| Dìdi | |
| Director: | Sean Wang |
| Music: | Giosue Greco |
| Cinematography: | Sam A. Davis |
| Editing: | Arielle Zakowski |
| Distributor: | Focus Features |
| Runtime: | 91 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Gross: | $5.1 million[2] |
Dìdi is a 2024 American coming-of-age comedy drama film, written, directed, and produced by Sean Wang in his directorial debut. The film stars Izaac Wang and Joan Chen. Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters and Chris Columbus serve as producers and executive producers under their AntiGravity Academy, Spark Features and Maiden Voyage Pictures banners, respectively. The film portrays Chris, a Taiwanese-American eighth grader (Wang) at the dawn of social media. Chris uses social media as an escape from his underwhelming childhood and overburdened mother (Chen), but the Internet also accentuates his preexisting feelings of Asian self-hatred and personal inadequacy.
Dìdi had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024, where it won the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble.[3] It was released in the United States by Focus Features on July 26, 2024. It received positive reviews and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2024 by the National Board of Review[4] .
In the summer of 2008, 13-year-old Chris Wang (often called Dì Di) lives in a middle-class neighborhood of Fremont, California, with his Taiwanese immigrant mother Chungsing, Chungsing's demanding mother-in-law Nai Nai, and his older sister Vivian. Chris rarely sees his father, who has moved back to Taiwan for work and supports the family in America with remittances. Chris constantly bickers with Vivian, who is about to leave for UC San Diego. He is not one of the popular kids at school. He makes silly YouTube videos with best friends Fahad and Soup, which incorporate a great deal of juvenile humor.
Chris's behavior and feelings of inadequacy begin to strain his relationships. Chris uses AIM and Facebook to strike up a friendship with his crush, the half-Asian Madi. When they go on a date, she reveals internalized racism and tells Chris he is attractive "for an Asian." She tries to initiate a sexual encounter, but Chris is too nervous to continue. Although Madi tries to reach out after the incident, he is too embarrassed to speak to her and blocks her on AIM. During a group hangout with Fahad, Chris disgusts Fahad's African-American crush by cracking a casually misogynistic joke and luridly describing how he and Fahad once fooled around with a dead squirrel. Fahad decides to distance himself from Chris, lest his crush realize that Fahad's sense of humor is similarly immature. When Fahad demotes him from his "top eight friends" list on MySpace, Chris is devastated.
Chris begins to realize that his mother is under great stress. Chungsing and Chris have dinner with another Taiwanese mother and her son, Max. The mother makes Chungsing ashamed that Vivian did not get into Berkeley or UCLA. Chungsing criticizes Chris' academics in front of Max, hoping the humiliation will motivate him to study harder. At the mother's suggestion, Chungsing sends Chris to a cram school, where Max's friend Josh ruthlessly bullies him. In addition, although Nai Nai is warm and grandmotherly to Chris, she harshly criticizes Chungsing's parenting and negatively compares her to her absent son. Chris overhears Chungsing lose her temper and threaten to send Nai Nai back to Taiwan. Finally, Chungsing is disappointed when a local painting competition rejects her submission.
Chris sees an opportunity to become cool when a trio of older skateboarders recruit him to film highlight reels for them. Still smarting from Madi's comment that he is cute for an Asian, he tells the skateboarders (who are white and African-American) that he is half-Asian. They take him to a party where he tries alcohol and marijuana; when he gets sick, Vivian covers for him. He reconciles with Vivian before she leaves for college. The skateboarders visit Chris' home and find his footage unusable. Chungsing, unaware of Chris' deception, greets the skateboarders and reveals that Chris is not half-Asian. Chris angrily berates his mother to get her to leave. The other boys are shocked to see Chris treat his mother rudely, and leave in disapproval.
At cram school, Chris hits Josh after Josh mocks him for his failed date with Madi, and is nearly expelled. In the car back home, Chris yells at Chungsing, calling her a failed artist who does not contribute to the family. Chungsing bitterly responds that Chris is an embarrassment to the family and that she might have been a successful painter if Vivian and Chris had never been born. Chris runs away from home for a night. When Chris returns home, Chungsing conciliates him by recounting how Vivian also ran away from home when she was 14 and that as much as she likes to paint, her children are her true dream.
On the first day of high school, Chris attempts to reconcile with Madi after months of ignoring her. She rebuffs him to save face, although it is implied that she is still interested in him. He joins a club for visual arts, and Fahad nods hello when Chris greets him. Chungsing picks up Chris from school, and he tells her about his day.
Principal photography took place in July 2023 in Fremont, California.[5] The film consists mostly of first-time actors from the Bay Area.[6] The film was previously selected for the 2023 Sundance Institute Screenwriting & Directors Lab and the 2022 SFFILM Rainin Grant.[7] [8]
Dìdi had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024.[9] A few days later, Focus Features acquired distribution rights to the film.[10] It also screened at South by Southwest on March 12, 2024,[11] [12] and had its international premiere at the Beijing International Film Festival on April 19, 2024.[13] [14] It closed the 11th edition of Sundance London on June 9, 2024.[15] It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 26, 2024.[16] It was released in all theaters on August 16, 2024.
In her review for The Guardian, Adrian Horton described Dìdi as "easily one of the best, most seamless films [she's] seen on the experience of growing up online" and declared that it has a "clear antecedent" in Eighth Grade (2018).[17]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundance Film Festival | January 26, 2024 | Grand Jury Prize – U.S. Dramatic | Dìdi | [18] | |
| Audience Award – U.S. Dramatic | |||||
| Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble | The cast of Dìdi | ||||
| Southwest Film & TV Festival | March 16, 2024 | Audience Award: Festival Favorite | Dìdi | [19] | |
| Seattle International Film Festival | May 27, 2024 | Best Director | Sean Wang | [20] | |
| Grand Jury Prize – Best Feature Film | Dìdi | ||||
| Youth Jury Prize for Best Futurewave Feature | |||||
| Munich International Film Festival | July 5, 2024 | CineKindl Audience Award | [21] | ||
| Miskolc International Film Festival | September 14, 2024 | Emeric Pressburger Prize (Best Feature Film) | [22] | ||
| Celebration of Cinema and Television | November 12, 2024 | Career Achievement Award | Joan Chen | [23] | |
| Gotham Awards | December 2, 2024 | Breakthrough Performer | Izaac Wang | [24] | |
| Astra Film Awards | December 8, 2024 | Best First Feature | Sean Wang | [25] | |
| AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | January 11, 2025 | Best Supporting Actress | Joan Chen | [26] | |
| Best Intergenerational Movie | Dìdi | ||||
| Independent Spirit Awards | February 22, 2025 | Best First Feature | Dìdi | [27] | |
| Best First Screenplay | Sean Wang | ||||
| Best Supporting Performance | Joan Chen | ||||
| Best Editing | Arielle Zakowski | ||||