Hidden gems of LGBTQ+ cinema: Saving Face is a complicated romcom that tenderly depicts the experiences of queer Asians

By Eva Cheuk-Yin Li, Lecturer in Media & Cultural Studies, Lancaster University

As a queer woman of East Asian descent who researches transnational queer media and culture, Saving Face (2004), the debut feature by Alice Wu, holds a special place in both my heart and my research.

Set in the tightly knit Chinese-American community of Flushing, New York, Saving Face follows Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a young, promising yet closeted surgeon whose carefully balanced life is thrown into chaos when her widowed mother, Hwei-Lan (Joan Chen), shows up on her doorstep. Hwei-Lan is pregnant and has been banished by her community, and is refusing to name the father.

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