In recent years, Angie Chen has been rightfully recognised as a much overlooked contributor to the innovative Hong Kong New Wave of the 1980s. Her second feature was conceived to disenchant the orientalist fairytale of bar hostesses in the Hollywood romance drama The World of Suzie Wong (1960), which cast Nancy Kwan as the exotic love interest of an Englishman. Rather than Suzie, the name of the heroine in Chen’s film is Shui Mei (Patricia Ha), who comes from an impoverished fishing family and begins working at the Lucky Bar in Wan Chai’s red-light district in the 60s.

Scripted by John Chan (Nomad, My Heart Is That Eternal Rose), the film follows Shui Mei through many bittersweet encounters against the shifting sands of the industry and the city, including a love affair with Jimmy (Anthony Wong Chau-sang, in his big-screen debut), a mixed-race young man searching for his father among the sailors, and an endearing partnership with the gangster Wong Ying (Deanie Ip).

Newly restored in 2K, My Name Ain't Suzie is a refreshing breeze that rejects sensational spectacle, offering instead a critical look at the gender and colonial dynamics underpinning sex work in post-war Hong Kong, and, ultimately, a story of women’s resilience.

This screening features a recorded introduction by Angie Chen.