Billi keeps her promise of maintaining the lie and shares a tearful goodbye with Nai Nai , as the rest of the visiting family members return to their homes in Japan and America . Shortly before the film ends , footage of director Lulu Wang 's grandmother is shown , with accompanying text that reads : " '' Six years after her diagnosis , Nai Nai is still with us . '' " The film was based on a story initially shared on '' This American Life '' . Wang said that the film was based on her grandmother 's illness , stating that " I always felt the divide in my relationship to my family versus my relationship to my classmates and to my colleagues and to the world that I inhabit . That 's just the nature of being an immigrant and straddling two cultures . " The film was primarily shot in Changchun , China over the course of 24 days in June 2018 . The filming also took place in New York . In an interview with '' Filmmaker '' , cinematographer Anna Franquesa Solano stated that the references for the film included '' Force Majeure '' and '' Still Walking '' . However , she added that her main source of inspiration came from " spending time with Lulu 's family at their home in Changchun , during pre-production . ” The film had its premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 25 , 2019 . In January 2019 , A24 acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film for $ 7 million , over Netflix , Amazon Studios , and Fox Searchlight . It was released in the United States on July 12 , 2019
2019 Sundance Film Festival
2019 Sundance Film Festival
The Farewell (2019 film)