Right on Cue

Emily Ting (Go Back to China)


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When Emily Ting was in her twenties, she returned to her father's toy factory in China to help out with the family business. Not only was it a formative experience for Ting herself, it formed the basis for her second narrative feature, Go Back to China, which is currently playing in limited release (and, if you're in Chicago, is playing at Facets Cinematheque this weekend).   The tale of a spoiled fashion school graduate (YouTuber Anna Akana) forced to return home to work at her father's (Richard Ng) toy company, Go Back to China is a slight, but extremely warm-hearted and incisive look at the cultural rifts between Chinese and American culture, and of the conflicting bonds of family and responsibility.   Fitting with her personal connection to the material, Ting's approach is intimate and approachable, never veering outside the confines of artifice. She, with the help of winning performances from Akana and Ng (as well as Lynn Chen as the family's put-upon sister), maintains a laser focus on her characters' idiosyncrasies and the bone-deep resentments that they have to reconcile.   Leading up to the film's wider release, I sat down with Ting to talk about the ways Go Back to China dovetails with her personal life, the challenges that come with directing a second feature, and the strides Asian-American cinema has been making in the past few years. (More of a Comment, Really… is a proud member of the Chicago Podcast Coop. Thanks to Overcast for sponsoring this episode!)
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Right on CueBy Clint Worthington

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