Vancouver-based filmmaker Jason Karman wanted to bring a positive representation of young, queer Asian-Canadians to the forefront of this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) with his directorial feature debut film, Golden Delicious.

Directed by Karman, written by Gorrman Lee and produced by Kristyn Stilling, Golden Delicious (pictured) follows an Asian-Canadian teen who is torn between fulfilling his father’s expectations and following his own desires as he decides to come out to his family. The coming-of-age film will have its world premiere at the 41st edition of VIFF on Oct. 5.

Karman tells Playback Daily that the events of the pandemic and the #StopAsianHate movement in 2020 reinforced the importance of the film leading up to production.

“There was a lot of finger-pointing towards the Asian community as being the cause of the pandemic. I think positive stories and positive images of us are really crucial to show people that we are also struggling and we are trying to survive and sort out how to make sense of all these uncertainties,” says Karman.

“It’s one of the reasons why it was important for us to make the film because it celebrates us, the queer representation of Asian-Canadian stories and characters, the immigrant parent and child dynamic, and the prevalent role of social media in teens’ lives. We wanted to show that there are more important things beyond social media such as family and friends.”

Karman says he first saw an older version of the script in 2013 when he met Lee “through a screenwriting organization called Praxis.” The filmmaker says he “kept [the script] at the back of my mind” until 2016, when he was looking for his first feature project, and reached out to Lee to begin development.

By 2018, Karman asked Stilling whether she wanted to join the team, to which she wholeheartedly agreed, and began the process of applying for grants and funding. The first debut of the film to potential financiers and the public was when the team participated in the 2019 Inside Out Film Financing Forum, which facilitated meetings with financiers, production companies, distributors and more.

“We didn’t receive funding through the forum, but our awareness of financing opportunities increased, and we learned we could be more strategic on how to access them. Golden Delicious was one of six Canadian projects selected in 2019, and the resulting press coverage also helped raise our profile,” says Karman.

In 2019, they applied for Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program but did not receive funding that year and were encouraged to reapply. They were selected for Talent to Watch the following year. Golden Delicious secured just over half of its budget from the Talent to Watch funding pool as well as additional Telefilm funding to cover COVID-19 health and safety costs.

Other funding sources included the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, and the Frameline Completion Fund. Stilling adds the team also did a crowdfunding campaign to help finish post-production, and received roughly $30,000 from the campaign.

“Our overall budget between all of our funding agencies was about $360,000 CAD. I’d say we had about 75% of that budget in place by the time we went to camera in March 2021,” says Stilling, adding that production was underway before anyone had their COVID-19 vaccinations, so it was a big risk for them to bring a group of people together on set at the time.

“It was a huge priority and concern for us since we were operating with very limited resources. We had a COVID safety officer in place and we followed all the procedures according to the guidelines at the time,” she says.

Stilling adds that the film received an abundance of support from the community in Vancouver. She says people donated their services, equipment, and objects for props. The cast and crew also donated a lot of their time, utilizing both non-union crew members and union crew members who received an exemption to work below normal rates.

“The film is quintessentially Vancouver. It just felt right to show the film in a hometown venue such as VIFF and to be able to celebrate with all of the people that supported us along with our cast and crew,” says Karman.

Golden Delicious, which was filmed in the backdrop of East Vancouver and stars Cardi Wong, Chris Carson, Parmiss Sehat, Ryan Mah, Leeah Wong, and Claudia Kai, will open for the 22nd edition of the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto on Oct. 12. It will also have its U.S. premiere at the Seattle Queer Film Festival on Oct. 22 for its closing night gala.

Karman says the film will be heading to nine different festivals in North America and one festival in Europe, which will be publicly announced at a later date.

“I think the film will resonate with a lot of the niche audiences such as the queer and Asian audiences. What we’re trying to do is get beyond that, so we can show that our stories can be accessible and they’re empowering. Our strategy with the film is to push more of an authentic feel for our story and for our project. I hope we can win new audiences,” he says.

Stilling adds they are currently shopping for a distributor and are open to any release platform for Golden Delicious. “We primarily want to get the film shared with audiences, so a theatrical release is possible but not necessarily the avenue we would want to get into in the end.”

Photo taken by Syd Wong