Lulu Wang (filmmaker)

Lulu Wang[1] (Chinese: 王子逸; pinyin: Wáng Zǐyì;[2] born February 25, 1983) is an American filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the comedy-drama films Posthumous (2014) and The Farewell (2019). For the latter, she received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and the film was named one of the top ten films of 2019 by the American Film Institute. Wang has also written, produced, and directed several short films, documentaries, and music videos.

This article is about the filmmaker. For the writer, see Lulu Wang (novelist).

Lulu Wang
Wang in 2015
Born (1983-02-25) February 25, 1983
Beijing, China
EducationNew World School of the Arts
Alma materBoston College
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2005–present

Early life and education

Wang was born in Beijing. Her father Haiyan Wang was a Chinese diplomat to the USSR[3] and her mother Jian Yu is a former cultural critic and editor at the Beijing Literary Gazette.[3] She has a younger brother, Anthony.[4] Wang spent her early years in Beijing with her parents and briefly lived with her paternal grandmother for a year in Changchun, Jilin, before emigrating to Miami at age 6 because her father was pursuing a PhD at the University of Miami.[5]

She is a classically trained pianist, starting lessons at age four and attending the New World School of the Arts.[6][7] Her parents encouraged her to become a professional pianist; her mother took her to a local church in Miami every day to practice before they were able to buy a piano for her.[8] Wang ultimately decided against a career in music when she was at college.[8]

Wang studied music and literature at Boston College from 2001 and graduated in 2005 with a double major in literature and music.[9] Wang says she was inspired to become a filmmaker after watching Steven Shainberg's 2002 film Secretary in her senior year.[10] She then took two film production courses and made several short films while still at college.[11]

Career

2005–2007: Beginnings

In 2005, while still a student, Wang received the Best Beginning Film Award at the Boston College Baldwin Awards for Storyteller, which she made together with fellow Boston College student Tony Hale.[11][12] They went on to win the Baldwin Award for Best Picture for the short film Pisces[13] at the Boston College Baldwin Film Festival the following year.[14] Wang and Hale also collaborated on the 2006 documentary short, Fishing the Gulf, on over-fishing in Panama.[11][15] Her next project was the 2007 short film Can-Can,[16] based on a short story by Arturo Vivante about marriage and infidelity.[11]

2008–2015: Posthumous and breakthrough

In 2008, shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Wang interned for a producer alongside Bernadette Bürgi. After a trip to IKEA, the two decided to make a film together due to their mutual affection for storytelling and romantic comedies.[17] Wang and Bürgi set up their own production company Flying Box Productions;[18] Wang directed multiple web shorts and music videos and, in 2014, her first feature film, Posthumous.[19] Set in Berlin, Germany, Posthumous is an American-German co-production starring Brit Marling and Jack Huston.[20] The film debuted at the Zurich Film Festival on 4 October 2014,[21] played in the U.S. at the Miami International Film Festival,[22] and has been released worldwide.

In 2014, Wang was awarded the Chaz and Roger Ebert Directing Fellowship at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The same year, she was chosen as a Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow.[23][24] Wang's 2015 short film Touch premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest.[25] Touch was an NBCU Short Film Festival finalist,[26] was selected by the American Cinematheque for its Annual Focus on Female Directors,[27] and won Best Drama at the Asians on Film Festival.[28]

2016–2019: The Farewell and acclaim

In May 2016, Wang wrote and narrated a story, "What You Don't Know", for the radio program This American Life.[29] Later that year, development began on a feature film based on the story with producer Chris Weitz, who had heard it on the radio.[8][17][30] In 2017, Wang was chosen to participate in Sundance Institute’s FilmTwo Initiative, which provides guidance for filmmakers creating their second feature films.[23][31]

In January 2019, Wang's second feature film, The Farewell, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up for worldwide distribution by A24.[32] The film follows struggling New York City artist Billi (played by Awkwafina in her first dramatic role), who travels to China for a family reunion to visit her dying grandmother. The family has decided to keep the truth about her condition a secret from Nai Nai (Mandarin for "grandmother") and sets up a wedding as a pretense for their reunion.[33][34] Wang based the film on her own grandmother's illness, which also included her family setting up a wedding as a pretense; the film opens with a title card stating Based on an actual lie.[33][35][36] The film is presented for the most part in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. It was filmed in the neighborhood where Wang's grandmother lived and Wang cast her actual great aunt Lu Hong to play herself in the film.[34] After its Sundance premiere, numerous publications listed The Farewell as a standout at the festival, including Variety,[37] Thrillist,[38] and Rolling Stone.[39] In an IndieWire critics survey published after the festival, The Farewell was voted Best Film and Best Screenplay and Wang was voted Best Director.[40] The film holds a 99% Critics Consensus rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 207 reviews.[41]

