Chinese Divas in Motion: Films by Luka Yuanyuan YANG & Carlo NASISSE and S. Louisa WEI

COBY AND STEPHEN ARE IN LOVE (相爱的柯比与史蒂芬 XIANG AI DE KE BI YU SHI DI FEN)
Luka Yuanyuan YANG, Carlo NASISSE, United States, Mainland China 2019, 31 min., OV with Chinese subtitles

HAVANA DIVAS (古巴花旦 GU BA HUA DAN)
S. Louisa WEI, Hong Kong 2023, 98 min., OV with Chinese and English subtitles (Director’s Cut 2023 Edition, German Premiere)

This duo screening invites you to step into the enchanting tales of the Chinese diaspora across the two Americas. The short Coby and Stephen Are In Love recounts a twilight romance between two blossomed hearts – an exuberant ex-burlesque dancer from San Francisco’s Chinatown and an experimental filmmaker nearly twenty years her junior. The feature-length documentary Havana Divas zooms in on the life trajectories of two Cuban performers who, following the guidance of their Chinese fathers, mastered the art of Cantonese opera in Havana. Accompanied by a soundtrack of Chinese melodies, their life paths unfold and intertwine against the backdrop of a changing Chinatown; a touching portrayal of stage sisterhood and cultural belonging through the transnational history of Cantonese opera.

S. Louisa WEI, a documentary filmmaker, writer, and Professor at City University of Hong Kong, crafts historical documentaries through a deeply personal lens, aiming to champion significant figures and voices that have been overlooked by history.