HK’s’ Princei Edwarddd isi goingi placesl
Norris Wong’s origin story is about as “Hong Kong” as they come.
She grew up in a small flat dreaming of making movies, and of featuring the sights and sounds that surrounded her every day. She’s been through difficulties but has found a way to adapt and continue to work.
The past 12 months have seen Wong’s talent shine in Hong Kong, and around the world, with her debut feature film as a director, the drama-tinged romance My Prince Edward.
“I wanted to work on a topic and a location that I was very familiar with,” the 33-year-old Wong explains. “I actually grew up in the Prince Edward area, right across from the Golden Plaza. So I had always imagined stories about what might be happening inside that mall.”
The film — starring an impressive Stephy Tang — looks at a love triangle, hidden secrets, and the daily worries and joys of single life. Wong picked up Hong Kong Film Festival’s best new director gong in May, and was nominated in the same category at October’s Asian Film Awards, held as part of this year’s Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.
Before this success came a period of disappointment and struggle but Wong was able to still find a way to get the work done and she has seen much the same situation playing out for the Hong Kong film industry as a whole this year, as film production has been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the beginning of the lockdown there were many crew members who just didn’t have work,” Wong explains. “They had to find other work to do. Some even became Uber drivers. But people learned to coexist with the virus and a lot of people turned to writing. So I think there will be a lot of content coming out in the future and I’m excited about that.”
Wong started out as a writer herself. After graduating with a Master’s degree in filmmaking from Hong Kong Baptist University, she joined the team at HKTV, working on scripts. Unfortunately, the wannabe network’s bid to get a free-to-air broadcast license failed to get the green light from the government in 2013. Wong turned to making short films. She was also an assistant script writer on Tracy Choi’s 2016 film Sisterhood.
“There have been some big hits to the film industry recently, including the loss of HKTV as the film and TV industries in Hong Kong are closely linked,” says Wong. The downslide affected many people emotionally, as well as professionally, she says, adding, “The (Hong Kong government’s) Film Development Fund has been involved in a lot of the films being made. So it’s very important.”
My Prince Edward was funded by Create Hong Kong’s First Feature Film Initiative. In terms of style, Wong says she took her inspiration from the likes of American filmmaker Charlie Kaufman ( Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
and Hong Kong’s own Ann Hui ( A Simple Life).
“Ann has worked across genres, from super small to super big,” says Wong. “Her films are always very accessible to the general public. Neither Ann nor Kaufman has had to sacrifice artistic values. I want to be the same.”
It’s all down to adaptability, Wong says. She is currently working on projects for both TV and the big screen.
“Hong Kong films will never die,” says Wong. “Filmmakers will find different formats, like documentaries which are growing in popularity. The Hong Kong spirit won’t die.”