Edko takes Hong Kong drama We Are Born Good to world buyers
Bill Kong’s Edko Films will handle global sales for Yeung Leung Chuen’s Cantonese-language debut before its Toronto premiere.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Bill Kong’s Edko Films has picked up worldwide sales rights to We Are Born Good, the Cantonese-language debut feature from Hong Kong writer-director Yeung Leung Chuen, Variety reported.
The drama is set to make its world premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto Film Festival, putting Yeung’s first feature on an international festival launchpad with a veteran Hong Kong sales outfit behind it.
Chung Suet Ying stars as Zoey, opposite Yeung Wai Lun as Wing-kat. Chung won best leading actress at the 61st Golden Horse Awards for The Way We Talk, while Yeung Wai Lun was nominated for best actor at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards for The Sparring Partner.
According to Variety, the film starts with a restaurant accident that sparks a bitter clash between Zoey and Wing-kat, two people already under strain in their private lives. Their dispute grows through a series of reprisals, until both come to see that the more serious danger may be coming from people close to them.
The story follows the pair from enemies into an unlikely bond, as the two become the only people who can properly understand each other, according to the report.
A viral clip becomes a feature
Yeung said in a director’s statement that the idea grew out of a viral CCTV video widely shared in Hong Kong. The clip showed a market customer and a vendor turning a small physical bump into a full confrontation.
“When I first saw this footage, I also found it ridiculous and amusing; but then I thought: why? Why would these two individuals escalate a trivial matter into a full-blown fight? What kind of people are they? What are their lives like off-camera?” Yeung said in the statement, according to Variety.
Yeung linked that everyday flare-up to pressure in modern city life, saying in the statement that fast-paced urban work and uncertainty make life difficult. He said We Are Born Good aims to show the stories of people “living restlessly” in the city.
The supporting cast includes Kearen Pang, Lo Chun Yip, Ng Wing Sze and Yan Yuk Yu. Patricia Cheng produces the film. Variety described Cheng as a Hong Kong producer with more than 20 years of experience whose credits include multiple films directed by Sylvia Chang.
Festival credentials behind the camera
Before making We Are Born Good, Yeung won best director at the 12th Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival for The Bridge. His screenplay for Hong Kong Family was also selected for the 27th Busan International Film Festival, Variety reported.
The film’s craft team brings a long list of Hong Kong and Taiwan awards credentials. Production designer Jasper Tsang Ka Pik was nominated for best art direction at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Costume designer Dora Ng has won eight Hong Kong Film Awards in her category and twice won the Golden Horse Award for best costume design. Editor Wenders Li is a longtime collaborator of director Pang Ho-cheung.
Sound designer Duu Chih Tu, whose past collaborators include Wong Kar-wai, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien, has won 13 Golden Horse Awards. Wong Hin Yan wrote the original music, after winning best original film score at both the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards and the 59th Golden Horse Awards for The Narrow Road.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.