Lulu Wang

thumb|230px|right|Lulu Wang in 2015 Lulu Wang (born February 25, 1983) is a Chinese-American film director, who is well known for writing and directing the comedy-drama films Posthumous (2014) and The Farewell (2019). Quotes So whatever decision you make, you're going to be able to find stories or signs to say 'I did the right thing,' because we have to believe we did the right thing in order to survive. As quoted in "In 'The Farewell,' The Bad News Bearers Keep A Secret" in WBUR News (13 July 2019) I think people have this romanticism of the homeland, and that’s just not the reality for me. Every time I go back to China, I feel more American than ever, so it’s this question of, ‘Well, where is home?’ We’re always searching for it and never fully fitting in. It’s so much easier to tell a fish-out-of-water story when the person is blond and blue-eyed going to an Asian country, for example. But what is it like when you look the same as those people, and you’re expected to fit in? How do you put that interiority on screen? People are always asking me about the importance of representation and identity in relation to making The Farewell and of course those things are really important to me – thinking about my identity and exploring my identity in the west. But I would love it if men – white men – were also asked the same questions as me. They should be asked these questions so they can be more conscientious about how they’re representing people, how they’re not representing people, and aware of their own blind spots. As quoted in "The Farewell's Lulu Wang: ‘I would love it if white men were asked the same questions as me’" in The Guardian (27 August 2019) In my family, and especially when I go back to China, it's always like, prepare your stomach, because it's the way that they express love. As quoted in "Lulu Wang Turned Her Family's Biggest Secret Into The Farewell" in Elle (12 July 2019) Sometimes America is so great because it brings all of us together, but sometimes it can be so limiting because it puts labels on things. Americans always talk about family love being unconditional, and I realized that I didn't feel that way. As quoted in "A tearful premiere, a Sundance sale and the stranger-than-fiction family drama behind Lulu Wang’s ‘The Farewell’" in Los Angeles Times (1 February 2019) We all have different aspects of ourselves, and who we are to different people in our lives, at different stages of our lives. There have been moments where I laughed at my own family's culture, though it's hard to separate out whether something funny is cultural, or just my grandma specifically. As quoted in "The Farewell writer-director Lulu Wang on the joys of laughing at human nature" in The Verge (17 July 2019) There's so little representation of people who look like me behind the camera that it makes you want to say yes to any opportunity out of desperation. It puts you in a situation where you can't make your best work. Diversity for cheap. As quoted in "Lulu Wang Spots the Lie The director of the Sundance sensation The Farewell has made the kind of movie Hollywood never makes." in Vulture (1 July 2019) I can't speak for everybody, and I don't want to say it for an entire culture, but for me, coming from an immigrant family, it's very difficult to go find your voice, which requires a lot of failure. As quoted in "Lulu Wang’s The Farewell lays bare the textured lives of immigrant families" in Dazed (31 May 2019) The questions I want to ask will revolve around humans, connection, relationships, family, and stories - what are the stories we tell ourselves and each other? As quoted in "The Farewell director Lulu Wang on being caught between worlds" in Fader (16 August 2019) External links Lulu Wang (filmmaker) Category:Chinese Americans Category:Women authors from the United States Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:Film directors from the United States Category:Film directors from China Category:Screenwriters from the United States Category:People from Beijing Category:Immigrants to the United States