Ping Pong Playa

Vancouver Asian Film Festival Nov.7 – Nov. 9

Directed by: Jessica Yu
Starring: Jimmy Tsai, Andrew Vo, Khary Payton, Jim Lau, Roger Fan, Elizabeth Sung, Javin Reid, Kevin Chung, Peter Paige, Smith Cho, Scott Lowell, Stephanie Weir

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu (who also directed ER, The Guardian, Grey’s Anatomy), Ping Pong Playa is a hilarious and heartwarming film that successfully breaks down stereotypes while exploring the theme of embracing one’s culture in America. Christopher ‘C-DUB’ Wang, played by Jimmy Tsai, is a suburban Chinese-American who blames genetics for his failed dream of making the NBA. Although Christohper’s family runs a ping pong store, his mother teaches ping pong at a local Chinese Community Center and his older brother Michael is a ping pong champion, Christopher wastes his life playing video games and daydreaming of get rich schemes with his best friend. After Michael and Christopher’s mom are hurt in a car accident, however, Christopher is forced to take over his mom’s ping pong class and consequently warms up to the sport. With a national ping pong tournament coming up and Michael still injured, Christopher decides to defend his family’s honor and in the process grows to appreciate his roots.