Interview: Season 16 Asian Pop Up Cinema Presents ‘A Guilty Conscience’ on March 31, 2023

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CHICAGO – Season 16 of the Asian Pop Up Cinema (APUC) continues with the Hong Kong Cinema Showcase, with ‘A Guilty Conscience’ featuring appearances by an actress and director. The appearance is on Friday, March 31st (7pm), and ‘A Guilty Conscience’ is the first film in Hong Kong history to pass the $100 million mark locally in country. The evening will feature an honor for actress Renci Yeung with APUC’s Bright Star Award and will also have director Jack Ng Wai Lun at the screening. They talked to HollywoodChicago.com below.

On April 1st (2;30pm), director Ka Sing Fung will represent the North American premiere of his film “Lost Love.” Both screenings are at AMC New City in Chicago, and will feature Q&As moderated by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. Click HONG KONG for location and timing details, including for the rest of the films in the series, including “The Sparring Partner,” “Remember What I Forgot,” and “Port of Call.”

APUC Hong Kong Cinema Showcase: ‘A Guilty Conscience’
Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

Season 16 APUC will focus on a variety of films from Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea, and is curated by the Founder and Executive Director of the fest, Sophia Wong Boccio. APUC features films by region, and it continues with Hong Kong (March 31-April 1), online for China, Vietnam, Japan, France & U.S.(April 3-9 APUC’s “Movies You May Have Missed”) and Taiwan (April 15-16). Click the SEASON 16 link below for all details.

As a preview to the March 31st APUC screening, Co-Writer/Director Jack Ng Wai Lun and Actor Renci Yeung of “A Guilty Conscience” talk … through an interpreter … about the film and the their backgrounds with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com.

HollywoodChicago.com: What cultural connection, or what themes of the plot of your movie, touched the Hong Kong audiences so much that they made it the highest grossing Hong Kong film ever?

Jack Ng Wai Lun: There are three reasons, in my view, that the film connected the way it did. The first was the pandemic, Hong Kong people were stuck inside for so long, unable to go to the cinema, and in 2023 those rules were finally relaxed. Going to the movies in the Lunar New Year is one of the biggest and most popular activities.



Secondly, with everything that has happened in Hong Kong besides the pandemic time, the people are also feeling a bit repressed emotionally. The film, I believe, gave them an opportunity to release that emotional energy. They could actually amplify their emotions through the characters in the film.


And finally, the lead actor Dayo Wong Chi-Wah. He was a very popular Hong Kong stand up comic, that stopped doing his comedy shows. His fans where so anxious to see him again they just started running to the film.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you land a role like the one in ‘A Guilty Conscience,’ what is your personal process in developing that character, together with the directors and writers?

Renci Yeung: The process was very smooth for the film. First, Jack is a nice guy and great director. And another advantage was he is a co-writer, so he understood the story inside and out. So when we talked about my role, I’ve got a complete picture, especially connecting to the story through the character that Dayo Wong portrayed. It made the process very simple.

HollywoodChicago.com: When you were in the beginning processes of writing the film, what theme or plot did you have first, that drove everything else to completion?

Jack: The central theme in the film is justice. In the Chinese culture, when we describe justice, we say ‘heaven has eyes.’ When we lose justice, we also say heaven doesn’t have eyes. I want people that work in the judicial system in Hong Kong to hear the dialogue and the characters, hoping to help them feel better … they’ve been under a lot of pressure the last couple of years. Getting them to feel better is my goal.

HollywoodChicago.com: Renci, when you have a new project, are you willing as an actor to come to a place where you are completely comfortable creating a character or do you feel better in a constant state of creation, which sometimes is less comfortable?

Renci: I believe as an actress in a project my attitude is fairly passive. I don’t choose whether I’m in a comfort zone or not, I allow the project to tell me. Being in a ‘comfort zone’ is easy, but when I’m not as comfortable it will push me beyond my usual boundaries and something creative will come out. But when I take on a project I’m not thinking of my comfort, I’m focusing on the outcome of my acting role within the whole thing.

HollywoodChicago.com: As a woman in the film business, what is your opinion about the status of women, both as in front of the camera people and behind it?

Renci: I can’t speak for a female actress overall, I can only speak for myself. I find the audience has a perception of what an actress is like if them know them. My role model is Jennifer Lawrence, because I think she is the same person both inside and outside her film parts. That is how I want to be, my real self.

The culture in Hong Kong towards female actors, it’s about how you look, and I really can’t control that … the media there is always making comparisons. I can only adjust my own mindset, as not to be affected by outside media so much. It’s getting better, but unfortunately the comparisons still happen.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, given the higher profile of Asians in the American filmmaking business, what American style movie project do you think you would most like to try … either as a genre or type of film that is completely American?

Jack: I am a fan of the Coen Brothers. Given the opportunity, I’d like to make a crime drama like their style.

HollywoodChicago.com: Well, do it then.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com