Mabel Cheung
Mabel Cheung (Chinese: 張婉婷, born 17 November 1950) is a film director from Hong Kong. She is one of the leading directors in Hong Kong cinema and is considered one of the three women (along with Ann Hui and Clara Law) to achieve acclaim in the New Wave/Second Wave in Hong Kong.[1][2] Elected "Freshman's Queen" when she was studying undergrad at the University of Hong Kong, she was also an avid sportswoman representing Lady Ho Tung Hall and the University of Hong Kong. Cheung made her first film in 1985 as a student at New York University.[3] Cheung is known for working with the migration issues of Hongkongers and overseas Chinese, especially before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.
Mabel Cheung | |||||||
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 Cheung at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival | |||||||
| Born | 張婉婷 Cheung Yuen-Ting 17 November 1950 | ||||||
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| Awards | Hong Kong Film Awards – Best Director 1986 Illegal Immigrant Golden Horse Awards – Best Film 1988 Painted Faces Best Original Screenplay 1988 Painted Faces | ||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 張婉婷 | ||||||
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Her films include the "migration trilogy": The Illegal Immigrant (1985), An Autumn's Tale (1987) and Eight Taels of Gold (1989). The Soong Sisters (1997) marks another peak of her filming career. All four films were made in collaboration with writer Alex Law.
Cheung is a Guest Lecturer at the Hong Kong Baptist University Academy of Film and an Honorary University Fellow at the University of Hong Kong.[4][5]
Cheung is the Vice-Chairperson of the Hong Kong Film Development Council.
Filmography
The To My Nineteen-Year-Old-Self Controversies
In January 2023, three graduates of Ying Wa Girls' School accused Cheung and the school authority of wrongdoing through the public distribution of To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self, the film commissioned by Cheung's alma mater Ying Wa Girls' School for an alumni fundraising project. Three of the six subjects of the film accused Ying Wa and Cheung of placing what was originally promised as an internal project on public screens without their consents. Katie Kong, one of the documentary’s subjects, said in an Instagram story that she had signed the consent after the film crew told her “everyone else” had done so. [6] [7]
In the documentary, Cheung's camera follows six schoolgirls for over a decade to witness the agony and ecstasy of growing up during a turbulent time in Hong Kong.
Wai-sze Sarah Lee, Hong Kong professional track cyclist and bronze medalist in the women's keirin at the 2012 London Olympics, also accused Cheung and the crew of including an interview clip with her in the film without consent. In a radio interview Cheung admitted that she and the crew entered the venue of Asian Track Cycling Championships in Japan without a valid press permit. This raised the concern from the Hong Kong Sport Press Association of unauthorised interview events for non-press purposes. [8]
Cheung apologized and announced on 5 February the screenings of To My Nineteen Year Old Self will be suspended until all issues are clarified. [9]
References
- Marchetti, Gina (30 June 2016). "Handover women: Hong Kong women filmmakers and the intergenerational melodrama of infidelity". Feminist Media Studies. 16 (4): 590–609 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
- Ford, Stacilee (2008). Mabel Cheung Yuen-Ting's An Autumn's Tale. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-962-209-894-7.
- Marchetti, Gina (30 June 2016). "Handover women: Hong Kong women filmmakers and the intergenerational melodrama of infidelity". Feminist Media Studies. 16 (4): 590–609 – via Taylor & Francis Online.
- "Ms. CHEUNG, Mabel | Academy of Film". af.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- "Ms Mabel CHEUNG Yuen Ting - Honorary University Fellows - Honorary University Fellowships". www4.hku.hk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- Lee, Peter (6 February 2023). "Hong Kong documentary pulled from cinemas after subject says she did not consent for it to be screened publicly". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- "Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung's documentary pulled from cinemas after complaints". South China Morning Post. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- "香港體育記者協會對張婉婷言論表示遺憾", press release, HK Sport Press Association, 6 February 2023.
- Standard, The. "Public screening of a documentary film suspended amid controversies". The Standard. Retrieved 6 February 2023.