Korean-Canadian writer and director Lloyd Lee Choi captures the duality of the immigrant experience in his debut feature film Lucky Lu, a participating film in HIFF’s New American Perspectives Program. Set in present-day New York City, the film follows a Chinese immigrant whose food delivery bike is stolen the day before his wife and daughter arrive in the United States after a five-year separation. Through a series of increasingly unfortunate events, the viewer witnesses the unique challenges immigrants face alongside the joys of a family uniting in the face of possibility.

Supported through the Vilcek Foundation, Lucky Lu will premiere at the 45th Hawai’i International Film Festival as part of the New American Perspectives program, which spotlights immigrant filmmakers. Lee Choi created this film as an expansion of his own family’s history of emigrating from Korea to Canada, and as a testament to the bravery of those working to build a better life for their loved ones in a foreign land. 

“My grandparents and parents took the risk of coming to a new country with very little,” Lee Choi says. “When you step back and think about the magnitude of that decision, it truly speaks to our natural human instinct to care for others. I really admire my grandparents and my parents who took that chance. Their own line of small businesses opened and closed, but I think, like my protagonist Lu, they felt very lucky through it all.”

The Irony of Lucky Lu

When Lee Choi was growing up, the only career he had considered was aerospace engineering. At that time in his life, he felt it was his only path. But right before he left for college, Lee Choi had a sudden change of heart and moved from his hometown to Vancouver. Uncertain of his future, Lee Choi started assisting his film studies roommates with their class projects and quickly became enthralled with the process of filmmaking. 

Lee Choi dove headfirst into directing and shooting. His first foothold in the film industry was in the commercial advertising space, but when COVID-19 hit, Lee Choi’s work was put on hold. This forced period of introspection made Lee Choi realize he wanted to tell his own stories.

His first short film, Same Old (2021), was inspired by his daily interactions with DoorDash delivery drivers during the pandemic. The short, written and directed by Lee Choi, follows delivery driver Lu, whose daily struggles as an immigrant in America come to a head after his bike is stolen. Though Same Old received numerous accolades including Special Jury Mention at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) (2022), Winner of Best Short at the Raindance Film Festival (2022), and the HBO Max APA Visionaries Award (2022), Lee Choi felt that there was more to this story.

Over the next several months, Lee Choi wrote and directed his first feature length film, Lucky Lu, to further explore the complex experiences of migrants, depicting not only the hardships immigrants face, but also scenes of tenderness and hope. For example, after being reunited, Lu’s daughter Yaya does not want to leave his side and begs to accompany him through an exhausting day of work. Lu himself is gentle and affectionate to his wife Si Yu and daughter despite increasingly stressful circumstances. Lu also demonstrates a fierce dedication to make it in America despite previous instances of failure, such as the loss of his dumpling restaurant. 

“Same Old has a tragic element that focuses on the culturally specific impulse to not vocalize inner turmoil and pain; it’s a devastatingly beautiful act of love,” Lee Choi explains. “Lucky Lu, meanwhile, aims to show that though immigrants often face some of the most difficult hurdles, they are simultaneously the luckiest, because they have been given this chance at a new life for themselves and those they love.”

A Career Capturing Complexity

Lucky Lu premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and TIFF in 2025. Lee Choi’s recent short Closing Dynasty was awarded the Crystal Bear at Berlinale, the Audience Award at SXSW, the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest, and additional honors at Palm Springs and Hawai’i International Film Festival. He has also received Sundance NHK, TIFF/CBC Screenwriters, and TIFF/CJ ENM K-Story awards for his writing.

Lee Choi now lives in Brooklyn. He has started to develop future projects based on his own life.