SHE ' S DREAMING BIG光影青春夢

Tam Wai- ching’s directorial debut, In Your Dreams, has established her as a young Hong Kong director to watch. By KEVIN MA

譚惠貞導首執 的 部作品《以青春的名義》令她成為備受注目的香港年輕導演。撰文：馬樂民

Tam Wai-ching and I are eating breakfast at Stek in Amsterdam. ‘ This city is beautiful, but the food is really expensive,’ she says with a laugh. Tam is here for the CinemAsia film festival, where her directorial debut, In Your Dreams, is playing in competition. Born in 1984, Tam is part of a new generation of locally educated directors making their name in the Hong Kong film industry.

Part of the government-backed First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI), which also funded award-winning films Mad World and Weeds on Fire, In Your Dreams is about an unlikely relationship that blooms between a student and his supply teacher (played by veteran actor Carina Lau). Tam based the story on a friend who fell for her physics teacher in secondary school.

‘She would run off in the middle of class to cry in the toilet. I didn’t understand her at the time. I should’ve been there for her as a friend, but I wasn’t,’ says Tam. Years later, Tam wanted to try to understand her friend by telling a similar story, but with the genders reversed.

After winning an award at the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival, Tam entered the film industry as coscriptwriter of The White Storm. For In Your Dreams – playing onboard this month – the FFFI gave her total freedom to make the film, but the budget was so low that she could only afford to shoot for 18 days. In the middle of the shoot, Lau decided to become a producer for the first time to assist with the post-production process. She brought in William Chang, the editor and art director of films by arthouse darling Wong Kar-wai.

These big names brought the film prestige, and positive reviews followed. Maggie Lee, film critic and CinemAsia’s artistic director, praises the film for its sensitive take on sensuality: ‘It’s reflected in Carina Lau’s luminous performance, the lush colour texture and water imagery. It’s a very mature work for a first-time director.’

Despite this feedback, In Your Dreams failed at the box office and only earned a Best Editing nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Tam is still proud of her film. ‘I did reflect whether I didn’t do a good enough job, but you can’t deny that this is a good film,’ she says confidently. ‘If it isn’t, film festivals around the world wouldn’t have invited it into their competitions. No one can refute that. I’ll keep going anyway. I won’t wallow in self-pity.’ Tam is already looking for investors for her next film.

Tam finishes her fresh mint tea, her favourite discovery in Amsterdam. Together we walk to the cinema to face her audience at the Q&A session.