Peter Chan Ho-sun has assembled a starry cast headed by Zhang Ziyi and box office sensation Lei Jiayin for his new feature film “She Has No Name.”
The film, which recently completed principal photography, probes the progress of women’s rights in China. “One woman’s suffering gives rise to the revolution of women’s social rights in China,” reads a tagline.
International rights to the picture are being handled by Moebius Entertainment, the independent consulting and sales company formed last year by Fred Tsui, a veteran of prominent shingle Media Asia for more than two decades.
It was previously announced that, although Chan has his own mini-studio, Moebius would provide consultancy services to him and might pick up sales duties on a project-by-project basis. Moebius has the same arrangement with actor-producer-financier Louis Koo.
Zhang is a popular actor with credits including “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Grandmaster” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
Lei is China’s most in-demand male lead. He recently starred in two Chinese New Year hits — “YOLO” and “Article 20” — as well as last year’s highest-grossing Asian film, “Full River Red” ($667 million worldwide).
The new film also boasts the cream of China’s new generation of acting stars, including Jackson Yee (TFBoys member and star of Oscar-nominated “Better Days”), Zhang Zifeng (“Sister,” “Detective Chinatown”), Fan Wei (“One Second”), Wang Chuan-jun (“No More Bets,” “Dying to Survive”), Yang Mi (the “Tiny Times” movie franchise) and Zhao Liying (“Article 20,” Midi Z’s upcoming “The Unseen Sister”).
Chan remains one of Asia’s most thoughtful and influential director-producers with helming credits including “The Warlords” and “American Dreams in China,” producer and executive producer credits including “Better Days” and “Bodyguards and Assassins,” and writing credits including “Golden Chickensss.”
He relocated from Hong Kong to mainland China for several years at a time when the Chinese industry was opening up and experimenting with new genres, but has since shifted his base back to Hong Kong. His feature “Li Na: My Life,” a biographical examination of mainland Chinese tennis star Li Na, remains unreleased.
In 2022, Chan launched Changin’ Pictures, an artist-driven company with plans to independently produce premium series for streaming release.
China has not experienced the #MeToo movement that emerged in multiple other countries over the past decade, and, while multiple controversies that emerged on social media have repeatedly returned the issue of women’s rights to the news agenda, Chinese society remains deeply patriarchal. The country’s leadership last year suggested that women should focus on less on careers and more on “marriage and childbearing culture.”