Set in New York City, an ornery, chain-smoking Chinese Grandma goes all in at the casino, landing herself on the wrong side of luck… and in the middle of a Chinatown gang war.
The movie, starring Tsai Chin (Joy Luck Club, Casino Royal, Memoirs of a Geisha), is the feature directorial debut of Sasie Sealy. Lucky Grandma held its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival as the second recipient of the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories $1 million grant initiative and went on to an international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. Set in New York’s Chinatown, Chin portrays an ornery, newly-widowed 80-year-old eager to live life as an independent woman, despite her family’s concerns. When a local fortune teller (Wai Ching Ho) predicts a most auspicious day in her future, she decides to head to the casino, only to land herself on the wrong side of luck by suddenly attracting the attention of local gangsters. She then employs the services of a bodyguard from a rival gang, played by Corey Ha. Lucky Grandma features a stand-out performance by Tsai Chin and also a new song by Akwafina.
