 (Left: Stephy Tang, Right: Chu Pak Hong | Cheng Cheng Films) New York-based distributor Cheng Cheng has acquired North American rights to “My Prince Edward,” the directorial debut from Hong Kong’s acclaimed scriptwriter Norris Wong (“The Gutter”, “Margaret & David: Green Bean”). Since premiering at last year’s Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival, the “Chinese Oscars”, the dramedy about a newly engaged Hong Kong woman trying to nullify her secret sham marriage with a mainlander has been bagging awards from the most reputed film festivals in Chinese-speaking world, including Hong Kong Film Awards, China’s Cinephile Prize and Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award. “My Prince Edward” is now one of the highest grossing and best reviewed films of the year in Hong Kong where theatrical exhibition has resumed. Cheng Cheng is planning to show this brand new title to North American audience in reopening cinemas and via virtual formats through the rest of 2020. “Before “My Prince Edward,” Norris Wong had won wide admiration for her writing in some of most groundbreaking Cantonese TV series recent years. Challenging macroscale gender and social economic pressures her worldwide peers face with this directorial debut, she poured real individual experience into a microscale story set in her neighborhood in her home city. Her humane and multidimensional filmmaking soothes the disorientation and anger we consume from sensational headlines on related issues. It’s a notable cinematic contribution from a Hong Kong’s homegrown woman to the city’s global discourse. Witnessing legendary veterans William Chang (The Grandmaster, In the Mood for Love), Paw Hee-ching (The Way We Are) and multi-talented star Stephy Tang (The Empty Hands) collectively lifting the gem also renews our faith in the close-knit industry as lovers of Hong Kong cinema.” stated the distributor.  (From Left to Right: Stephy Tang, Kinlong Chan | Cheng Cheng Films) The acquisition was negotiated by Hong Kong-based Golden Scene’s Sales & Acquisitions Manager Felix Tsang and Cheng Cheng’s Director of Creative Distribution Yalin Chi. Cheng Cheng founded in 2015 specializes in distributing award-winning Chinese language films in North America. The company’s previous releases include Teng Congcong’s acclaimed debut Send Me to the Clouds, Taiwan’s Oscars entry The Great Buddha+ by Huang Hsin-Yao and Yang Chao’s Berlinale Silver Bear winner Crosscurrent.  (Paw Hee-ching | Cheng Cheng Films) Synopsis: Serving countless newlyweds in Hong Kong’s go-to one-stop-shop of cheap wedding supplies doesn’t exempt Fong from social pressure to marry. Since nodding to Edward’s proposal, she has been pushed beyond limits by unaffordable housing, archaic customs, and intrusive in-laws. What befuddles her further is the reappearance of Shuwei, a mainlander she’s supposed to be divorced from out of a sham marriage that solved her coming-of-age hardship. Zeroing in on nuts and bolts of modern marriage, My Prince Edward pokes around fixated correlations of freedom with relationship status and geographic residence. Like a breath of fresh air out of the breathless space it navigates, the whimsical gem contributes a rare humane take on the worldly metropolis’s divisions with humor and wisdom. As Fong redefines her best life and writer-director Norris Wong reclaims her home city’s narrative from outsiders in this debut, their courage sparks thrills and will make you wholeheartedly cheer for a woman’s independence and a new age in Hong Kong cinema.  |
Cheng Cheng Films brings Hong Kong’s My Prince Edward to North America
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About the author
Grace Han
In a wave of movie-like serendipity revolving around movies, I transitioned from studying early Italian Renaissance frescoes to contemporary cinema. I prefer to cover animated film, Korean film, and first features (especially women directors). Hit me up with your best movie recs on Twitter @gracehahahan !
