Ajyal Film Festival 2023

All Films

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

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