Bill Kong’s Edco Films is on board to represent Hong Kong writer-director Yong Leung Chuen’s feature debut, We Are Born Good, and is responsible for global sales of the Cantonese-language drama.
The film will have its world premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto Film Festival.
Cheung Soe-in, who won the Best Actress award at the 61st Golden Horse Awards for “The Way We Talk,” will play Zoe, and Yong Wai-lung, who was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards for “Sparring Partner,” will play the role of Wingcut. The story begins with an accident at a restaurant, which ignites a feud between two characters who already have difficult lives. Their cycle of retaliation deepens until each realizes that a greater threat is coming from those closest to them. Initially rivals, Wingcat and Zoe gradually become the only people who truly understand each other.
The supporting cast includes Kieren Pan, Lo Chun Yip, Ng Wing See, Yang Yuk Yu, and more. The film is produced by Patricia Chen, a veteran Hong Kong producer with over 20 years of experience, whose credits include several films directed by Sylvia Cheung.
Director Yong Leung Chuen drew the film’s premise from widely circulated surveillance camera footage in Hong Kong, showing customers and vendors at a market escalating a minor physical confrontation into a full-blown altercation. “When I first saw this footage, I too thought it was silly and funny. But then I thought, why? Why do these two go from a minor issue to a full-blown fight? What kind of people are they? What is their life like off-camera?” said the director in a statement. He connected the event with the pressures of modern city life. “In today’s fast-paced and unpredictable world, the high pressure and fast-paced nature of working in urban areas makes life difficult,” Yong said in a statement. “We Are Born Good aims to tell the stories behind the tireless people of our city.”
Before his feature debut, director Yong won the Best Director award at the 12th Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival for “The Bridge,” and his screenplay for “Hong Kong Family” was selected for the 27th Busan International Film Festival.
The crew includes production designer Jasper Tsang Ka Pik, who was nominated for Best Art Direction at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards. Costume designer Dora Ng has won eight Hong Kong Film Awards in her category and twice won the Golden Horse Award for Best Costume Design. Editor Wenders Lee is a long-time collaborator of director Pang Hao-chun. Sound designer Duu Chih Tu has won the Golden Horse Award 13 times, and past collaborators include Wong Kar-wai, Edward Yang, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. The original music is by Wong Hing Yang, who won the Best Original Film Score award at both the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards and the 59th Golden Horse Awards for “The Narrow Road.”
