Q:    Your film is based on a family dynamic, highlighting a focus on an independent mother with three girls. How was the AFI Directing Workshop for Women helpful in developing these themes for this specific film? How do you feel your role in working with these women has changed or helped your filmmaking process?

A:     The AFI DWW program is an incredible, safe space for female filmmakers. When I was workshopping this script during our screenwriting sessions, it was wonderful to get feedback from women who just get your perspective - it's very encouraging in that way. There was no need to explain certain nuances or defend an idea, which gave me a lot of creative freedom to keep developing what I innately knew where the script needed to go.

Q:     In your director’s statement for this film, you explain that this film was inspired by the events of your childhood, specifically you talk about the time when your father returned to America with your sisters and how memorable this experience is for you, what was your intention when you were writing this script? Was it an emotional experience? Maybe you can touch on the 1 - year separation plan and explain the significance of this in the film to your life or to Taiwanese culture.

A:     My parents ended up re-marrying, so I grew up with a whole family, which is why this memory of them separating is so fascinating to me. When I was writing the screenplay, it was definitely a roller coaster of emotions. I started writing this a long time ago as a single scene, and then my dad passed away. The story became what it was because I felt a strong drive to explore who my parents were. I started thinking about them differently. I really wanted to explore what their specific immigrant experience was like. I started asking my mom all sorts of questions that I had never asked before about their lives before children, and about their marital issues when I was young.

Q:     The children in this film did an amazing job with their performance, did you already have the cast in mind prior to this film? What was it like working with these children? It seemed like they had a great knowledge of cultural differences and language barriers. How did you get this message across to them in regards to the theme of this film?

A:     Casting the children was definitely one of the more challenging aspects of pre-production. The casting director, Suzanne Yavuz, and I had to strategize very specifically on how to find these kids who could not only speak Mandarin but also look like a family and also emote. After they were cast, it was all about having individual meetings with them so we could work through themes and any questions they had prior to them meeting each other. I asked the whole cast to do character studies prior to our meetings, and I really believe that is a crucial step for them to start the work on their own - they really have to own their character, you know?

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Q:     In the film, there is a reference to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, what was the significance of this of choosing this specific setting? Is there a personal connection to you?

A:     I do have a specific memory of this earthquake when I was really young, and I'd been living with only my mom at the time. I really wanted to show that Christy and her mom had a special bond before her sisters and dad came back. It was a puzzle piece that I was lucky to discover during the writing process in which I could tie this earthquake thematically into a sort of abstract trauma that stems later for her character.

Q:     Was there anything unexpected you encountered while making this film? I would like to know what you felt was the most challenging part of creating this piece and also what you learned from the whole process in which you may not have known before.

A:     There's always the unexpected! No matter how well you plan a film shoot. Our first morning on set was the airport garage sequence, and the beautiful vintage picture car we had rented stopped working after we filmed the pulling away shot with the dad getting farther and farther away. We had to wait for a tow company, but until then, we had to re-write the scene in order for it to make sense for continuity. There was a lot of pressure for me to possibly change the car to another one that we had as background. I had to stick to my guns to not go that route. Little things like that happen all the time, where your vision can get convoluted, but sometimes you just need to ask everyone to still be on your train and just think it through before calling a different decision you aren't happy with - there's usually always a solution you didn't think of after everyone gets over the panic. Something I really learned throughout the whole process was how supportive and excited the Asian American community was about getting this film made. It surprised me and has encouraged me to keep working on stories like this because there's a real hunger for it. The need is truly palpable.

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- Olivia Barbato