When my mom asked me in 2016 why I was moving to China, the best answer I could give was that if I planned on telling stories the rest of my life, I needed to go find them.

Laowai, which means “foreigner” in Mandarin, is what came out of my three and a half year stay in Hefei, China—where very few people speak any English or understand foreign customs, leaving it up to the foreigner to do his or her part: learn the language and culture or maroon yourself within a small group of expats.

These moments of experimenting with both a new language and culture are what inspired this film. Living as a foreigner in Hefei exposed me to a whole new survival skillset that I needed to hone in on, and as I encountered more experienced foreigners within the Hefei community, I realized quickly that I needed to share the surprisingly difficult, often absurd situations I experienced and give life to stories and encounters shared with me.

For the film, I worked with non-actors I selected from many different countries to play roles written specifically for them. Shooting on location in Hefei, we worked through the script with primarily improvised dialogue. Laowai is an honest, comedic look into what it’s like to try to grow while living as a lost foreigner on the other side.

The film is in no way a true story, but through digesting and retelling many stories that really did happen and shooting in the homes of our actors and the streets and alleys we always walked down, I hope it gives a bit of insight into my years living abroad.

Our cast and crew—all friends I made in Hefei—did a stand-out job, and the film would be nothing without their hard work and dedication. Thank you for helping this deeply personal time capsule come to life.

Chris Ranker