SCREENING
Length: 93mins
Language: Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitle
Q & A Session
Guest Speakers:
- Mimi Wong (Film Producer)
- Sonia Wong (Co-founder of Hong Kong Women's Festival)
- Shine Yeung (Assistant Prevention Officer, AIDS Concern Foundation)
- Kensley Choi (Assistant Prevention Officer, AIDS Concern Foundation)
Moderator: Prof. May-yi Shaw (Division of Humanities, HKUST)
Language: Cantonese & English
* HLTH1010 Wellness & Personal Enrichment Event - 2 hours
- For students to get HLTH1010 hours, they need to arrive before the beginning of the screening for recording attendance.
- Students should present their student cards to the CFA staff for verification and processing BOTH AT ENTRY AND AT EXIT OF THE EVENT.
- If the students are late or just join the later part, they can still join the event but their attendance cannot be recorded.
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN
Two transwomen, one at puberty and the other at midway of her life, both crave for integration and acceptance but experience tons and tons of difficulties.
SYNOPSIS (Website: click here)
Sung Chi Yu has been happily married for 10 years but has kept a secret from her husband Chi Hung and step-daughter Lai Kei: she is a transwoman. Everything falls apart when her husband discovers this secret. Meanwhile, Lai Kei develops her first emotions for love towards her male classmate Chiu Ling Fung who has been hiding his own battle with gender identity. Since childhood, he dares to think and behaves like a girl but never dares to reveal it to his religious and conservative parents who want him to act like a man. In his teenage years he finds himself exploring the notion of love and identity with the help of an imaginary ideal feminine image named Rose. She springs from his heart and walks by his side through many hardships. Both Chi Yu and Ling Fung have to overcome the prejudice of others to find happiness in themselves.
By interweaving the stories of two characters struggling to be themselves, the film helps the audience understand and empathise with transgender people and their quest for acceptance.
STARRING
Amanda Lee as Sung Chi Yu, Tomo Kelly as Chiu Ling Fung, Buber Mak as Lee Lai Kei, Koyi Mak as Rose, Sunny Tang as Lee Chi Hung
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
For 23 years I have lived as a girl, a woman. Not once was my identity as a woman challenged. It was not until a few years ago that I realized how privileged I am, while there are people out there who live their lives and face objection from the public for simply being who they are. Gender identity and expression play a large and significant role in shaping our lives. It comes naturally to me, but the same could not be said for everyone. Everyday, transwomen have to fight for who they are, for acceptance and for the chance to simply, live.
These are human beings looking for themselves, looking for understanding, looking for life, living their lives; always trying, always searching for the light. And so I know without reservation that I must make this film and explore their stories.A Woman is a woman. That’s it.
My vision is to create cinema that provokes the audience to understand transwomen ; to create cinema that makes transwomen visible ; to create cinema that connects different gender groups to love and respect each other ; to create cinema that eliminates the age-old stigmatization on them.
ABOUT DIRECTOR
Maisy Goosy Suen is a graduate of the Baptist University majoring in Film and Media Art and was on Dean's list for 4 consecutive semesters. She was also an exchange student at the Linnaeus University in Sweden under an exchange program between the two universities.She runs a video company called Feedthedog Production. She has been a director in 4 films, co-director in 2 film and second assistant director in another film, before taking on the role of directorship in "A Woman Is A Woman".
ABOUT PRODUCER
Mimi Wong used to be a senior IT professional. She transitioned from male to female 9 years ago, losing both her family and her job. She set up the Association of World Citizens Hong Kong China to advance mainly transgender rights in Hong Kong. A key objective of the Association is to produce videos to show the various facets of life of transgender people in Hong Kong. A total of 20 short stories and a documentary entitled "Hong Kong Transgender Stories" are her key productions. A Woman Is A Woman is her first attempt to produce a full-length feature film.
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REMARKS
- For HKUST members only
- Free admission
- Free seating
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ORGANIZED BY
School of Humanities and Social Science
Center for Education Innovation
Center for the Arts