant non-fiction film is a cultural-historical self-portrait of Beirut, comprised entirely of film clips (many of them from dramatic features, but also from news reports, TV and home video) culled from the last 70 years.
Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story
Judging by this candid, funny, passionate biographical documentary, it would have been a wild ride to have been Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, or even to have been in her circle of friends and lovers. Well, for an hour and a half we can pretend we were.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
