Free Money

FOUR AUNTIES... ONE BILL!

Asian-Australian Wen is in for a surprise when she tags along to lunch with Aunty Poh and her friends... The Aunties take the honour of being the person to pay the bill very seriously. When limbs start flying, Wen and Aunty Poh come to terms with the importance of friendship and family.

  • Lisianne Chan
    Director
  • Lisianne Chan
    Writer
  • Lisianne Chan
    Producer
  • Annika Muller
    Producer
  • Tiang Lim
    Key Cast
    "Aunty Poh"
  • Liz Lin
    Key Cast
    "Wen"
  • Susan Ling Young
    Key Cast
    "Aunty Dara"
  • Karen Yee
    Key Cast
    "Aunty Veronica"
  • Petrell Huang
    Key Cast
    "Aunty Shen"
  • Emily Weeks
    Cinematographer
  • Jaxx Loui
    Sound
  • Imani Jurd
    Production and Costume Design
  • Luca Yi
    Score
  • Lisianne Chan
    Editor
  • Keona Lau
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, Action, Animation
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 11 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    4,120 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese (Cantonese)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Technology Sydney
Director Biography - Lisianne Chan

Lisianne Chan is a Singapore born and raised filmmaker and artist based in Sydney, Australia. She is especially passionate about telling colourful female-led stories, putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Free Money is her debut short film, born out of her love for action-comedy films and desire for older Asian women to be represented in film beyond stereotypes. She is grateful to have brought this story to life with a majority Asian and female-identifying crew and the support of Sony as the winner of the Sony Film School grant gifted to one capstone project at the University of Technology, Sydney..

Lisiane specialises in writing-directing, producing, editing, lettering and motion graphics. She built a following of thousands making spec fan edits of films on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic, which she credits as her unusual kickstart into filmmaking. While juggling film and law school, Lisianne is currently a video producer at Australian Geographic and the youngest appointed Senior Manager at Diverse Women in Law Australia, managing the Media, Marketing & Communications and Event Production team. She pens film reviews at SWITCH.

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Director Statement

Free Money is inspired by the Asian culture of sharing food and fighting to pay the bill to "save face" – to maintain respect and honour amongst friends and family.

I wrote Free Money based on my experience struggling with the Asian diaspora. Between living in Southeast Asia and Australia, I've observed how cultural traditions are adopted and preserved differently between generations. Inspired by my real-life immigrant aunties, Free Money was born out of my desire to see them represented in the action comedies and comics I'm obsessed with.

While based on Asian traditions, Free Money is so much more. It is a fresh adventure film about the ever-relevant experience of grappling with cultural and generational gaps.

Free Money is for the young third-generation immigrant struggling to connect with their heritage; the old grandmother dreaming of seeing an action hero look like her; and anyone who has ever had to pretend they wanted to pay that bill.