Lonely Blue Night
Special Screening, Ajyal at Katara
Johnson Cheng / Short Narrative / United States of America / 2020 / 15 min / Colour / DCP
In English, Mandarin / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Comedy, Family
MENA Premiere
Synopsis
An awkward family reunion at a business dinner leads a Chinese mother to realize the consequences of leaving her daughter in the care of an American homestay family. ‘Lonely Blue Night’ is a nuanced portrait of a family and their largely unspoken relationships. It was an official selection in competition at the 2020 AFI FEST, where it won the Audience Award. Starring Diana Lin, who also featured in ‘The Farewell’, a film screened at Ajyal 2019.
About the Directors
Johnson Cheng is an award-winning Chinese American writer/director. He is an alumnus of Columbia University’s M.F.A. Film Directing/Screenwriting program in NYC, the NYFF Artist Academy, and Film Independent’s Project Involve. An HBO APA Visionary and recipient of the Princess Grace Award, his films have been screened at over 100 international film festivals. Johnson’s debut short, ‘Iron Hands’, screened at Tribeca, TIFF Kids, Palm Springs (Best Student Film).
Credits
- Director
- Johnson Cheng
- Screenwriter
- Johnson Cheng
- Producer
- Apoorva Charan, Steve Y. Kim
- Editor
- Leo Chan
- Production Designer
- Yuan Wang
- Executive Producer
- Sydney Lowe, Dea Vazquez, Francisco Velasquez
- Music
- Johnny Macmillan
- Cinematographer
- Carlo Canlas Mendoza
- Cast
- Diana Lin, Lydia Zhou, Peter Boon Koh, Jack Wang