Wayne Wang, the director of A Thousand Years of Good Prayers,explains that what he was really interested in showing in his film was the contrast between the American and Chinese cultures.“Despite the fact that the daughter has become very Americanised, she still respects certain values that she has learnt in China and speaks to her father with respect. In Chinese culture it is difficult to express your feelings; you don’t say things directly, you say them in a very roundabout, formal way.” According to the director who began his career in independent cinema, then switched to mainstream cinema and has now returned to films in his original style, “Nobody makes independent films anymore in the USA; at least nobody makes them like they used to; the big stars call independent cinema anything made outside of Hollywood; a definition that I don’t agree with. Contemporary “independent” cinema is financed by the big studios; some of them are more interesting than others, but the freedom that we had when we began doesn’t exist anymore.”