A SOUTH ASIAN family was driving through small-town America – and then made a snap decision to go in search of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
It’s a delightfully odd true story – and one that inspired Jo Chim, a Hong Kong born filmmaker, to reach for her camera. With One Small Visit, slated for production this fall, Chim has packaged a charming 1969 tale about a little girl meeting a famous astronaut together with her own rich and often disturbing experiences in the United States.
The tale of the spontaneous social trip was first told to Chim years ago by her lifelong friend Anisha (a little girl who dripped ice cream on Neil Armstrong’s floor).
“I was talking to Anisha’s mum. She re-told me the story and it was such a visual story it sort of unfolded in front of me,” says Chim.
And while Chim wanted to explore the short story about Anisha’s childhood road trip for years, she says it was really post-Trump America which galvanized the idea into shape. Suddenly, humanity found itself in a period where there was tension between the United States and a major segment of the world’s biggest populace – the people of Asia.