Riceboy Sleeps is a Canadian drama film, directed by Anthony Shim and released in 2022.[1] Based in part on Shim's own childhood, the film centres on So-Young (Choi Seung Yoon), a Korean immigrant single mother raising her teenage son Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) after moving to Canada to give him a better life.[2]
Riceboy Sleeps | |
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Directed by | Anthony Shim |
Written by | Anthony Shim |
Produced by | Bryan Demore Anthony Shim Rebecca Steele |
Starring | Choi Seung Yoon Ethan Hwang Hunter Dillon |
Cinematography | Christopher Lew |
Edited by | Anthony Shim |
Music by | Andrew Yong Hoon Lee |
Production companies | Lonesome Heroes Productions Kind Stranger Productions A Lasting Dose Productions |
Distributed by | Game Theory Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 117 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Languages | English Korean |
The film was shot in fall 2021, primarily in the Greater Vancouver Area with some location shooting in South Korea.[2] Shim shot the film primarily in long takes, avoiding the practice of shooting camera coverage or editing the scenes.[3]
The film premiered in the Platform Prize program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022,[4] and was named the winner of the program's award on September 18.[5] It had its international premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival in October 2022.[6]
Allan Hunter of Screen Daily wrote that the film "could almost be a companion piece to Lee Isaac Chung's Minari", and wrote that Shim "displays a sensitivity to the characters and the situations in which they find themselves. He never judges and Christopher Lew’s gently roving camerawork and single takes invite the viewer to lean in, observe and take stock of all the emotions at play. The changing aspect ratios (Canadian sequences are shot in 16:9) also reflect the confinement and openness of the different countries. And he is well served by his cast, with an impressive So-young capturing the determination and fortitude of a character who puts everything into giving her son a new and better life."[7]
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Busan International Film Festival | October 14, 2022 | Flash Forward Audience Award | Riceboy Sleeps | Won | [8] |
Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival | September 25, 2022 | Outstanding Canadian Film | Won | ||
Directors Guild of Canada | November 7, 2022 | Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award | Won | [9] | |
Toronto International Film Festival | September 18, 2022 | Platform Prize | Won | [5] | |
Vancouver International Film Festival | October 7, 2022 | Best Canadian Film | Won | [10] | |
October 19, 2022 | Audience Award, Northern Lights | Won | [11] | ||
Windsor International Film Festival | November 1, 2022 | WIFF Prize in Canadian Film | Won | [12] |
Vancouver International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film | |
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