''Half-Life'' is a 2008 movie directed by

Jennifer Phang Jennifer Phang is an American filmmaker (writer, director, producer), most known for her feature films ''Advantageous'' (2015) and ''Half-Life'' (2008). ''Advantageous'' premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Award fo ...

, starring

Sanoe Lake Sànoe Lake is an American actress, model, and surfer. Early life Lake was born and raised on Kauai, Hawaii. She is of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, German, Irish and English descent. Her name "Sànoe" means "The Mist of the Mountains." Lake w ...

Julia Nickson-Soul Julia Nickson is a Singaporean–American actress. She first came to the attention of audiences in the United States in the Sylvester Stallone film '' Rambo: First Blood Part II''. She appeared in the 2004 film '' Ethan Mao'' and in the 2008 in ...

Leonardo Nam Leonardo Nam (born November 5, 1979) is an Australian actor. He made his breakthrough as Roy in ''The Perfect Score'' (2004), and gained further recognition for his roles as Morimoto in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and Brian ...

, Ben Redgrave, Lee Marks,

James Eckhouse James Hays Eckhouse (born February 14, 1955) is an American actor, best known for playing Characters of Beverly Hills, 90210, Jim Walsh on ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. He also directed three episodes of the show. Career Before his part on ''Beve ...

Susan Ruttan Susan Diane Ruttan (née Dunsrud; born September 16, 1948) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on ''L.A. Law'' (1986–1993), for which she was nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy Award. Life and caree ...

and Alexander Agate. The film premiered in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and has since been touring the American and international film festivals circuits. It premiered internationally in the Tokyo International Film Festival in competition, and then in Europe at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, also in competition. Half-Life was the opening night film for the

International Women's Film Festival in Seoul International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, Korea. The film made a theatrical debut on December 1, 2009 in selected cities.

Plot

Set in the near future amidst accelerating global cataclysms, the film follows a troubled young boy, Tim Wu (Agate), and his jaded older sister, Pam (Lake) as they use their imaginations (depicted as surreal animated sequences) to escape their broken lives after their airplane pilot father suddenly and unexpectedly abandons them. Their mother Saura (Nickson-Soul) struggles to make ends meet and move on with her life while involved with her manipulative boyfriend, Wendell (Redgrave). Pam, who works cleaning airplanes, seeks solace in her friend Scott (Nam), who struggles to be accepted as gay by his willfully ignorant, and staunchly Christian, adoptive parents (Eckhouse and Ruttan). Meanwhile, Tim's schoolteacher and Scott's lover, Jonah (Marks), attempts to reach out to Tim.

Awards

The film has won the Gen Art Acura Grand Jury Prize 2008, the Asian American International Film Festival Best Feature Film Award, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Award, and the Visionary Award at Calgary's Fairy Tales International. It was also nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

External links

* * Films about Asian Americans 2008 films 2000s English-language films American independent films 2000s American films {{indie-film-stub