01 / 05
01 / 05
Madame
姑奶奶
QIU Jiongjiong
- 120 min
- 2010
- Documentary
- Sichuanese Dialect
- English and Chinese Subtitles
Toronto Premiere
Content Advisory: This film contains scenes of coarse language, sexual language
In the night, he was the flamboyant, dignified, mean, timid, malicious, snobbish, bashful, unfortunate, amorous, matriarchal and bullheaded Madame Bilan de Linphel. In the day, he was FAN Qihui, a talented tailor and fashion designer in the capital city. FAN was a fast talker and a regular visitor of the gay strongholds — parks and bathhouses — in search of romances, encounters, flirtation, sex, dinner dates… Fan said he was born to love men.
In FAN's eyes, his parents were unfortunate; his childhood, insecure and boring. When he grew up, Fan funded his journey to Guangzhou on the meager income he earned as tailor. He went to realize his dream: to be a highly sought-after “prostitute” … Indeed, he ran across some men who had left their indelible marks on him, whether it was in Beijing or in Guangzhou. He was young at the moment.
Director
QIU Jiongjiong (b. 1977, Leshan, Sichuan Province) is a Chinese contemporary artist and filmmaker. Since 2006, he has developed a distinctive cinematic language marked by vivid dialect dialogue, theatrical mise-en-scène, and stylized characterizations. The local history of Leshan and the history of his family, which has deep roots in traditional Sichuan opera, recur throughout his work.
His filmography includes two documentary shorts, Ode to Joy (2008) and Portrait of Mr. Huang (2009); four documentary features, The Moon Palace (2007), Madame (2010), My Mother’s Rhapsody (2011), and Mr. Zhang Believes (2015); and his first fiction feature, A New Old Play (2021). Several of his earlier works were selected among the “Best Ten Documentaries of the Year” at the China Independent Film Festival. Mr. Zhang Believes premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival and has since screened internationally, including at the 15th MoMA Documentary Fortnight. A New Old Play won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno, the Firebird Award for Best Film and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the Young Jury Award at the Festival des 3 Continents, among other honours.
Credits
- DirectorQIU Jiongjiong
- CinematographerQIU Jiongjiong
- EditorQIU Jiongjiong