CITY OF SMALL BLESSINGS
A FILM BY Chen-Hsi Wong
PRODUCTION GRANT - FALL 2018
A new subway line is planned through his beloved city, but Prakesh, a retired civil servant, discovers that his home has been acquired by the state to be demolished. Prakesh and his wife Anna cannot afford to live elsewhere and he must save his house and garden at all costs. Leveraging old contacts from a successful long-lived career, he appeals to government officials and people of influence. He proposes a range of alternative solutions, but construction advances and the threat of eviction creeps closer. His wife attempts to make practical plans, and his estranged son reluctantly flies home to help, but he violently rejects their efforts. Frustrated with his failing attempts, he writes emotional letters to the national newspaper to garner public sympathy. Eventually, he receives an invitation to meet the Prime Minister on National Day. He believes this is his one chance to make a personal appeal. But when he falls mute at the critical moment, he rushes out of the ceremony in an embarrassed daze. An accident befalls him, and he slips into a coma and dreams of the city he had dedicated his life to. Perhaps he wakes, perhaps he does not.