William Hsieh

A Father’s Son is story-spinoff based on author Henry Chang’s crime novel series featuring NYPD Detective Jack Yu. Set in the early '90s when local street gangs terrorized Manhattan’s Chinatown, our story centers on Detective Jack Yu investigating the murder of a teenage boy involved in a turf war. Amidst the broad distrust and racial divide between the Chinatown community and NYPD, our lone lawman searches for a nondescript immigrant family to deliver a shattering message that also brings forth his own conflicted relationship with Jack’s father.

Sam, who after his motorcycle is damaged in an apparent crash into the ocean, becomes stranded in a small New England town, finds refuge at a run-down motel managed by Kate, a similarly burnt-out, lost soul. The mystery around Sam's presence in town unravels when it's discovered that his estranged daughter Audrey lives there - the daughter he hasn't seen her in 25 years. As he tries to bridge the gap between the little girl he left long ago and the woman who grew up without her father, Sam learns he was never cut-out to be emotionally connected to anyone - unless he falls in love with another soul just as lonesome.

Filmed in beautiful black and white, this slow cinema piece spends four seasons with a family in Turtle Rock, a remote village in China named after a local rock formation that resembles a giant turtle. For nearly a century now, the village has been home to just seven families who have only four surnames. They once moved to this mountainous region fleeing war, and have eked out a simple life there ever since. Filmmaker Xiao Xiao’s grandmother was one of the first people to be born in Turtle Rock, and it's also the place where he grew up. This allows Xiao to get very close to the residents, whom he observes lovingly as they chop spices or firewood, carry huge trunks of bamboo on their shoulders or unhurriedly fashion an iron pipe from an old tube—here, everything is recycled. The rustling trees and cackling chickens create a natural soundtrack to this rhythmic, beautifully framed documentary, which doesn't shy away from the harsher aspects of this life, far from the madding crowd.

During the course of his meal, a loyal patron reminisces about his past at his favorite restaurant one last time at 69 Bayard Street.

During the course of his meal, a loyal patron reminisces about his past at his favorite restaurant one last time at 69 Bayard Street.