Loading Docs 2017 - East Meets East

Web (Full Length) – 2017

Director Julie Zhu's love letter to a Chinese East Auckland community follows her grandmother as she carries out what may seem a mundane task — grocery shopping. But to Fang Ruzhen, her daily ritual of buying food is what connects her to several other aged Chinese grandparents, who hop on buses in large groups to head to the supermarket. Ruzhen moved to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago to help look after her grandson. Now she is 79 and can barely speak any English. "Going shopping every day…well, that’s our strength. Without this, what would we do?"

Chinese people can be very inconsiderate. They chatter very loudly on the bus. Sometimes the bus driver will take issue, and tell them not to talk, but they can't understand, so they keep chatting.
– Fang Ruzhen on her fellow Chinese bus commuters