Armed with a bigger budget than he’s ever managed before, Saanich filmmaker Arnold Lim is slowly exploring his way through life’s biggest questions using film.
For the award-winning Korean-Canadian storyteller, The Bryce Lee Story – with principal filming across the region finishing Sept. 2 – builds on every piece he’s worked on previously.
“I wanted to tell an Asian-led story that spoke to some of the challenges of what it was like growing up in rural British Columbia,” said Lim, who spent his youth in Blue River, B.C. “While there were challenges that arose, and there were difficulties that many people of colour had to go through, this ultimately was a place I love and wanted to be.
“At the end of the day I think that all we want to do, all I want to do as an artist, is tell personal stories and tell stories rooted in authenticity and truth.”
Lim is that writer and director for The Bryce Lee Story, which follows a 13-year-old Chinese boy who lies about being related to Bruce Lee in an effort to be accepted by his classmates at school. The script is fictional, but explores universal themes of identity, the role of family reputation in community and racialized roles for Asian-Canadians in Canada—and goes beyond that to tell the story of a lonely Canadian boy and his family.
“This film to me encompasses many themes of my previous films. At the core, it’s a story about learning about love,” Lim said.
He also wrote and directed the award-winning short Obscura, released last year, which follows the story of a young man who withdraws from the world and becomes what is known as a hikikomori. The syndrome – the name of which also refers to the recluses themselves – is a form of severe social withdrawal in which (generally) young men become hermits in their parents’ home.
Prior to that he wrote and directed My Name Is Arnold (2022) – another award-winning short that echoed his childhood as a minority in small-town B.C. in the early 1990s.
The feature-length Bryce Lee Story has the young central character facing a similar question Lim says he and many people ask themselves: “When you feel unloved or lonely, can you make other people love you?”
“The answer is no, but what you can control is how you love others,” Lim said.
It’s not a path he’s always followed, or one everyone can always follow. Everyone can veer from that authenticity and truth, which simply provides another path to be explored.
“I think that’s true for most of us,” Lim added.
To follow that perspective, viewers can expect Bryce to pose as both protagonist and antagonist in sharing the full spectrum of who he is.
“I wanted to tell the story of a fictional person, but someone who had all the elements of having a fulsome personality,” Lim said.
“I’m really exited to tell the story about a young Asian-Canadian who makes all the mistakes he can make, and does all the things young kids do and finds a way to find himself. I think that’s the story of the human experience. That’s what I do every day— make mistakes and meander through the darkness in ways I still don’t understand, even in my 40s,” Lim added later.
“I’m still trying to decode all the bits and experiences I had as a child. Making films is, for me, one of the decoder rings for that. I feel really privileged to have that opportunity.”
Another point of pride is sharing the beauty of the region to tell those tales.
As folks return from their Labour Day weekend shenanigans, the team wraps principal photography, shot in Chinatown, Central Saanich, Metchosin and other sites across the South Island. They’ll be back at it for one more day in October.
“What we have here to offer in terms of location, beauty, crew and actors is amazing,” Lim said, echoing sentiments he’s shared widely in the past. “I can’t speak highly enough of it. I think a lot of people don’t really understand how artistic and talented we are. We really do hit above our weight class in Victoria and on the Island.
“It’s something I take a lot of pride in and a lot of responsibility in. There’s nothing I'd rather than be a director in Victoria.”
With this film, the team spurs outside the micro budget realm. Economically, he’s thrilled to be pumping into the local economy with food and hotels, among other expenses.
“We’re bringing people from other places, We’re able to spend money in Greater Victoria and bring projects here,” he said about creating this fictional Vancouver Island town for The Bryce Lee Story.
“I want to be a positive member of this community. Being able to bring a little bit of film to Greater Victoria is something I’m really proud of.”
