Montages of a Modern Motherhood

Source: Golden Scene

‘Montages of a Modern Motherhood’

Hong Kong’s Golden Scene has acquired the worldwide rights to Oliver Chan’s Montages Of A Modern Motherhood, ahead of its premiere in competition at Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, October 2-11).

The drama has been selected for BIFF’s New Currents competition, which comprises emerging Asian filmmakers, and marks the first Hong Kong film to screen in the strand since Cheung King Wai’s Somewhere Beyond The Mist in 2017.

It is the second feature of director Chan, whose 2018 directorial feature debut Still Human won several awards.

Her latest film follows a new mother who finds herself stressed out taking care of her baby without the help of her aloof husband, while having to deal with postpartum baby blues and her in-laws under the same roof.

The cast is led by Hedwig Tam who was nominated for best new performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards for 2016’s Weeds On Fire. It is also headed by Lo Chun Yip who received a best actor nomination at the HKFAs for 2023’s Time Still Turns The Pages.

The story was also written by Chan after she became a mother herself and experienced a tug-of-war between her old and new identities, as well as physical and mental pain. Through the film, she wants to explore the possibilities of shifting gender stereotypes while expressing empathy with all struggling mothers.

“Becoming a mother appears to be a blind spot in gender equality,” said the filmmaker. “Society romanticises and celebrates motherhood in a way that takes all of the sacrifices mothers make for granted. It is indifferent about their plight, and fails to provide them with adequate support.”

The film was one of five projects selected for the HAF Goes to Cannes programme earlier this year. It is independently financed and is produced by Chan and Lung Kwok Yiu, with Pang Hang Ying, Tai Bo and Patra Au also in the cast.

Chan’s Still Human won awards including best new director at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Asian Film Awards. It was funded through the Hong Kong Film Development Council’s First Feature Film Initiative.

 

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