Lulu Wang on bringing her family's lie to life in The Farewell

"Based on an actual lie." These are the first few words that you see on screen when you watch Lulu Wang's latest film, The Farewell.

Ripped from the pages of Wang's own life story, The Farewell is a comedy-drama about an ailing grandmother whose family is determined to keep her in the dark about her terminal illness, in keeping with Chinese tradition.

Wang joined guest host Rollie Pemberton in the q studio to discuss what it takes to bring a deeply personal family story to the big screen, and how these kind of stories can transcend the boundaries of language, culture and distance.

"In many ways, I think the Hollywood formula is: hero, problem, the hero faces the problem, the hero solves that problem and everyone celebrates," said Wang. "This is not that story because, in real life, we don't always get to solve the problems. It's more about how we can reconcile something in our own hearts and minds."

The Farewell opens today in Toronto and Vancouver, and will hit more theatres all across Canada beginning next week. It's playing in select theatres now across the U.S.

Download our podcast or click 'Listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation with Lulu Wang.

— Produced by ​Emma Godmere