Country: Hong Kong, China
Year: 2018
Duration: 100'
Cheng Cong, the matriarch of a wealthy Shanghainese family in Hong Kong, is financing the production of a new play in Hong Kong’s venerable City Hall. The play is Two Sisters, a retro melodrama in the vein of Tennessee Williams, written and directed by the trans woman Ouyang An. As the sisters of the title, the production will star two actresses who were once rivals: Yuan Xiuling – a stage veteran making a comeback after the death of her husband – and He Yuwen – a smart movie actress making her stage debut. The on-stage/off-stage drama unfolds at a time when Hong Kong itself is changing by the day, and when the City Hall venue is itself under threat from renovation or reconstruction.
Biography
film director
Stanley Kwan
Stanley Kwan (Hong Kong, 1957) entered Baptist College in 1976 to study communication. The same year he enrolled at TVB’s training course. He joined TVB full-time in 1978. In 1979, he left the station to work as assistant director. He made his directorial debut Women in 1985. His festival career began when his second feature Love Unto Waste (1986) was invited into competition in Locarno and screened at Festival internazionale Cinema Giovani in Turin. Hold You Tight (1997) won both the Alfred Bauer Prize for Innovation and the Teddy Award, also in Berlin. His work has also been rewarded many times in the Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards.
FILMOGRAFIA
Nüren Xin (Women, 1985), Dixia Qing (Love Unto Waste, 1986), Yanzhi Kou (Rouge, 1987), Ren zai Niuyue (Full Moon in New York, 1989), Leung goh nuijen, yat goh leng, yat goh m leng (Too Happy for Words, cm, 1991), Ruan Lingyu (Actress, 1991), Two Sisters (cm, 1993), Siqin Gaowa (doc., 1993), Hong Meigui, Bai Meigui (Red Rose, White Rose, 1995), Yang + Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema (doc., 1996), Yue Kuai Le, Yue Duo Luo (Hold You Tight , 1997), Still Love You After All (doc., 1997), You Shi Tiaowu (The Island Tales, 1999), Lan Yu (2001), Changhen Ge (Everlasting Regret, 2005), Yong Xin Tiao (Showtime, 2010), 13 Minutes in the Lives of… (cm, 2011), Ba ge Nüren Yi tai Xi (First Night Nerves, 2018).
Declaration
film director
“A couple of years ago the Hong Kong government suggested demolishing City Hall. A lot of people were against the idea and of course the plan was called off. But the news reminded me of the many times I’d used the building […] so I told my scriptwriter that it might well be interesting to come up with a story set in and around City Hall, using the place itself as a background and filling it with colorful characters.”
Cast
& Credits
regia/director
Stanley Kwan
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Jimmy Ngai
fotografia/cinematography
Wang Boxue
montaggio/film editing
William Chang, Shirley Yip
scenografia/production design
Man Lim Chung
musica/music
Yat Yiu Yu ,Edgar Hung
suono/sound
Li Danfeng
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Sammi Cheng (Yuan Xiuling), Gigi Leung (He Yuwen), Bai Baihe (Fu Sha), Qi Xi (Nini), Catherine Chau (Qi Lian), Kiki Sheung (responsabile della City Hall/venue manager Mao), Angie Chiu (Cheng Cong), Bowie Lam (Jiahui), Kam Kwok Leung (Ouyang An)
produttori/producers
Katie Kwan, Zhang Qun, Wu Xinxin
produzione/production
Arena Productions
**
contatti/contacts
Golden Scene Company Limited
Felix Tsang
felix@goldenscene.com
www.goldenscene.com
