Cries and Whispers: Film Retrospective of Lee Isaac Chung

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and the U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau will co-present a moving image programme focusing on Lee Isaac Chung, the director of Oscar-winning Minari – Cries and Whispers: Film Retrospective of Lee Isaac Chung – at the Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre from July 29 to 6 August 2022.

This programme screens five feature films by Chung, from his Cannes recognised debut Munyurangabo to his Oscar honoured historic milestone Minari. Our screenings will be accompanied by talks and a masterclass with Chung. Guests to attend our live talks virtually include Lee Isaac Chung, Amanda Plummer (multiple Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress, roles include Honey Bunny of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction), Samuel Gray Anderson (Director, Screenwriter and Producer), and Eugene Suen (Producer). Samuel Gray Anderson and Eugene Suen can accept media interviews.

This retrospective honours one of the most celebrated and extraordinary filmmakers of our time, Lee Isaac Chung. It was supposed to take place in May, the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which pays tribute to Asians and Pacific Islanders who have enriched the country’s development and history. Yet, due to Hong Kong’s sudden Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent temporary closure of cinemas, this programme now takes place from July – in a safer place.

Chung’s stories, like the recent happenings of Hong Kong arts programmes and life, are trajectories subject to their time and fate. While Hongkongers and other peoples have been painstakingly coping with the tragedies of the pandemic and other earthshaking events, Chung’s characters exemplify how humans survive the chaotic nature of life – be it personal or communal – in fury, in tension, in dazedness, in tenderness, in humour and in other emotional complexities, along with resilience, versatility and hope.

Our programme title, Cries and Whispers, might recall the masterpiece of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. All outstanding filmmakers are primarily great for their primal urge and distinct artistry to carve profound human conditions onto film. In Chung’s oeuvre, concerns are wide-ranging – such as war, illness, discrimination, displacement, loneliness and death. He strives for authenticity in his filmmaking, and his stories are full of cries and whispers from the depths of human psyche. But Chung’s style is gentle and subtle, always allowing space for audiences to observe and evolve with the characters as their journeys ebb and flow. His films are not only about Americans or Asian Americans – they are about human beings – hence their appeal to people far and wide.

Programme Schedule

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

About Lee Isaac Chung (Director, screenwriter and producer)
Lee Isaac Chung’s most recent film Minari won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for six Oscars total in 2021, including Best Picture.

Chung is a writer and director who grew up in Lincoln, Arkansas, on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains. His first feature film was the Rwandan family drama Munyurangabo, which premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to great acclaim. His oth¬er feature films are Lucky Life, Abigail Harm, and I Have Seen My Last Born.