It's not surprising that "Didi" struck a chord with the former president. The film tells the story of Didi (played by Izaac Wang), a Taiwanese American growing up in a melting pot of different cultures in Fremont, California, during the mid-aughts. He struggles with meeting the expectations of his mother (played by Joan Chen) while navigating the ennui of suburban life and the awkward courting rituals of the early internet.
If you had a betting pool running this summer about award-season front-runners, "Didi" likely would have been in the mix. The coming-of-age film set in Fremont from first-time director Sean Wang won two Sundance awards, had a theatrical release from the preeminent A24 studio and has an impressive 96% rating on the Rotten Tomatometer.
While it received a few Independent Spirit Award nominations and recognition from several film critics societies, however, it was nowhere to be found on this year's list of Golden Globe nominations. It could still get an Oscars nom, but on Friday, "Didi" earned an additional piece of praise that deserves a place on Wang's mantle.
After leaving office in 2017, Obama began the yearly tradition of unveiling lists of his favorite films and songs, plus books, which he'd been doing since 2009. Many have questioned the veracity of the recommendations, especially how he finds so much reading time, but regardless, the lists serve as annual gauges on the state of pop culture and should be considered a feather in any artist's cap.
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