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Lester Chit-man Chan is a Hong Kong actor and director who has collaborated with many famous directors, of the likes of Ang Lee, Tony Chan and Julia Kwan. After a long career, Chan has decided to make his directing debut with “Apart“, a feature about a young couple in the midst of socio-political upheavals in Hong Kong society. The film was also screened as part of this year’s Osaka Film Festival.

We talk with him about the inspiration for the film, its political and social context as well as the creation of the characters of the film.

“Apart” screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020

What was the inspiration for “Apart”?

“Apart” was originally conceived as a love story exploring the cultural identity and differences of the younger generation of Hong Kong – those born before or after the change of sovereignty in 1997, and growing up under its influence.

It originated...

Kwan Finds Tradition and Trasfiguration in Chinatown

No major city is without a Chinatown, each with its own cast of colorful characters, their shops stocked with traditional oriental goods, all hocked through old school methods where nearly everything is negotiable. But as times change and the original immigrant populations die out and are replaced by youth uninterested in their parents’ time-honored means of living, many of these communities are in a state of rapid transformation. Nearly a decade after Julia Kwan’s debut, Eve and the Fire Horse, took home the Special Jury Prize from Sundance, the director has taken to the streets of her hometown’s own Chinatown in Vancouver. As it turns out, the situation there is no different, its lingering shops hang in the balance as elders reach their 80s and 90s, young entrepreneurs reinvent recently closed up storefronts, big business outsiders reap the benefits of cheap...

The only constant is change. There’s truth to that no matter where you live, and in keeping with the times, that change sometimes happens way too fast. If there’s an area in Vancouver that seems like a step backwards in time, it’s Chinatown, but that is quickly changing. Although the people in the area are less than thrilled about the idea, many of them are also old timers who are powerless to do much about amongst some of the most expensive real estate in Canada. But they persevere, and they keep working day to day as if the world isn’t changing around them. Everything Will Be is their story.

Director Julia Kwan, who made the Sundance Jury Award-winning Eve and the Fire Horse, approaches the subject in a “day in the life” style, where her camera captures the action of these typical days on the streets of Chinatown,...

Here in the desert, movie critic Randy Montgomery has done a good thing. He started One Night Cinema several years ago to fill an underserved market in Phoenix, which for several studios is one of the their top ten markets annually. Surprisingly, the availability of independent film is not that high in a city this size.

So Randy began a film festival that showcase a new foreign/independent film every Friday night at the Pollack Tempe Cinemas, and the Fall 2008 session of the festival begins this Friday with Vietnam's The Owl and The Sparrow, about a girl who tries to play matchmaker between a flight attendant and a zookeeper. The film has done very well in festivals across the country and was a John Cassevetes Award nominee (for films made for under $500,000) at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Other films in the fall session include Sixty Six with Helena Bonham Carter...

Toronto -- As the Toronto International Film Festival kicked into gear Friday, seven Canadian directors were recruited to make auteur documentaries about their hometowns, which will bow at the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Games.

The films from Gary Burns, Thom Fitzgerald, Atom Egoyan, Julia Kwan, Charles Biname, Don McKellar and Patricia Rozema are being produced by Michael Burns and Nuria Bronfman, Arts and Communications, and Manifest Communications.

Canadian broadcaster CTV, which holds exclusive Canadian TV rights to the 2010 Games, has provided seed money for the project, which is titled "My Canada."...

• It’s no coincidence that the Sundance Festival Short Film Program had to sift through a lot more short films this year – video filmmakers are popping out from everywhere and filling the web with viral video content. A whopping 5,107 submissions were submitted and a total of 83 were programmed for the upcoming edition of the 08 fest. While more doesn’t necessarily mean better, the stuff I’ve seen at the last two editions easily demonstrates that there is some great talent to explore and in the case of Apple's iTunes Movie Store, Xbox Live and the Netflix – talent to exploit. The trio of companies will promote the films throughout the year, but for those not going to the fest you can check for daily uploads at www.sundance.org/festival Among the already popular submissions are a pair of new works from Ken Wardrop, Julia Kwan - a Canadian filmmaker

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TORONTO -- Helmers Julia Kwan and Stephane Lapointe will share the Claude Jutra Award at the upcoming Genies, Canada's top film honors, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television said Wednesday.

The tribute to first-time directorial achievement will go to Vancouver-based Kwan for "Eve and the Fire Horse", which earned the special jury prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and to Quebec filmmaker Lapointe for "La Vie secrete des gens heureux," (The Secret Life of Happy People).

"Eve and the Fire Horse" portrays a young girl who uses her imagination to change her family's fate, while "La Vie secrete des gens heureux" captures the drama of a university student struggling to live up to his parents' dreams for him.

