The Farewell (2019 film)

The Farewell is a 2019 American comedy-drama film, written and directed by Lulu Wang. It stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Zhao Shuzhen. The film follows a Chinese American woman named Billi, who learns her grandmother (referred to as Nai Nai) has only a short while left to live. Billi's family has decided to schedule a family wedding before Nai Nai dies to enable her to see all the family one last time and not tell Nai Nai of her fatal illness.

The film is based in part on director Wang's life experiences, which she first publicly discussed as part of her radio story "What You Don't Know", which appeared as part of an episode of This American Life.

The Farewell premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12 by A24. It received widespread acclaim from critics, with particular praise for Wang's screenplay and the performances of Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards the film was nominated for two awards including Best Foreign Language Film, with Awkwafina winning for Best Actress. The Farewell has dialogue in both English and Mandarin Chinese.