91The Farewell (2019)

Though Lulu Wang had already written and directed her first feature, Posthumous in 2014, it was NPR’s This American Life that proved her big break when, in 2016, she wrote and narrated the autobiographical story titled “What You Don’t Know.” It recounted in fine detail how her family, who had moved to the States from China when she was 6, returned to China after her Nai Nai (paternal Grandmother) was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The family agreed to not inform the beloved 80-year-old of her diagnosis. Though she had previously shopped a more fictionalized version of the film with no success, the true version from the NPR essay drew multiple development offers. The resulting film, The Farewell, won critical laurels and dozens of awards.