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
Born
張婉婷
Cheung Yuen-Ting

(1950-11-17) 17 November 1950
Alma mater
Awards
Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Director
1986 Illegal Immigrant

Golden Horse AwardsBest Film
1988 Painted Faces
Best Original Screenplay
1988 Painted Faces

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張婉婷

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

Year Title Notes
2022 To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self
2017The Chinese Widow
US Title called
In Harm's Way (2017 film)
Writer
2015A Tale of Three Cities
三城記
2010Echoes of the Rainbow
歲月神偷
2003Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan & His Lost Family
龍的深處-失落的拼圖
Nominated - Golden Horse Awards for Best Documentary
2001Beijing Rocks
北京樂與路
1998City of Glass
玻璃之城
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay
1997The Soong Sisters
宋家皇朝
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director
1992Now You See Love, Now You Don't
我愛扭紋柴
1991The Banquet
豪門夜宴
Twin Dragons
雙龍會
1989Eight Taels of Gold
八兩金
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay
1988Painted Faces
七小福
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay
1987An Autumn's Tale
秋天的童話
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film
Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director
1985The Illegal Immigrant
非法移民
Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director
Special Jury Award (Asia-Pacific Film Festival)

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]

See also

References

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. "Ms. CHEUNG, Mabel | Academy of Film". af.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  5. "Ms Mabel CHEUNG Yuen Ting - Honorary University Fellows - Honorary University Fellowships". www4.hku.hk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  6. 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.
  7. "Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung's documentary pulled from cinemas after complaints". South China Morning Post. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  8. "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.
  9. Standard, The. "Public screening of a documentary film suspended amid controversies". The Standard. Retrieved 6 February 2023.


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