In 2020, Ray Yeung’s film Suk Suk (Twilight’s Kiss) was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards, with lead actor Tai-Bo taking home Best Actor. However, due to the pandemic, the film never found international audiences. Now, four years later, Yeung hopes to bring his next feature, All Shall Be Well, to more audiences this time around. The film recently won the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
All Shall Be Well follows an aging lesbian couple, Angie (Patra Au Ga Man) and Pat (Maggie Li Lin-Lin), who are living together, unmarried, in Hong Kong. After Pat passes away, Angie must deal with the ramifications of their coupling up. Hong Kong law forbids same-sex marriage, and the deceased Pat does not have a signed will, so the law leaves the estate to her next of kin: A brother without a steady job and a nephew who doesn’t own a home.
All Shall Be Well explores the grey areas around the legal and moral rights of LGBTQ+ couples, with Angie not having a right to the home she bought with Pat and no control over Pat’s wishes surrounding her funeral arrangements, along with commentary on the housing crisis within Hong Kong. Our review called the film elegant and tender while having a powerful voice underneath pregnant pauses and meticulous craft.
At the Berlinale 2024, film critic Connor Lightbody sat down with director Ray Yeung to discuss All Shall Be Well, which discusses LGBTQ+ rights, the housing crisis, and getting Hong Kong to feel as grey as London.
This interview was first posted on March 13th 2024. Full interview linked below.
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