Dear Tenant
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Theatrical Screenings
Kinoteka 2
Kinoteka 1
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Film description
Chien-yi is subletting a space on the roof of an old lady’s apartment. He is cooking for her, takes care of her health, and picks her grandson up from school. The boy is the son of his partner of many years, whose sudden death has left a painful mark on the entire family. When Ms. Chou passes away, things get even more complicated. A criminal mystery, touchingly intertwined with an emotional drama, provokes many questions about the meaning of blood relations and the call of the heart.
The works on the script were already very advanced when Taiwan legalized same-sex marriages. But the great joy and relief experienced by same-sex families has a blind spot – the adoption of children remains unregulated. The film touches upon one of the problems that non-heteronormative families can encounter, showing the subject in a very broad, surprising way. Cheng stresses that he was interested not so much in same-sex relationships, but in the complexities of family relations. He wanted to look at the way that dependencies are shaped between people who create familiar ties through feelings – not just the feelings between partners, but also the whole network of older and younger generations surrounding the couple that decides to go through life together.
text:
Jagoda Murczyńska
Cheng Yu-chieh
Born in Taiwan in 1977, Yu-Chieh Cheng is a director, screenwriter, actor and producer of Taiwanese film and television. "Dear Tenant" is his fourth feature film.
2006 Yi nian zhi chu / Do Over
2009 Yang Yang
2014 Panay
2020 Drogi współlokatorze / Qinai de fangke / Dear Tenant