Ah Ying lives in a cramped Hong Kong apartment with her big family. Her parents are fishmongers in the wet market, expect her and her siblings to follow into the family business. But as a woman in her early twenties, Ah Ying wants more out of life. By chance, she applies for a job at a local film centre and ends up in a class where she meets a teacher whose passion and lifestyle inspire Ah Ying to think differently about her own life. Hong Kong New Wave director Allen Fong uses first-time actress Hui So-ying’s real-life experiences as inspiration for the story, which results in a deeply personal and incredibly innovative docudrama. Winner of Best Film and Best Director at the third Hong Kong Film Awards, Ah Ying cements Fong’s status as one of the most important Hong Kong filmmakers of his generation.

Lead actress Hui So-ying will be present for a post-screening talk.

Allen Fong (b. 1947, Hong Kong) grew up in Hong Kong before furthering his studies in the United States. After obtaining a Master’s Degree in film production at the University of Southern California, he returned to Hong Kong in the mid-1970s and worked at RTHK, where he directed episodes of the station’s famous anthology series, Below the Lion Rock. In 1981, he made his directorial debut with Father and Son, which was awarded Best Film and Best Director at the first-ever Hong Kong Film Awards. His subsequent films, Ah Ying (1983) and Just Like Weather (1986), are hailed as masterpieces of the Hong Kong New Wave and garnered attention at European festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival and Torino Film Festival. In 2000, Fong relocated to Canada after directing the documentary Tibetan Tao, which chronicles a businessman’s trip to Tibet.