What would you do to feed your child? Writer and director Benjamin Wong and producer Elizabeth Ai imagine a scenario where a single dad literally becomes the grim reaper in order to do so.
In “BA,” which premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, Daniel (Lawrence Kao), father to a young child named Collette (Kai Cech), enters a contract with the powers that be to become death incarnate in exchange for money to tide him and his daughter over financially. The fantasy thriller follows the father-daughter duo as Daniel, now transformed physically into a terrifying skeletal figure, retreats into the night, and Collette becomes suspicious of her father’s new job.
I talked to Wong and Ai about the unique struggle of being Asian American parents, navigating single parenthood, and the importance of depicting realistic and flawed Asian characters.
“Parenting in general is just so challenging. This character was the best way to express all the things I was dealing with as a new parent — juggling work and spending quality time with my daughter, and really not having a roadmap or guide on how to be a good dad,” the writer/director shares.
It’s clear that Wong’s journey into fatherhood inspired “BA.” While not a single parent himself, he notes that so much of his experience “tracks with being a single parent in some ways.”
Wong continues, “In terms of trying to tell the most poignant story, I just really related to the lead character being a single dad, because he’s constantly dealing with questions like: How do I spend my time? Should I be trying to make money to literally escape the predicament we are in? While at the same time, I also feel like I am losing my relationship with my daughter. These were all the feelings I experienced as a parent, and the film was a great way to explore those emotions.”
Ai, a mother herself, adds that the film resonated with her because “there are a lot of single parents in the world that…
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