CLOSING NIGHT
Montreal, my beautiful
Directed by Xiaodan He
Narrative | 118 Minutes | French and Chinese
- Thursday, Oct. 25, 4:30PM EST
- Emerson Paramount Center
- Followed by Q&A with Director
Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother living in Montreal, has spent her life shaped by duty — to her family, her culture, and a loveless marriage. But when she meets Camille, a spirited young Québécoise, a long-buried desire is awakened. In the balmy and joyful Montreal summer, Feng Xia takes the radical step of choosing herself — embarking on a journey of forbidden love and long-overdue self-discovery. Her awakening becomes a profound reckoning with identity, exile, and the steep cost of liberation.
Starring — Joan Chen, Charlotte Aubin, John Xu, Pei Yao Xu, Anzhe (Angelo) Zhang, Jean-Guy Bouchard, Isabelle Miquelon, Zion-Luna Ribeaux Valdès, Annette Garant, Éloi Archambaudoin, Wensi Yan, Pantelis Palioudakis, Amélie Pelletier
This role speaks to me on a deeply personal level. It’s rare to find a script that explores age, sexuality, and cultural dislocation with such depth. I very much enjoyed exploring and inhabiting Feng Xia’s unique world, and I can’t wait for audiences to do the same. — Joan Chen
Director’s Bio – Xiaodan He
Xiaodan He, a Montreal based Chinese-Canadien filmmaker, studied film production at the Beijing Film Academy of China. In 2002, she immigrated to Canada. In 2013, she founded Red Dawn Productions, five feature projects, fiction and documentary, were financed by the institutions for their development or production. Xiaodan’s main work include The Dance of the Star (fiction, 80 min), Cairo Calling (fiction, 9 min), The Fall of Womenland (documentary, 48 min), A Touch of Spring (feature , 82 min) and My Father’s Journey (documentary, 78 min). Xiaodan is the first Chinese immigrante director who has received grants from Quebec and from Canada for a feature film.