In January 2019, Variety named Wang one of ten "Directors to Watch." In an interview with the publication, she described her next project as "very grounded science fiction."[42]

The Farewell opened in limited release in four US theaters on July 12, 2019. The film opened to a gross of $351,330, averaging $87,833 per theater, surpassing the average of Avengers: Endgame which averaged $76,601 in 4,662 theaters for a gross of $357,115,007 on its opening weekend.[43]The Farewell was released nationwide in the US on August 2, 2019.[44]

On December 4, 2019, the American Film Institute announced that The Farewell was one of that year's ten recipients of the 2019 AFI Awards for "films that are culturally and artistically representative" of 2019's "most significant achievements in the art of the moving image."[45] For her role as Billi, Awkwafina was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy on January 5, 2020. The Farewell won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature at the 35th Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on February 8, 2020.[46]

2020–present: Future projects

Wang is pursuing a film adaptation of Alexander Weinstein's collection of science fiction short stories, Children of the New World, which, according to Wang, "centers on questions of family."[47] On January 28, 2021 Apple released an 11-minute short film called Nian written and directed by Wang, celebrating the 2021 Chinese New Year. The short film was shot in its entirety using an iPhone 12 Pro Max.[48][49]

Personal life

Wang is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese and also speaks some Spanish.[50] She has been in a relationship with fellow filmmaker Barry Jenkins since 2018.[1]

Her brother Anthony is a sous-chef at Eric Bost's restaurant Auburn in Los Angeles.[4][51]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2005 Pisces Yes Yes Yes Short film
2006 Fishing the Gulf Yes No No Documentary short film
2007 Can-Can Yes Yes Yes Short film
2014 Posthumous Yes Yes No Feature directorial debut
2015 Touch Yes Yes No Short film
2019 The Farewell Yes Yes Yes
2021 Nian Yes Yes No Short film

Television
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
2020 The Expatriates Yes Yes Yes Upcoming series

Music videos
Year Title Artist Notes
2011 "Nobody Told Me" Vintage Trouble
2014 "Still and Always Will"

Awards and nominations
Year Association Category Work Result Ref.
2020British Academy Film AwardBest Film Not in the English LanguageThe FarewellNominated[52]
2020Golden Globe AwardBest Foreign Language FilmNominated
2020Independent Spirit AwardBest FeatureWon
2019American Film InstituteTop 10 FilmsWon
2019Sundance Film FestivalGrand Prize JuryNominated
2019Palm Springs International Film FestivalDirectors to WatchWon
2019Gotham AwardBest FeatureNominated
Best ScreenplayNominated
Audience AwardNominated
2019Broadcast Film Critics AssociationBest ScreenplayNominated
2019Chicago Film Critics Association AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
Breakthrough FilmmakerNominated
2019Columbus Film Critics Association AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019Denver Film Critics Society AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019Florida Film Critics Circle AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
Pauline Kael Breakout AwardNominated
2019Georgia Film Critics Association AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019Hollywood Critics Association AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019Houston Film Critics Society AwardBest ScreenplayNominated
2019Satellite AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019North Carolina Film Critics Association AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019North Texas Film Critics Association AwardBest DirectorNominated
2019Online Association of Female Film Critics AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
2019San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle AwardBest Original ScreeenplayNominated
2019Seattle Film Critics Society AwardBest Original ScreenplayNominated
Best Foreign Language FilmNominated

References
  1. "New Power Couple Alert: Barry Jenkins Makes Red Carpet Debut With Indie Filmmaker Lulu Wang". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  2. 热映电影《别告诉她》(The Farewell)导演王子逸(Lulu Wang)接受西雅图中文电台专访. Chinese Radio Seattle. August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  3. Jung, Alex. "Lulu Wang Spots the Lie The director of the Sundance sensation The Farewell has made the kind of movie Hollywood never makes". www.vulture.com. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  4. La Force, Thessaly (July 11, 2019). "How to Create a Chinese Feast, Inspired by Lulu Wang's 'The Farewell'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  5. "Filmmaker Lulu Wang Is Proving Asian-American 'Stories Are Worthwhile'". NBC News. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  6. "The annual Rising Stars Showcase highlights the exceptional talent of more than 200 NWSA students!". New World School of the Arts. March 4, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
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  9. Ran, Jillian (July 30, 2019). "BC Alumna's 'The Farewell' Examines Cultural Divide". The Heights. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
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