Double Happiness

Family ghosts, generational conflict, and the immigrant experience frame this episodic comedy-drama about a Chinese-born Canadian woman's quest for self-definition, which marked the debut of writer/director Mina Shum. Jade Li (Sandra Oh), an aspiring actress in her early twenties, lives at home with ...more

This alternately sweet and sour look at the first-generation immigrant experience manages the difficult task of balancing cultural specificity with universal humor and filmmaking chops. In one early scene, first time feature writer/director Mina Shum and her talented cinematographer, Peter Wunstorf, frame a bilingual family dinner as one long take by placing their camera on a lazy susan and rotating from one character to the next; this gimmick was later copied on countless amusing episodes of ...more