When the chains of tradition meet the longing to be true to oneself, a quiet reckoning over face, family, and love unfolds in New York’s Chinatown in the 2000s.
Rooted in a vibrant Chinese community, Saving Face contrasts the deep-seated East Asian obsession with “honor” against modern ideals of self-fulfillment. Two generations of Chinese-American women carry secrets the world would judge, torn between family reputation and inner truth. To avoid gossip, they hide their hearts, endure compromise, and let “face” box them into lives others expect for them.
Nearly 20 years on, Saving Face remains a groundbreaking classic: the first mainstream rom-com centering queer Asian women. It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Taipei Golden Horse, and, in 2025, was inducted into the Criterion Collection.
The film delivers a timeless truth: true dignity is not pleasing others, but dropping the mask, facing your heart, and embracing your authentic self, finding freedom and forgiveness in love and acceptance.
This May, as the opening film of the San Francisco Asian Queer Film Festival, celebrating BACCS Cinema’s Pride Series and OUT | 出 | Museum’s grand opening, join us for a film about breaking free, courage, and self-redemption.
About Alice Wu
Director Alice Wu is an award-winning Chinese-American filmmaker. Born to Taiwanese immigrant parents, she grew up navigating both Eastern and Western cultures. She earned a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University and worked as a software engineer at Microsoft before pivoting to filmmaking.
While working in tech in Seattle, Alice used her downtime to write fiction. She then used a creative-writing class to turn her novel into a film script. When her teacher liked it, she gave herself five years to make the movie. She quit her high-paying job, moved to New York, learned film editing, fended off other directors, and made Saving Face - an uncompromising film devoted to her own experience.
Screening Schedule
Opening Night Screening & in-person Q&A with writer-director Alice Wu
- Date: Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 7:00 PM
- Venue: Great Star Theater, 636 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA 94133
- Price: $28
- Tickets: Zeffy