Podtalk: Season 8 CLOSING NIGHT Film for Asian Pop-Up Cinema is ‘Tracey,’ April 24, 2019

CHICAGO – Season Eight of Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) concludes another memorable run on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019, with “Tracey,” its Closing Night film from Hong Kong. The story of sexual orientation and gender truth is directed by Jun LI, who will appear on behalf of the film at AMC River East 21 in downtown Chicago. For more details and tickets, click here. [23]

“Tracey” is a sensitive and emotional journey of a middle-aged Hong Kong eyeglass shop owner named Travis Tung (Philip Keung), who is married with two grown children. He receives a call that an old friend named Ching has died unexpectedly, and the memories of their friendship spurs his repressed feelings for his friend (who is gay) and his hidden secret, that deep down he gender-identifies as a woman. This trigger trips a series of events that will affect his family, his past relationships and especially himself. The film is a radical statement for Hong Kong, whose laws still discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals.

APUC Closing Night is ’Tracey,’ Directed by Jun LI
Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

This Chicago Premiere will be part of the program-packed Season Eight of APUC, as their new format (multiple films per week) highlighted a different Asian country or theme every week. APUC is facilitated by founder and veteran film programmer Sophia Wong Bocchio, and Season Eight featured films from Japan, Mongolia, Singapore, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Indonesia and South Korea. The films mainly screen at Chicago’s AMC River East 21, with various other locations throughout the season (click link below at the end of the article for more details).

In Part One of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, director Jun LI of “Tracey” reflects upon the performance of his lead actor (Philip Keung), the relationships in the film and the nature of the marriage depicted.

In Part Two, Jun LI talks about the research into creating the transgender character and the impact his film has on the shifting attitudes of Hong Kong.

[25]	By PATRICK McDONALD [26] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [25]