ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Script Development Fund
2018 Script Development Fund
LIST The Idiots
| Category | Asian Project |
|---|---|
| Project | The Idiots |
| Director | CHEUNG King Wai |
| Country | Hong Kong, China |
| Director's Profile | King Wai Cheung won the Best New Director at 29th Hong Kong Film Awards. Also, his fiction shorts Farewell Hong Kong (2002) competed at the Sundance Film Festival; Hill of Ilha Verde (2015) was awarded Best Story at Macau International Film and Video Festival; and Crimson Jade (2010) was nominated at Golden Horse Awards and Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. His documentary films All’s Right with the World (2008), One Nation, Two Cities (2011) and The Taste of Youth (2016) were selected in Hong Kong International Film Festival. His documentary KJ: Music and Life (2009) won Best Documentary, Best Sound Editing, Best Editing awards at Golden Horse Awards. His first fiction feature Somewhere Beyond the Mist (2017) competed at the Busan International Film Festival and received three nominations in Hong Kong Film Awards. |
- Synopsis
- Poorly educated Chi, 22, joins a political activism to find meaning in life. Plain-looking Jane, 33, writes online erotica while working in a Chinese currency exchange shop. First, Jane walks into a riot in which Chi participates and gets arrested. Then Chi attends a wedding and makes out with the bride in a corner. Jane walks into them and is attracted by Chi’s sensuality. Every time, Jane is inspired to write her erotica. Once, Chi exchanges money at Jane′s shop before he goes whoring in China. Jane, on Tinder with a fake profile shot, searches and connects with Chi. They start texting. Her words become his consolation. Chi says he is going to jail soon. She offers her virginity to him and books a hotel. Chi wants to buy her a gift and resolves to rob a currency exchange. Masked, he happens to walk into Jane’s shop. Neither of them recognizes the other. Chi is sieged by the police at home and falls to his death. Seeing Chi’s news, Jane, saddened, still goes to the hotel and masturbates in tears.
- Director's Note
- When I was young during the British colonial era, I was curious and disturbed about my identity. But it was only me. My peers didn’t seem to have the same feelings, so I had nobody to talk about it. Today many Hong Kong young people are aware of their identity crisis, both personally and politically, but the authority doesn’t respond to them. The youngsters feel ignored and angry. Some of them become apathetic and hide themselves in the virtual world. Some of them rebel, join the riots and end up in jail. The film will be my mood regarding Hong Kong nowadays, specifically, the discord between the society and individuals. The film will be hard to get made because it is not the positive side of our young people, and worse, it touches on the topic about the youth joining activism. However, I will still do it, for it may be the last chance for us to make a film here to deal with our reality faithfully.
- Festivals
- Still Cut