UK Premiere of 4K Restoration. The screening on 6 May will be introduced by the season curator Millie Zhou.

One of the most acclaimed, though underseen films of the Hong Kong New Wave, Allen Fong’s Ah Ying is an almost documentary-like work which takes a more realistic and intimate approach than many of the more genre-based or experimental offerings of the movement. The winner of multiple awards and nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Berlin International Film Festival, Ah Ying uses real life for its inspiration, portraying authentic living conditions and flourishing film scene in Hong Kong in the early 1980s.

Based on the autobiographical story of lead actress Hui So-Ying, the film follows Ah Ying, who yearns to be an actress, but is stuck working at her parents’ wet market fish stall while living in a cramped apartment in a rundown housing estate. Taking a job at the Film Culture Centre in return for being allowed to sit in on acting classes, she strikes up a friendship with her Chinese-American teacher, who takes an interest in her life and becomes determined that they should make a film together. 

This screening is in partnership with the Chinese Cinema Project and Focus Hong Kong. Supported by the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office London. In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Cast:
So-Ying Hui, Peter Wang