Skip to main content
We Are Family film image, director Benny Lau

We Are Family

出租家人

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

Veteran Hong Kong star Eric Tsang (Infernal Affairs) has a field day here as Chi Kwong, a terrible actor (actually a retiree who works as an extra in HK movies) whose unwaveringly cheerful and sunny disposition makes him a natural for WeFamily, a rent-a-mom-and-pop operation. In his first assignment, Kwong plays a stern dad to a distraught daughter taking her first driving lesson. When a cop commandeers the car to chase a runaway criminal, he assumes that’s all part of the script (it isn’t). Another client needs a respectable family to present to her prospective in-laws (not a great long-term plan, to be sure), a scheme which immediately goes off the rails when her fiancé’s family arrives for dinner an hour early.

If the opening salvos favour broad slapstick and farce, this unapologetic crowd-pleaser has a few tricks up its sleeve and more emotional registers than you might expect. It’s a full meal, and Tsang’s fans will savour every moment.

 

Presented by

 

Media Partner

CHMB AM1320 logo

Director
Cast

Eric Tsang, Carlos Chan, Catherine Chau, Tien Niu

Credits
Country of Origin

Hong Kong

Year

2022

Language

In Cantonese with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
100 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Crash

Dir. David Cronenberg
100 min

Sex drive, David Cronenberg-style. The car-crash fetishists who orbit Cronenberg's metrosexual Toronto (they include James Spader, Holly Hunter, and Deborah Unger) obsessively seek a fusion of metal and flesh... Fender bender as the ultimate orgasm.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sheep in the Box

Dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
126 min

Shoplifters director Koreeda probes the complexities of grief, love and human connection in the age of AI in this thoughtful, moving drama.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Schindler Space Architect

Dir. Valentina Ganeva
93 min

RM Schindler is now recognized as one of the most important modernist architects of the era, the man who laid the groundwork for what is now considered the epitome of California indoor-outdoor living. This doc sheds light on a previously unsung genius.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
90s Mystery Movie + Trivia Night
old Windows 98 desktop screen

90s Mystery Movie + Trivia Night

135 min

And now for a shot in the dark... We're not announcing the Mystery Movie in advance, so you'll have to take a leap of faith. We can say it was released between January 1990 and January 2000, and it's not already showing elsewhere in this series. As an added enticement we're going to throw in a 90s movie trivia night with your ticket — plus prizes!

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Secrets & Lies

Dir. Mike Leigh
142 min

Mike Leigh's bittersweet tearjerker won the Palme d'Or in 1996. When a 27 year old adopted child reaches out to her birth mother they're both in for a shock.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Lone Star

Dir. John Sayles
135 min

John Sayles's modern day Western is a murder mystery which draws sheriff Chris Cooper to investigate two of his predecessors, the notoriously corrupt Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), and his own father, Buddy (Matthew McConaughey).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Producer

Eric Tsang, Jason Siu

Screenwriter

Ashley Cheung Yin Kei, Wong Wing Hong, Neil, Benny Lau

Cinematography

Oliver Lau

Editor

Milk Su

Original Music

Alan Wong, Janet Yung

Art Director

Ceci Fok Pui Sze

Director

Benny Lau headshot, We Are Family director

Benny Lau

Benny Lau is a film director and screenwriter based in Hong Kong, best known for exploring love and family relationships in his films. Lau’s first short film, Mr. Right (2008), was presented in Busan International Film Festival and Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. His second feature film, When Sun Meets Moon (2017), was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, and won the Audience Award in the East Winds Film Festival. Lau’s next feature, Your World, Without Me (2021) was selected for the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival.

Filmography: Wong Ka Yan (2015); When Sun Meets Moon (2018); Your World, Without Me (2021); Burning (2022)