A Chinese-Canadian veteran filmmaker, Xiaodan He already has several short films and documentary features to her name, but her latest feature film represents a tidal shift in her work that is quickly garnering global and local attention.
Montréal, ma belle tells the story of 53-year old Feng Xia (played by Joan Chen), a Chinese immigrant and mother living in Montreal who feels suffocated by a life defined by familial responsibilities and self-denial. Falling in love with a young Quebecois woman, Camille (Charlotte Aubin), Feng Xia is forced to confront her repressed queerness and sets her on the path towards self-actualization.
25 years in the making
He has always longed to make a film for immigrants—specifically middle-aged immigrants like her. Much of the film echoes her own lived experiences: In 2002, having freshly graduated from the Beijing Film Academy of China, He moved and eventually settled in Montreal to study filmmaking. She has vivid memories of her first attempts to write the story that would eventually evolve into Montréal, ma belle. Writing fluid dialogue in a language foreign to her caused many early frustrations, but they were buoyed by the support of her peers and one Université de Montréal professor who encouraged her to keep writing, confident that she would “get the story right one day.”
Montréal, ma belle represents decades of work; of refining and piecing together a narrative which honors the veracity and complexities of its subject. Having spent almost 25 years in each of her homelands of China and Canada, He felt ready to make a film which amalgamates both perspectives through a fresh angle.
The Voice of the Immigrant Mother
Chinese immigrant representation has come a long way since the days of The Woman Warrior and The Joy Luck Club; but still there are dominating narratives which have made the genre stagnant and tired, especially for first- and second-generation immigrant audiences.
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