One of the most talked about films on the festival circuit this year has been Lulu Wang‘s The Farewell. Starring Awkwafina as a young Chinese-American woman who travels to China to say goodbye to her beloved grandmother, the film has been highly praised for its themes of familial love and acceptance. It hasn’t gotten a wide release yet, but expect it to be a major player during awards season.
With that buzz, it’s unsurprising that Wang already has her next project lined up. She’s signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Alexander Weinstein‘s short story collection, Children Of The New World. The film will be Wang’s third feature, and will reunite her with Peter Saraf‘s Big Beach production company, which also produced The Farewell.
Weinstein’s collection is described as “mind-bending”, and uses science-fiction to illustrate what tomorrow might look like. It’s been described as Black Mirror-esque. Each story focuses on how technology impacts our lives and forces us to confront what it means to be human.
For example, one story revolves around a creator of virtual memories who struggles to distinguish real-life experience from manufactured events. Another follows a childless couple who conceive two children in an online world, only for their imagined life to be infected by a computer virus.
That sounds fascinating, and it’s refreshing that the book isn’t being adapted into a TV series. Usually, a short story collection like this (especially one where producers eyes would likely get wide at the Black Mirror similarities) would be fast-tracked as a show, likely for a new streaming platform. That Wang is getting the chance to make a cinematic adaptation is great.
In a press release, Wang said her next film will “continue exploring the evolving dynamics of family”. Dani Melia, one of the producers for Big Beach, added: “We had an incredible experience collaborating with Lulu on The Farewell and are thrilled to be making another film with this visionary director […] and exploring a completely different space and genre”.
Big Beach is an up-and-coming production company behind the Facebook Watch series Sorry For Your Loss, which stars Elizabeth Olsen, as well as the upcoming film It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, which stars Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers.
Wang already looks on track to become one of the most talked about new directors on the scene. It will be fascinating to see what she can do in the sci-fi genre. For those of us not fortunate enough to see The Farewell during its festival run, the film hits cinemas (in the US) this Friday.
#Peace.Love.ChildrenOfTheNewWorld
