Andrew Ahn on Managing Emotions While Directing ‘The Wedding Banquet’: “I Was Crying All the Time”

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Andrew Ahn is nearing the end of the promotional road for his latest film The Wedding Banquet.

The bustling, multi-month journey kicked off at the Sundance Film Festival’s world premiere in January, followed by screenings at the BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ Film Festival in London, the Sonoma International Film Festival, festivals in Minneapolis St. Paul and Wisconsin, the Miami Film Festival, and various special presentations and discussions at the Tribeca Festival in New York City and Film Independent in Los Angeles. A drag brunch and Gold House event were also part of this exciting trip.

His latest representation of the Bleecker Street production might have earned him the highest number of travel points so far. Ahn recently arrived in Valletta, Malta’s capital city, to showcase the film at the third Mediterranean Film Festival, which is taking place this week. The movie titled “The Wedding Banquet” is a modern take on Ang Lee’s 1993 romantic comedy, featuring Bowen Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-Chan, Joan Chen and Youn Yuh-Jung in the lead roles. The narrative revolves around two gay couples – Angela and Lee (played by Tran and Gladstone) and Chris and Min (Yang and Gi-Chan). In a twist of events, Min proposes to Angela to secure a green card by covering the cost of IVF treatment, but their relationships become entangled in a series of dramatic and amusing circumstances. As if things couldn’t get more complicated, Min’s grandmother, played by Youn, unexpectedly visits Seattle when she learns about the upcoming wedding.

Ever since I’ve been itching to explore Malta, I found myself excitedly accepting the invitation for the festival during our post-screening Q&A session at Valletta’s Embassy Cinemas, moderated by The Hollywood Reporter. You see, I have a protege, Alex Camilleri, who’s a Maltese-American filmmaker, and I’ve got friends living in Italy, whom I plan to visit later on.

Upon receiving an invitation, I shared with my partner that a film festival in Malta had extended an invite to me, to which he responded, “Stay away, it’s hostile towards LGBTQ individuals there.” After doing some research, I discovered that Malta is considered one of the most LGBTQ-friendly nations within the European Union. A few weeks later, my partner and I were dining together, and he mentioned it was the Maldives instead. Upon looking it up, I found out homosexuality is illegal in this country. He almost dissuaded me from attending, but I’m relieved I verified the information myself.

If you’ve explored the web about Ahn’s process of adapting “The Wedding Banquet” for the screen over the last few months, you would have discovered that Lee’s original film was a groundbreaking moment for Ahn, as it was the first gay movie he watched when he was eight. In collaboration with independent cinema expert James Schamus, the film’s original co-writer, Ahn revised the script to resonate with contemporary audiences while infusing his personal touch, all with Lee’s approval.

Ahn shared that “[Ang] watched the movie and was incredibly encouraging throughout its development.” He seemed to understand that he should provide some distance, so he didn’t offer any suggestions or feedback. Instead, he generously allowed us, Ahn and James, to take full creative control for the 2025 version of the film, effectively giving us the authorship.

Watching the movie provoked an overwhelming flood of unforeseen feelings in Ahn, who has recently been contemplating gay marriage and parenthood with his partner. “I was quite emotional on set,” Ahn jokingly admitted. “I cried a lot, but I chose to embrace it. The film is incredibly sincere, and as a director, I felt that if I didn’t let my emotions show, I wouldn’t have been able to bring this project to life.

Asked what he wants to do next, Ahn said he’s still nailing it down.

He’s deeply dedicated to sharing diverse queer Asian narratives and is constantly seeking opportunities to do so on larger stages. This film has given him insight into how we can achieve this goal. Moreover, he expresses his ambition to step away from the comedic roles he’s known for in ‘The Wedding Banquet’ and ‘Fire Island’, and instead focus on more dramatic pieces similar to those he presented in ‘Spa Night’ and ‘Driveways’.

He shared that he’s considering several projects, and there’s something about doing a drama that really appeals to him. He finds comedy incredibly challenging because it requires such precise timing and unexpected twists to make an audience laugh. A joke in the film Fire Island, for instance, didn’t work during test screenings, but by emphasizing two syllables of a word, his editor managed to elicit laughter from the audience. This experience underscores how unpredictable humor can be, which is why he’s drawn to the stability that drama offers.

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2025-06-24 17:54