From the Oscar-winning producer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Taiwanese-American LGBT film BABY STEPS will release on DVD, Blu-ray & VOD in the U.S. and Canada on August 15th via Gravitas Ventures.
This engaging Taiwanese-U.S. dramedy is an homage to Ang Lee's cross-cultural classic The Wedding Banquet, including
an Asian-Caucasian gay couple, the meddlesome mother and the
never-ending quest for a grandchild. But this time around, director
Barney Cheng (who also co-stars and writes) tells the story largely from
the perspective of the mother (Taiwan actress Grace Guei, who was in The Wedding Banquet
and is widely considered the Meryl Streep of Asia) and adds a modern
spin: surrogacy. It's an adventure that takes mother and son all over
the world, including Taipei, Bangkok, Mumbai and Los Angeles. It's a touching coming-out story - not only of a gay man, but also a mother struggling to be part of her son's life.
After a successful festival run, BABY STEPS opened
theatrically throughout Asia, and caused social waves. In Taiwan, the
film opened on Mother's Day 2015, and was part of a national discussion
on LGBT rights that helped propel Taiwan to legalize same-sex marriage
in May 2017. Of worldwide significance, the U.S. State Department has
hosted U.S. embassy screenings of BABY STEPS throughout Asia, including
China, Mongolia, and Myanmar.
