The article discusses director Sing J. Lee's journey from commercial directing to creating his debut film, 'The Accidental Getaway Driver'. The film is inspired by a 2016 jail break incident involving three inmates and the story of Long Ma, a Vietnamese-American taxi driver. Lee's observations at a cafe in Little Saigon, where elderly men congregate, fueled the narrative for the film. His experiences with these men paralleled the themes of displacement and identity in the lives of immigrants which resonated throughout his work, ultimately leading to his award-winning film at Sundance.
"I came across Chez Rose Cafe and I was drawn by all the elderly men that were playing Chinese chess and congregating there... Years later, these disparate things—a desperate jailbreak and the cafe society of old immigrants—would meld into The Accidental Getaway Driver, Lee's feature film debut."
"We started having these beautiful daily conversations... They reminded me so much of my relatives, my elders, this fragmentation of who they are or who they perceive to be."
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