From Saskatoon? Remember How Chee?
Craig Silliphant's DIY documentary about the infamous (and viral) TV ad for The Great Buffet of China screens Thursday, April 2nd at The Broadway Theatre.
Hey guys! I made a movie! I’d have loved to write a longer post telling the story of how it all came together, but I’m swamped with details of the screening at the moment. So here’s the press release with all the information on it. I hope those of you who are local can come out and see it! I may send out more fun stuff as we get closer to the date.
(And thanks to my friend, the brilliant illustrator, Donny Sparrow, for doing the poster illustration!).
Local Documentary HOW CHEE! Screens at The Broadway Theatre April 2nd
SASKATOON, SK — A cringe-worthy TV commercial that Saskatonians have never quite forgotten is finally getting the full story it deserves.
How Chee! is a one-hour documentary from Saskatchewan writer and storyteller, Craig Silliphant. It will screen on Thursday, April 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM at the Broadway Theatre.
From 1996 to 1998, a low-budget television commercial for The Great Buffet of China aired relentlessly in Saskatoon. Featuring a Caucasian pitchman introducing the “Chinese” phrase, “How Chee,” and a group of painfully amateur young actors enthusiastically repeating it, the ad became infamous. Some laughed. Some cringed. Some hated it with a passion. Many considered it the worst commercial of all time.
Thirty years later, the commercial continues to resurface (even going viral in China) and sparking new conversations about cultural representation, marketing, and media memory.
How Chee! explores the unlikely origins of the ad, including the friendship between an immigrant restaurant owner with a failing business and the university professor who set out to help him save it. The film also revisits the now-adult actors who found themselves locally famous long before going viral was a thing. How Chee! examines how the commercial shaped their lives in ways both hilarious and complicated.
Blending humour, nostalgia, and cultural reflection, How Chee! looks at fame, marketing, friendship, and what happens when something seemingly small becomes part of a city’s collective lore.
There will be a Q&A after the film with several of the cast and filmmakers, hosted by CTV’s Jeff Rogstad.
Screening Details:
Thursday, April 2
7:00 PM
The Broadway Theatre, Saskatoon
Tickets are available through The Broadway Theatre’s website (broadwaytheatre.ca)