Racism in Canada: Canadian Screen Awards Interview with Actor & Filmmaker, Anthony Shim: Riceboy Sleeps

It’s something we don’t like to speak or think of happening in Canada – a country that prides itself on welcoming immigrants and embracing cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity and differences Yet, many minorities contend with racism and intolerance every day. Perhaps, you are one of those people.

In Riceboy Sleeps, Korean/Canadian Actor, Filmmaker, Writer and Producer, Anthony Shim, addresses these very issues; unlike others who have recalled the trauma of immigrating to this country in their films.

Winner of Best Original Screenplay at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, Riceboy Sleeps is a 2022 Canadian drama that Shim also edited and directed.

Based in part on his own childhood, the film centers on So-Young (Choi Seung-yoon), a Korean immigrant single mother raising her teenage son Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) after losing her husband and moving to Canada in the 1990’s to give him a better life.

In Canada, they fight for acceptance and respect. Dong-hyun is brutally bullied by his classmates at school, and he isn’t helped by the timid, distinctly Canadian racism of his teacher and principal, who consider the family “troublesome.” At work, So-young battles loneliness and racist and sexist comments. As they negotiate with their separate circumstances, the rift between mother and son grows. Unwelcome news sparks an unplanned return to South Korea — and the in-laws So-young hasn’t spoken to in many years — but might open the possibility of mutual understanding.

Shim’s deep engagement with his subjects sparks profound, affecting revelations. So-young’s joyride in a convertible heartbreakingly underscores the emotional weight of dealing with life in a new country and raising a headstrong child alone. An offhand remark in class that ends in a fight shows how tightly wound and ill at ease Dong-hyun is — even as a teenager.

Throughout the film, Shim expertly balances the very different perspectives of a boy and his mother, poignantly capturing his loneliness and frustration, her isolation, and sacrifices.

It premiered in the Platform Prize program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022, and was named the winner of the program's award. It had its international premiere at the 27th Busan International Film Festival in October 2022.

I met up with Shim on the red carpet at The 2023 Canadian Screen Awards to discuss the message he wants audiences to take away from this movie.

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