DÌDI (弟弟)

Showtimes August 24 - 25:

“Didi” means little brother in Mandarin, but as director Sean Wang notes, Chinese parents will also use the term as an endearment for their younger sons. It’s an expression that 13-year-old Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) hears frequently at home. Set in the Bay area in 2008, Dìdi (弟弟) follows the Taiwanese American teenager during the summer before he starts high school. Chris – or Wang Wang, as his friends call him – would rather spend his time making skateboarding videos with his friends than getting along with his mother (Joan Chen) and college-bound sister (Shirley Chen), much to his grandmother Nai Nai’s (Chang Li Hua) dismay.

Creating something that feels nostalgic or captures a moment in time is no easy task, but Dìdi (弟弟) pulls it off. When it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, it won the audience award, received a special jury prize for its ensemble cast, and was hailed as one of the festival’s biggest discoveries. Not just a good or even a great coming-of-age movie, “Dìdi (弟弟) is unquestionably one of the most poignant and very best movies of the year. – Kristi Puchko, Mashable

(US / 2024 / Directed by Sean Wang)
R / 1 hr 34 mins