A tender, heartbreaking account of the healing of a painful rift between a gay son and his old-fashioned father, The Way We Write is a narrative of young Zhen-Zhen, a curious spitfire of a girl, whose innocent perspective serves as the framework for a father and son’s story.

Zhen-Zhen’s mother struggles to make ends meet, working a full-time job in a lingerie store and taking classes at night. To save money, she and Zhen-Zhen soon move into the house of master calligrapher Teacher Liu. Every night, Teacher Liu guides the young girl’s hand in the painstaking, delicate art of calligraphy even though she is much more interested in learning how to use the computer. By accident, Zhen-Zhen learns that many years ago, Teacher Liu exiled his son Zhi-Zhi from his life when Zhi-Zhi confessed he was in love with another man.

Zhen-Zhen senses the grief behind this schism, and through e-mail correspondence with Zhi-Zhi, resolves to bring father and son together again. Her innocence and determination may be the means of salvaging the broken family.

As we see the characters relationships to each other, as well as their relationships to the art of calligraphy, the film suggests that calligraphy is the written translation of what composes our souls, and carefully inscribed, it can be the purest form of human communication.

ADMISSION:  $10 non-member / $8 members