Gong Gong's Bucket List
2025 · 7m · USA
Directed by Caitlyn Phu
Genres: comedy, documentary, drama
Tones: absurdist, humorous, melancholic, tender
A young woman hires a surrogate body — with an iPad strapped to his head showing her 86-year-old grandfather's face via FaceTime — so her ailing grandfather can complete his bucket list: getting a tattoo, sharing a cigarette with an old friend, and shooting a gun.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
iPad strapped to a surrogate's head FaceTiming the grandpa through tattoos, cigarettes, and gunshots — that absurd device is the entire film and it's a great one. Seven minutes, perfect runtime.
Phu's FaceTime-iPad-as-surrogate-body device is precisely the lo-fi inventive gesture that elevates personal documentary, in the productive Marcel-the-Shell tradition. A genuine formal pleasure.
7:11 with a live FaceTime iPad strapped to a surrogate's head as the body-swap device — that's a lo-fi practical gag with enormous emotional potential, since the screen mediation IS the story about distance, body, and family. 8.4K views and 209 likes for the lower runtime suggests the gimmick stays heartfelt.
Reviews
Styled as a fictionalized documentary, the film is a heartfelt tribute — a love letter to the bond between granddaughter and grandfather, proving that a strong concept and some real passion can still be all you need to make a great film.
Festivals
- NFFTY 2025, Audience Award
- San Diego Asian Film Festival 2025
- Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2025