Free Money - Short Film

Four aunties. One bill.

Free Money is an absurdist action-comedy written and directed by Lisianne Chan about Asian aunties fighting to pay the bill. With a comical fight world inspired by classic Asian martial arts films and comic books, Free Money is all about cherishing culture, female friendships, and family.

Synopsis:

When Wen is dragged along to her Aunty Poh’s friendship lunch at their local Thai restaurant, she’s unamused. What a waste of time!

Meanwhile, Aunty Poh has her own concerns. She doesn’t have enough money to pay for today’s lunch, although her group of friends (The Aunties) have a decades-long tradition of taking turns to pay for the bill. Even worse, she’s going to have to pretend to fight to get it.

No way Poh is “losing face” in front of her oldest friends by not winning. Wen thinks they should just split the bill, but she doesn’t know what’s about to go down... THE FIGHT IS ON!

What happens to my donation?

Free Money is completely crowd-funded, and your support will help us make this the best film it can be. Your donation will assist in covering production costs such as bringing to life the delicious set design food that plays a key role in our story and catering for our crew. Donations above our production needs will be donated to OzHarvest, a food rescue organisation in Australia.

Where is Free Money going?

Free Money will be submitted to film festivals and used as a proof of concept for bigger film projects. Free Money features a diverse female-led crew and cast and we are so proud to bring this project to life and reflect culture on screen in a real and funny way.

About the director:

Lisianne Chan is a filmmaker and artist in Sydney from Singapore. Family and friends connecting over food has been a massive part of her childhood and cultural identity. Fighting for the bill is a common Asian tradition to “save face” – to maintain honour and respect. The fight world is inspired by her career as a lettering artist and animator, as well as her love for action and comedy films. She is especially passionate about amplifying diverse voices in those genres on and off-screen. It was also heavily inspired by one time when she just really didn’t want to pay the bill for an expensive dinner. Okay... maybe more than one time.

We understand not everyone can donate – we would appreciate you taking the time to share our film!