DÌDI

Director's Note

“

“Dìdi (弟弟) means ‘little brother’ in Mandarin. However, it is also an endearing term many Chinese parents call their younger sons: the very same words my mother used to call me. Like our protagonist, I was also raised in Fremont, California, as the son of Taiwanese immigrants, a mischievous younger sibling, and grew up with a deep-seated shame that was directly linked to my cultural heritage.

I was often called the “whitest” or “coolest” Asian and I wore that like a badge of honor. It is only in the last few years, as an adult, that I have started to understand how much that affected the way I looked at the world, and myself.

The last few years in American history have revealed many bitter truths, one being that the acceptance of Asians in this country remains conditional. We can be nationally celebrated one day and then instantly be dehumanized another.

DÌDI (弟弟) is not an Asian American story – it is simply about an Asian American. With this film, I aspired to realize complex, well-rounded characters that are inseparable from their cultural heritage – individuals whose cultural upbringings are integral to character and story, but simultaneously detached from plot. By writing to the specifics of setting, race, and culture, we naturally populated our film with vibrant characters that reflect the rich cultural tapestry of Fremont’s population, and by extension, this country. By expanding the narrative of what it means to be Asian American, I hope that it can be both a testament and reminder that to be Asian in America is to be human.”