An American guy with a same-sex partner accidentally picks up a red envelope from the street in a Taiwanese night market. According to the tradition, he finds himself being forced to enter a ghost marriage.
SYNOPSIS
In spite of the pandemic, ANDY and His Taiwanese Husband finally register their same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Later the newly-weds go to their favorite night market for a celebratory dinner.
When Andy accidentally steps upon and picks up a red envelope on the ground, an AMA (Taiwanese grandma) named CHIEU-YUEI? looms out of the dark. She tells Andy that according to the local tradition, he is the chosen husband for her deceased granddaughter. Moreover, they have to get married by her granddaughter’s One-Hundred-Day Memorial, only two weeks away.
Neither side can get their points crossed; Andy and Dylan freak out and storm out of the scene, but AMA stands there with a promising look, because she knows that this clean face American will return soon.
(The treatment is available for inquiry)
PROJECT
INFO
In Development
Family / Fantasy
4K / 25 Minutes
English / Mandarin / Taiwanese
Financing
USD $90K
CREATIVE CONCEPT
The issues about life and death are politely avoided in Chinese family. Just because we rarely dig them deeper doesn’t mean they can be dismissed. Dealing with life and death and the uncertainty associated with them stays as the emotional core of this particular story.Additionally, in old fashion Chinese culture, marriage usually becomes the graveyard for romance to females. When our society expects an adult woman to enter marriage and start procreation “when the time is right”, a female director such as Tami Xu who chooses to defy against the stereotypes, and a queer producer like C.K. Hugo Chung who has been part of marriage equality movement for many years, this production also creates a meaningful way for them to explore a singular definition about family in this new era. Through an immigrant character such as Andy who is completely unaware of local traditions, they’d like to present respect and understanding for the past, present, and future in this highly cinematic production.
CREATOR'S
PROFILE
C.K. Hugo Chung
Producer / Writer
Taiwanese by nature, New Yorker by nurture, C.K. Hugo Chung is an experienced film distributor and producer for more than 30 titles. In 2018, his distribution title, "Custody" (Jusqu’à la garde) won the Silver Lion for Best Director in the 74th Venice International Film Festival. His documentary title, "RBG" was nominated for 2 Academy Awards: Best Documentary and Best Original Song. His VR prototype production, “LIPs”, won the Grand Jury prize in the Kaohsiung Film Festival VR Film Lab. Currently he is developing several independent features and a streaming series.
Tami Xu
Director / Writer
Tami is an experienced producer and director who received her training at Paris and Beijing. She has worked with well-known independent auteurs such as Ye Lou, Xiaogang Gu, etc., and she specializes in international co-production. She was selected for Berlinale Talents (2013), Talents Tokyo (2013), Produire Au Sud Taipei (2018) and Kaohsiung VR Film Lab (2020) These days she not only spends time developing her own projects, she also promotes emerging talents, and immerse herself with VR/XR/AR content, hoping to expand her creative landscape into the territories of 5G telecommunication and the technology of artificial intelligence to enhance cinematic experience.
Copyright © 2021 Haftix Films. All rights reserved.