Take Out Critics Choice 2025
Genre
SPECIAL PROGRAMME
Release Date
19 Jul 2025 (Sat)
Category
--- (HK), ---(Macau)
Running Time
88 Minutes
Language
Mandarin, English and Cantonese
Subtitle
Chinese and English
Director
Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsoi
Cast
Charles Jang, Jeng-Hua Yu, Wang-Thye Lee, Justin Wan, Jeff Huang
Synopsis
With Sean Baker’s ANORA (2024) winning an unprecedented four Academy Awards, we look back at his creative trajectory, going all the way back to when he first found the independent spirit with his longtime collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou. Made for only US$3,000 and with a MiniDV camera, Baker and Tsou wrote, shot, directed and edited this story of Ming, an undocumented Chinese immigrant struggling for survival in New York City. To pay off his debts, he delivers as many takeout orders as possible every day, but he eventually sees both the hot and cold of human nature. In this melting pot of a city, he is doomed to drift aimlessly like a lone boat at sea. Influenced by cinéma vérité and the Dogme 95 movement, Baker adheres to a style of realism here that has become his trademark, even foreshadowing the emotional reversal in the end of ANORA. Seeing the film’s approach to marginalised communities feels even more prescient 20 years later when we look at the delivery courier controversy in Hong Kong, as well as the plight of refugees in Europe and the U.S. Perhaps seeing Baker’s concern for the disadvantaged could give us a way to find solutions together.
With a 10–15-minute introduction in Cantonese by film critic Horace Chan.
With a 10–15-minute introduction in Cantonese by film critic Horace Chan.
With Sean Baker’s ANORA (2024) winning an unprecedented four Academy Awards, we look back at his creative trajectory, going all the way back to when he first found the independent spirit with his longtime collaborator Shih-Ching Tsou. Made for only US$3,000 and with a MiniDV camera, Baker and Tsou wrote, shot, directed and edited this story of Ming, an undocumented Chinese immigrant struggling for survival in New York City. To pay off his debts, he delivers as many takeout orders as possible every day, but he eventually sees both the hot and cold of human nature. In this melting pot of a city, he is doomed to drift aimlessly like a lone boat at sea. Influenced by cinéma vérité and the Dogme 95 movement, Baker adheres to a style of realism here that has become his trademark, even foreshadowing the emotional reversal in the end of ANORA. Seeing the film’s approach to marginalised communities feels even more prescient 20 years later when we look at the delivery courier controversy in Hong Kong, as well as the plight of refugees in Europe and the U.S. Perhaps seeing Baker’s concern for the disadvantaged could give us a way to find solutions together.
With a 10–15-minute introduction in Cantonese by film critic Horace Chan.
With a 10–15-minute introduction in Cantonese by film critic Horace Chan.
