Quentin Lee is a multimedia creator and has directed and produced over ten feature films and three TV series. His first feature (‘Shopping For Fangs’ co-directed with Justin Lin) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and became a cult classic as part of the Asian American New Wave Class of 1997.
The award-winning filmmaker is set to release his latest feature, ‘The Last Summer of Nathan Lee’ promising to take audiences on an emotional journey. The film, which explores the story of a Chinese-American teenager who finds out that he has brain cancer right before he turns 18, will make its week-long theatrical run in Toronto at the Carlton Cinemas (20 Carlton St) on October 13th.
Actor Harrison Xu and Filmmaker Quentin Lee are expected to appear for a Q&A at 7:00 PM screenings on October 13th, hosted by local artist Richard Fung, and October 14th hosted by Kim Convenience’s Jean Yoon. The movie is a compelling narrative that delves into the life of Nathan Lee played by Harrison Xu (Bloodhounds/Netflix), a Chinese-American teenager on the cusp of adulthood. Just days before his 18th birthday, Nathan is confronted with the harsh reality of a brain cancer diagnosis. Faced with a limited amount of time, he makes a life-altering decision to live each day with an unmatched zeal for life while also refusing to die a virgin.
Knowing that his gay best friend, Dash (Matthew Mitchell Espinosa), wants to become a filmmaker, Nathan offers himself as a documentary subject to Dash, who also happens to be in love with Nathan. Nathan and Dash decide to document as much of his remaining life as possible. Without reservation, Nathan experiments sexually and falls in love with Lorelei played by Natasha Tina Liu (Here and Now/HBO), another high school friend. As Nathan realizes he cannot reciprocate Dash’s true love, he decides to marry Dash, a Dreamer Immigrant, and gifts him American citizenship.
“Growing up in the 80s, I loved teen movies from that era which unfortunately not only have no Asian Pacific Islander characters but sometimes even have racist stereotypes like Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles, traumatizing API teens of my generation,” said Director Quentin Lee. “Even to this day, the death of API teen movies has inspired me to create Last Summer of Nathan Lee that not only reflects but is made for today’s generation of BIPOC teens in North America. I hope it can be a Pretty in Pink that my own son, now only 7, will grow up to watch as a teenager in the future.”
Last Summer of Nathan Lee is directed by Quentin Lee, written by Dennis Escobed, produced by Quentin Lee, Kit DeZolt, Kevin Huie and Harrison Xu, executive produced by Chris Lee, and Aaron Shershow. The film stars Harrison Xu, Natasha Tina Liu, Matthew Mitchell Espinosa, Dru Perez and Aaron Guest. The movie will make its one-week US exclusive theatrical premiere on October 20th at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles. On November 22nd, the film will be released worldwide on SVOD exclusively on Quentin Lee’s own streaming platform AAM.tv and on TVOD via Prime Video.
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