Before CRAZY RICH ASIANS there was THE JOY LUCK CLUB | TIFF 2019

Before TIFF’s special 25th anniversary screening of Wayne Wang's groundbreaking adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, actor Tamlyn Tomita breaks down why THE JOY LUCK CLUB was such a significant milestone for Asian American representation on film and celebrates the new wave of Asian American talent — both on- and off-screen — gaining traction in the industry after the watershed success of CRAZY RICH ASIANS, the first film since THE JOY LUCK CLUB by a major Hollywood studio to feature a cast of majority Asian descent. In 1993, we had no way of knowing just how historic the world premiere of The Joy Luck Club would become. Wayne Wang's adaptation of the Amy Tan bestseller brought together a terrific cast of eight Asian American women to take rare lead roles in a Hollywood studio movie. For the next quarter century, independent films and films from Asia would fill a void of under-representation — but so would repeat viewings of The Joy Luck Club in countless homes across North America. The Toronto International Film Festival was thrilled and honoured to present 2019’s special 25th-anniversary reunion event in the same Elgin Theatre where it all started. http://tiff.net