Taiwanese producer Khan Lee is lining up a portmanteau love story, Juliet (working title), as the second installment in its Pushing Hands initiative, designed to support new talent.
The three segments of the film will be directed by three of Taiwan’s up-and-coming filmmakers: Shen Ko-shang, who recently co-directed documentary Baseball Boys; Hou Ji-ran, whose credits include award-winning short doc My 747, and Chen Yu-hsun, who has been working in television since his 1995 debut Tropical Fish screened in competition in Locarno.
Taking Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet as it starting point, but focusing on the female character, the triptych will star three different actresses in different settings.
“The three young directors will use the character of Juliet to express their own perspectives about destiny and love,” says Lee, who is the brother of Ang Lee.
Production is scheduled to start in January with backing from the Taiwanese government and Lee’s own production company, Zeus International Production.
Pushing Hands is an initiative set up by Lee, with support from his world-famous brother, to support up-and-coming talent in Taiwan.
“Since the local film industry collapsed in the mid-1990s, it’s been difficult for new filmmakers to make a living from feature films,” says Lee. “Our aim is to help young directors all the way from development to getting their features released.”
The first film from Pushing Hands was Cheng Yu-chieh’s Yang Yang, starring Sandrine Pinna as a young Eurasian girl struggling with an identity crisis. The film premiered at Berlin and also played at the Hong Kong, Taipei and Pusan fests.
At the Taipei film awards in July, Yang Yang won the special jury prize, best actress for Pinna and best original score. It’s also nominated in six categories for the upcoming Golden Horse Awards (Nov 28).
No comments yet