Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

It’s a snowy December in Calgary, Alberta, and the Lee family is preparing for Christmas. Both parents run small businesses; Lucky, the dad, has a small electronic repair shop while Noel, the mom, tailors made-to-measure mens’ suits. Their older daughter Grace is on the verge of becoming the family’s first professional, while their youngest is still a pre-teen. But when Lucky gets a call from Revenue Canada demanding his back taxes, he springs into action, digging up all his savings with a quickie loan to pay the difference. When he discovers all his money went to a con artist, he is mortified by his own mistake. But this is not his first brush with financial ruin; Lucky has a dark history as a compulsive poker player. Should he come clean to his family? Or will a deck of cards be Lucky’s Lucky Star?

Lucky Star is also the name of a new Canadian drama set within Calgary’s close-knit Chinese community. It’s a complex, multi-layered story full of secrets and lies, suspense and suspicion. The film is writer/director Gillian McKercher’s second feature, and she’s a rising star herself, after a residency at the Canadian Film Centre and on Playback’s Top 10 To Watch for 2024.

I spoke with Gillian McKercher in Calgary, Alberta, via ZOOM from Toronto. Gillian talked about her film, the prairies, winter, history, second-generation diaspora, playing poker… and more!

Lucky Star had its Toronto premiere at the TIFF Lightbox as part of the ReelAsian Film Festival.