Floating Life (1996) is full of firsts: it’s one of the first films to focus on the ‘Asian Australian’ experience; it was Australia’s first submission to the Academy Awards in the ‘Best Foreign Language (now known as International) Film’ category; it was director Clara Law’s first film in Australia after a successful career in Asia; and it’s the first film to make me cry in the cinema as an adult

We're thrilled to announce that as part of our ACC Spotlight Program, Asian Australian filmmaker Damien Yu will screen their film 'Jia' before our feature presentation!

Spanning multiple continents and decades through a series of interconnected stories, Floating Life follows the journey of the Chan family as they attempt to settle into their new lives after leaving their ancestral home in Hong Kong in the late ’90s. The family includes elderly parents Mr and Mrs Chan and their two teenage sons, Yue and Chau, who travel from Hong Kong to live with their daughter Bing (who emigrated several years earlier) in Australia; eldest son Gar Ming, who struggles to tie up his life in Hong Kong; and eldest daughter Yen, who settles in Germany with her young multicultural family.

One of the few feature-length films to explore the Chinese diasporic experience in Australia, Floating Life was restored by the National Film and Sound Archive from the original negative in 2021. See the restoration on the big screen at Chinatown Cinema with the Asian Cinema Collective!

Enjoy a clip below of when the Chan family first arrives in Australia - and realise everything could kill them!

Film: Floating Life (1996)

Director: Clara Law

Rating: M (Adult themes, Medium level coarse language)

Run Time: 96 mins

Language: English, Cantonese and German with English Subtitles

Tickets

Members - $14**

Students - $16

Adults - $18

*Please only purchase ACC Member tickets if you have purchased a membership, which you can do at www.asiancinemacollective.com

*If you are unable to attend our screenings due to financial barriers, we have a limited number of pay-it-forward tickets available. Please email hello@asiancinemacollective with your name, a little bit about yourself and why you would like to attend the screening and we will be in touch.

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Contact the host of Asian Cinema Collective presents: Floating Life (1996)