The 45th annual Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) which runs from May 16 through June 9, 2019 will feature Lulu Wang’s drama The Farewell starring Awkwafina, as its Closing Night Gala film, on June 9, 2019 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian.

The Farewell is Lulu Wang’s second feature, following her 2014 film Posthumous, and stars rapper and actress Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians), Tzi Ma (Arrival, Rush Hour), and Chen Hanwei (The Journey: Tumultuous Times, Ghost Child). The film made its world premiere in the 2019 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section. The Farewell will open theatrically in Seattle on Friday, July 19.

Awkwafina, the flamboyant breakout star of Crazy Rich Asians, plays a woman traveling back home to China to assist in an elaborate ruse to keep a truth from her terminally ill grandmother.

“Director Wang’s film, which is ‘based on an actual lie,’ is a tragicomic and understated depiction of the divide in a multicultural immigrant’s own identity and the power of family bonds, and Awkwafina is terrific in the role,” said SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “It’s a real treat to have Lulu Wang in Seattle to celebrate the stories of SIFF 2019.”