Director revisits the city where he got his break

S.D. Asian Film Festival was the first to accept Wang’s ‘In the Family’

Indeed they did. As writer, director, producer, star and sole financier, Wang not only brought his film to the screen, but he preserved his singular vision of a family drama that makes its subtle point through quietly observed feeling rather than overt social preaching. “I knew I could protect the script as the director, I could protect the character as an actor and, as a producer, I could insulate the project from these other forces that will try to make it like every other movie,” Wang said.

With marriage equality a hot topic these days, there was plenty of room for Wang to get political as his character, already reeling from grief over the loss of his partner, is cut off from the boy that still lovingly calls him Daddy. But Wang was more interested in observing the characters and how they responded to this unfortunate situation, rather than judging them. “I kind of treat myself like the audience. I don’t like being lectured,” he said.

Despite the film’s critical success since its San Diego premiere, Wang was unable to find a distributor, so he’s doing that himself, too, traveling with the film, city by city, to one-week bookings around the country. Wang admits it’s a “strange” and time-intensive way to get his work out in the world with so many alternative distribution mechanisms like Netflix and iTunes, but he feels strongly that “In the Family” is best appreciated on the big screen.

From older men who emerge from the theater too emotional to speak, or same-sex parents expressing gratitude at seeing their deepest fears portrayed with such sensitivity, audiences have shown Wang that his efforts are worthwhile. But he’s quick to point out that he made the film “welcoming to a wide range people.”

About halfway through writing the script, he realized he’d largely avoided using “a lot of political language and language of identity,” and he kept it that way. “Certain words set off certain alarms or reactions,” Wang explained. “Instead, you just come into these people’s lives. There’s obviously a shape in the sympathies in what I see and what I love, but you get to make your own decision.”