Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema

Screening

On cinema’s 100th anniversary, Stanley KWAN examines gender, sexuality and family issues through Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema. Dividing his reflections into six chapters, he constructs a visual essay with archival footage and extensive interviews of centre figures in contemporary Chinese cinemas. This remarkable film is both a candid autobiography and a piercing investigation on androgynous characters and sexual ambivalence.

Born in 1957, Stanley KWAN graduated from the Hong Kong Baptist College with a degree in mass communications. He once landed a job at Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) before working as production assistant for Ann HUI (A Simple Life) and other Hong Kong directors. His debut feature, Women (1985), starring Chow Yun-fat, was a major box office success. As a key figure in the Hong Kong Second Wave, Kwan constantly explores the power of female protagonists and their romantic struggles with sympathetic eyes, and such directorial credits include Rouge (1987), Full Moon in New York (1989), Center Stage (1992), Red Rose White Rose (1994) and Everlasting Regret (2005). His latest film, First Night Nerves (2018), will have its Canadian Premiere at our festival on August 17.