Daughter’s Daughter

Movie Details:

Cast & Characters:

• Sylvia Chang as Aixia Jin
• Winston Chao as Old Johnny
• Karena Ka-Yan Lam as Emma (as Karena Kar-Yan Lam)
• Kevin B. Ploth as Bartender
• Eugenie Liu as Fan Zuer
• Alannah Ong as Shen Yan-Hua
• Tracy Chou as Chow Jia-Yi
• Bridgette Wray as Deli Customer
• Ariella Hyman-Fessler as Homeless Woman
• Erin Adele Clark as Nurse
• John Tabaniag as Deli Customer
• Joanne Liu as Deli Owner
• Sharon Lyn Chalkin as Deli Customer
• Charles Huang as Guy with Radio
• Denny Fisher as Deli Customer
• John McGovern as Deli Customer
• Linda Key-Kanuteh as Deli Customer
• Telle Thomas as Bar Janitor
• Rob Legacy as Deli Customer

Storyline:

Jin Aixia, a woman in her sixties, with her husband passed away from a heart attack a few years ago and her dementia mother put in a care home, her hanging concern is on her daughter Zuer, currently in New York trying out IVF with her partner Michelle. Jin was not keen on Zuer’s quest for a child. Her reasoning is that the responsibility and burden of child care may be beyond Zuer’s capability. One day Jin received the news that her daughter Zuer was killed in a car accident in New York. Upon her arrival she’s faced with another shock, that she inherited an embryo from Zuer’s IVF and she will need to decide what to do with it. The trip to New York also brings up Jin’s unsolved past. Jin spent her teenage years in New York and had a daughter Emma at 17. Jin hid her pregnancy from her mother but was forced to give up Emma for adoption. Emma helped Jin with her difficult journey but Jin was reluctant to keep the embryo, a decision that brings Jin’s leaving Emma into question, can Jin love or has Jin always been selfish? Jin refuses to be forced into a role again while also asking herself in the saddest hour, what kind of life she wants, what Zuer would like her to choose, what attachment and love she has for her lost daughter?

About Movie:

After producing the romance film Missing Johnny (2017), Huang Xi began developing her second feature film in 2018, with Hou Hsiao-hsien joining as a producer during the early stages. Sylvia Chang, who had collaborated with Huang and Hou on the miniseries Twisted Strings (2022), joined the project five years before filming began. She was approached by Hou and quickly agreed to serve as the lead actress and co-producer after reading the script.

The screenplay took five years to develop, a timeline Sylvia Chang attributed to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she also helped fine-tune the script.

Principal photography began on December 14, 2023, in Taipei, Taiwan, with Sylvia Chang and Karena Lam announced in the lead roles, though Lam did not participate in the Taiwan shoot. Filming later moved to New York City in early 2024, with scenes shot in the New York City Subway. Production was scheduled to wrap before the Lunar New Year and ultimately concluded in January 2024.

On May 16, 2024, the film was featured in the Golden Horse Goes to Cannes section at the Cannes Film Festival, a collaboration between the Golden Horse Awards and Marché du Film, supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. The film was still in post-production during its Cannes showcase. Taiwan’s Andrews Film secured international distribution rights, surpassing Hong Kong’s Edko Films, ahead of its world premiere.

Release Dates: