Zulian Kam Kwok-Leung

From Shaw to Snakes: The Venom and Violence of Early Chinese Language Horror Cinema

A look back at the largely undocumented period of early Chinese-language horror cinema, beginning in Hong Kong and the Shaw Brothers and graduating to Taiwan and the production of Calamity of Snakes in 1983.

Ina and the Blue Tiger Sauna

Nineteen-year old Ina inherits a sauna and decides to build a new future for the girls working there, but first she needs to confront her father's dangerous past.

Empire Hotel

The Empire Hotel is a 30-year-old landmark in Macau's old quarter, inhabited by characters with their own stories and struggles. It is also Maria's home. One day, the burden of keeping lives together and the hotel standing falls on her shoulders. A young man who left Macau two decades ago returns, intent on revenge and reclaiming his mother's fortune – half the hotel. Inside the casino, Maria sings Fado and exotic dancers perform. It is against this illusory backdrop that the man lays eyes on Maria for the first time; they’re both mesmerized. The film cuts back and forth between film noir-style scenes of Macau’s past and present.

Category III: The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation Cinema

An insightful look at the history of Hong Kong's exploitation cinema, from the early days of the Shaw Brothers and such shockers as "Killer Snakes" through to the advent of the Category III rating in 1988 and then the June 4th massacre in Beijing. The latter led to a panic in Hong Kong, before the Handover of the former UK colony to Mainland China, and a number of motion pictures proceeded to take freedom of speech (and sometimes political symbolism) to the extreme. This is the story of one of the most curious and invigorating periods in exploitation filmmaking.

First Night Nerves

Yuan Xiuling, a former star and has-been actress plans to return to the spotlight of the theater a year after her philandering husband died. She decides to star in Two Sisters, written and directed by transwoman An Ouyang. But, her biggest rival, He Yuwen, a rising actress, also stars in the play. Yuwen plans her theatrical debut through it. During the preparation of the play, such a drama unfolds at the backstage as much as on stage. With the opening night at Hong Kong’s City Hall Theater just seven days away, tensions at rehearsal increase and tempers flare as actresses Xiuling and Yuwen’s buried resentments rise to the surface.

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