Uplifting and timely film, ’Golden Delicious’ wins Outstanding Feature Film, 25K cash prize and more at Reelworld Film Festival

BY SELINA MCCALLUM

Golden Delicious is an uplifting, funny and profound film which captures the complexities of coming out queer in an Asian Canadian family. It is the first feature film from director Jason Karman, producer Kristyn Stilling, and writer Gorrman Lee.

In this coming-of-age drama for the digital age, Jake Wong is caught between his father’s expectations and his own burgeoning desires. Set against quintessential East Vancouver cityscapes, the film reveals the trials (and humor) of the emerging self and builds into a portrait of what family means as they all fight to find happiness and live their lives authentically.

The film is an official selection of Telefilm Canada’s 2020 Talent To Watch program. Golden Delicious premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in early October, and recently at the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto, where it won Outstanding Feature Film and a 25K cash prize. The lead actor, Cardi Wong, won Outstanding Actor, Gorrman won Outstanding Writer, and Karman won Outstanding Director in the Feature Film category. This is the film’s first festival awards.

Karman, Stilling, and Lee created the film with the desire to carve out the space for underrepresented people and communities to tell their stories.

“I think that both of us are totally in awe of this whole experience. We have a pretty small team and we made this for a really low budget. We weren’t sure how audiences were going to react or what it was going to be like when it went out into the world. And to have the festival run we’re having, and the type of interest we’re having in the film, it has been extremely exciting, meaningful, inspiring, and a whirlwind for Jason and I.” said Stilling.

The actors in the film were phenomenal and really brought their characters to life. Karman says that for some of the actors this was their first substantial role. The warmth and passion they all brought to their role hooked you in more.

“Our cast was very generous. For many of them, this is their first feature where they have a substantial role. They committed a lot of their time and energy and put a lot of faith in us. And that was really precious and meaningful to me. So, I wanted to make sure that we accurately captured their performances, and the work that they’ve done leading up to that.” said Karman.

The excellent and heartfelt story was also brought to life by the detailed and stunning shots captured by Cinematographer Alfonso Chin.

A part 2 of Golden Delicious is definitely needed as it would be awesome to see how each character grows on their new journey. Karman would be interested in having a part two of the film after the festival run, although no script for a Golden Delicious 2 exists yet.

The Director shares some achievements of the film and gave shout outs to a few crew members as well.

“I could say that our crew was very close to achieving gender parity, which was important. I also want to shout out to our Filipina composer Mary Ancheta. Because music is such an important piece of this film. It’s because of her the film sounds the way it does. I also want to shout out our Sound Designer, Justin Aucoin who worked tirelessly on this as well to just to bring it to life. Sound is 50% of the picture.” said Karman.

Golden Delicious included scenes of the main character, Jake Wong getting bullied by the captain of the Basketball team. Karman talks about the impacts of bullying on young teenagers.

“I work as an educator in a couple of film schools in East Vancouver. And I’ve seen the impact of social media and technology on young minds, it creates high anxiety, it alienates and amplifies emotions, while also at the same time connecting people and exposing them to new and exciting ideas. I think the biggest concern, or the biggest feedback that I got from students is that it’s overwhelming.” said Karman.

“And there’s this idea that your online profile has to be perfect, as well. So those two things cause paralysis. What do you want to put out there because you’re constantly being watched and judged by what you post and what you say? How do you form an identity when you are almost not allowed to fail? I hope that at the end of the day, audience’s takeaway to be more forgiving, and empathize with people, because we are only human beings.”

For more information on the film and which film festival you can catch it at next, visit www.goldendeliciousfilm.com/

5/5 Stars.