Another View 2001 / Miss Wonton / USA, Singapore 2001
Young Ah Na comes to New York to work at Buddha’s Happiness Chinese restaurant. She has left bad experiences and the malice of the people in her hometown behind her. Like many other Chinese immigrants, she believes that New York is a place to start over and fulfil her naive conception of the American Dream. Despite the warnings and experiences of her co-workers, she decides to go after her dreams. One day she finds herself at New York’s Grand Central Station where she comes across many immigrant women who are waiting downstairs at the ‘Golden Palace’ for the opportunity to find a man. . . . Director Meng Ong on his film: “I often think of Miss Wonton as Ah Na’s Freudian dream, Chinese style. I externalise her Freudian elements of identity and sexuality into the scenes at Grand Central Terminal. . . . Her traumatic experience in China has branded her as a bad girl. But in the basement of Grand Central, it seems okay to be ‘bad’ and free – she is allowed to make choices... When I first came here I saw America as Ah Na does: fresh-eyed, impressionable, and excited by its opportunities, but reality sets in later. . . .”
87 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Meng Ong
/ Screenplay Meng Ong
/ Dir. of Photography Tsuyoshi Kimoto
/ Music Evan Evans
/ Editor Meng Ong
/ Producer Dave Johnson
/ Production Dreamchamber Films Inc.
/ Cast Amy Ting, Ben Wang, James Burns, Chyna Ng, Sakura Ting, Scott Chan, Shen Han Ying, Victoria Rong, Claire Peng, Yang Liu, Cornel Chan
Meng Ong was born in Singapore but now lives in New York. He began making movies at age 16 and later graduated from New York University Film School where he made award-winning short films and videos. Many of these were chosen for screening at festivals in Clermont-Ferrand, Singapore, Japan, Philadelphia and many others. Miss Wonton is his feature film debut. Filmography: News for Frankie (short video,1984), The Garden (short video, 1985), Sweet and Sour (short video, 1988), The Dancers (short video, 1990), Waves of a Distant Shore (short film, 1992), Buddha’s Garden (short film, 1993), The Wooden Clogs (short video, 1995), Miss Wonton (2001).
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