Past winners of the Claude Jutra Award include Robert Lepage, Thom Fitzgerald, Zacharias Kunuk and Keith Behrman.

The 2007 Claude Jutra Award presentation will take place Feb. 13 in Toronto.

TORONTO -- Quebec films dominated nearly all the major categories as nominations for the Genies, Canada's top film honors, were unveiled Tuesday in Toronto.

In the best picture competiton, Ivan Reitman-produced Trailer Park Boys: The Movie was the lone English-language Canadian entry. It will face off against four Quebecois films: Erik Canuel's Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Charles Biname's Maurice Richard/The Rocket, Jean-Francois Pouliot's Guide De La Petite Vengeance and Robert Favreau's Un Dimanche A Kigali.

The same quartet of French-language filmmakers surfaced again in the best director category, an all-Quebecois affair rounded out by La Vie Secrete Des Gens Heureux helmer Stephane Lapointe.

"Maurice Richard/The Rocket," a French-language drama about the legendary hockey player, led the Genies field with 13 nominations, followed by bilingual buddy comedy Bon Cop, Bad Cop with 10 nominations.

Terry Gilliam's Tideland, a British-Canadian co-production, grabbed five craft nominations and a best actress nod for Jodelle Ferland, while Julia Kwan's Eve and the Fire Horse earned a best supporting actress nomination for Vivian Wu and a best supporting actor nomination for Lester Chit-Man Chan. Otherwise, English-language Canadian movies, which garner a paltry 1% of cinema screen-time nationwide, look set to play second fiddle to their French-language counterparts when the Genies are handed out next month. Quebec films similarly overshadow the acting categories, with Colm Feore (Bon Cop) going up against Roy Dupuis (Maurice Richard), Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet (Congorama), Patrick Huard (Bon Cop) and Luc Picard (Un Dimanche A Kigali) in the best actor competition.

In the best actress category, Sigourney Weaver, nominated for her role in Snow Cake, will challenge Julie Le Breton (Maurice Richard), Fatou N'Diaye (Un Dimanche A Kigali), veteran Quebec star Ginette Reno (Le Secret De Ma Mere) and Jodelle Ferland (Tideland).

The Genie nominations, which came on the second day of Canada's actors strike, were announced at a Toronto press conference with no nominated directors or actors on hand for the assembled media.

• Every season Ioncinema.com takes a look at those who were left in the cold - films that didn't get picked up for U.S distribution and deserve a second look from the multitude of buyers. 1. Eve and the Fire Horse Director: Julia Kwan Showcase: Toronto Film Festival 05’ and Sundance 06’. Website: site Production House//Seller: Golden Horse Productions Ideal Home: Lionsgate films Suppositions on knock against it: Canadian feature. Subtitles. Child protagonists. Religion. On the plus side: Won hearts of audiences that have gotten to see it and won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2006. If there is a mini market for The Motel there is an even bigger market for this coming-of-age tale. 2. Requiem for Billy the Kid Director: Anne Feinsilber Showcase: Cannes film festival 2006. Website: site Production House//Seller: Cargo Films Ideal Home: Sony Pictures Classics Suppositions on knock against it: It may be difficult

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• Are You Shuttle Experienced? They are free. The drivers are friendly. The passengers are talkative. And get this they drive you to the theatre. Mixed in with people who come to the town for the slopes, this is perhaps one of the funniest ways to fest. Oh and the bus stops facing the theatres have cool volunteer staff and propane heated lamps that melt the snow. Nick Francis & Marc Francis' Black GoldRead review here. Baltasar Kormákur's A Little Trip to HeavenRead review here. Julia Kwan’s Eve and the Fire HorseRead review here. Ryuichi Hiroki’s It's Only Talk Read review here....

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• This year Ioncinema.com is covering the 2006 edition of the Sundance Film Festival Live from Park City, Utah. Weâ€.ll be on hand to cover the festival, and while we wonâ€.t be able to cover everything from A to Z: here is a comprehensive beforehand look at the selections in each of the festivalâ€.s sections. (Note: To access individual preview pages, simply click on the links below) January 19th to the 28th, 2006Counting Down: updateCountdownClock('January 19, 2006'); World Cinema - Dramatic Competition         "13 (Tzameti)" (France), writer-director Gela Babluani's intense drama about the dire consequences suffered by a man who follows instructions left for someone else. "Allegro,"(Denmark), directed by Christoffer Boe and written by Boe and Mikael Wulff, a look at an amnesiac pianist who reconnects with his forgotten past upon returning to Copenhagen. "The Aura," (Argentina), writer-director Fabian Bielinsky's twisty drama about a taxidermist's dream of pulling off the perfect robbery.

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