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Front Cover

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Front Cover
Directed byRay Yeung
Screenplay byRay Yeung
Produced byKaer Vanice, Chowee Leow, Stan Guingon
StarringJake Choi, James Chen, Elizabeth Sung, Jennifer Neals Page, Sonia Villani, Li Jun Li, Ming Lee, Benjamin Thys, Tom Ligon
CinematographyEun-ah Lee
Edited byJoseph Gutowski
Music byPaul Turner, Darren Morze
Distributed byStrand Releasing (US), Edko Films Ltd (HK), Sahamongkolfilm International Co, Ltd. (Thailand)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUSA

Front Cover is a 2015 drama romance film directed by Ray Yeung and starring Jake Choi and James Chen. The story follows Ryan Fu, gay Chinese American fashion stylist (Jake Choi), who rejects his ethnic heritage, is given an important assignment to style Ning (James Chen), a patriotic actor from Beijing. After a rocky start, they develop a relationship that leads them to examine their beliefs and identities. Front Cover received mixed critical reviews and received awards from festivals such as San Diego Outfest, Boston Asian American Film Festival, and Outflix Film Festival.[1]

Plot

Front Cover tells the story of Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American who rejects his Asian heritage and has learnt to suppress it to climb up the social ladder. Through talent and hard work he has attained his dream job as an assistant to Francesca, a celebrity fashion stylist. One day Francesca assigns Ryan to style Ning, an actor who has just arrived from Beijing, for a top magazine photo shoot. Ning dismisses Ryan’s initial Western styling and demands Ryan creates an image for him which represents the power of the new China. Their opinions clash resulting in a strained working relationship. Over the following days, they socialize whilst working together and discover not only do they share a lot in common, a mutual attraction begins to develop. As they get closer Ryan reveals that he detests his Chinese heritage because he is ashamed of his impoverished upbringing. Ning also opens up and confesses that he is closeted. As they fall in love, a Chinese tabloid magazine exposes Ning as gay. Terrified of the impact it will have on his career, Ning begs Ryan to lie for him at a press conference. Ryan must now decide whether to help Ning or stay true to himself.[2]

Cast

Production

  • Producer: Kaer Vanice
  • Co-Producer: Chowee Leow
  • Co-Producer: Stan Guingon
  • Editor: Joseph Gutowski
  • Casting Director: Donna DeSeta
  • Cinematographer: Eun-ah Lee
  • Production Designer: Kate Rance
  • Composer: Paul Turner]
  • Composer: Darren Morze

Release

Front Cover premiered in 2015 at the Seattle International Film Festival.[3] in the Catalyst Competition section, and was again in Competition at the 2015 Chicago International Film Festival.[1] It was the Closing Film for the Asian American International Film Festival in New York in 2016. [4] It was also the Closing Film for 2016 Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival [5] and the Poland LGBT Film Festival.[6] Front Cover was shown in over 40 Film Festivals worldwide.

Strand Releasing [7] and Edko Films Ltd. [8] acquired USA and Hong Kong distribution rights respectively. It was released in the USA in August 2016 and in Hong Kong in October 2016.

Sahamongkolfilm International Co, Ltd. also released the movie in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2016. [9]

Reception

Front Cover holds an 82% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.[10] Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com describes it as, "A skillfully written and acted gay love story about two young men of Chinese ancestry...The transition from distrust to wary friendship to something more passionate in a movie like this depends a lot on the writing, and Yeung’s is subtle and assured, tracing an emotional arc that’s believably nuanced. It also benefits from exceptionally strong lead performances. As Ning, Chen has no trouble summoning a star’s charisma while also suggesting his hidden side. And Choi’s Ryan, a terrific debut, gives us a young man of real complexity who’s in the throes of self-discovery and (apparently) first love.....If it can be said that every cross-cultural story like this eventually tilts toward one culture over the other, one thing that’s notable about “Front Cover”—and that sets it apart from Ang Lee’s nominally similar “The Wedding Banquet”—is that, though set in New York, its perspective and espoused values are finally more Chinese than American. If that’s surprising, it’s in keeping with the emotional journey of a young man learning that identity is not only about sexuality." [11]

Robyn Bahr of the Village Voice indicated it as a " sexy, ambitious queer rom-com(ish) drama." [12] Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed the movie for the New York Times and wrote, "sensitive, decorous and buffed by Eun-ah Lee’s warm photography."[13] Sheri Linden of the Hollywood Reporter wrote  "the filmmakers capture an easygoing side of New York that's rarely seen on the big screen." [14]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c "FRONT COVER WILL COMPETE AT THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  2. ^ Cheshire, Godfrey. "Front Cover movie review & film summary (2016) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  3. ^ a b "SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AUDIENCE & COMPETITION AWARDS". www.siff.net. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  4. ^ "AAIFF16 Closing Night Premiere of Front Cover Carpet Arrivals". www.filmfestivals.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  5. ^ "2016 Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival Program". Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival. 2016-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "FRONT COVER PREMIERES AS THE CLOSING FILM AT THE POLAND LGBT FILM FESTIVAL". Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  7. ^ "TIFF: Ray Yeung's 'Front Cover' Goes to Strand Releasing". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  8. ^ Frater, Patrick; Frater, Patrick (2015-10-03). "Busan: Edko Films Snags 'Cover' Rights". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  9. ^ "Front Cover". Sahamongkolfilm. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  10. ^ Front Cover (2016), retrieved 2019-11-07
  11. ^ Cheshire, Godfrey. "Front Cover movie review & film summary (2016) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  12. ^ "Queer Rom-Com(ish) Drama 'Front Cover' Is an Ambitious Breakthrough | The Village Voice". www.villagevoice.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  13. ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (2016-08-04). "Review: In 'Front Cover,' Struggling for Self-Acceptance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  14. ^ "'Front Cover': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  15. ^ "FilmOut San Diego Sponsors". www.filmoutsandiego.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  16. ^ OUTMemphis (2016-09-16). "Outflix 2016 Award Winners!". OUTMemphis. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  17. ^ "Boston Asian American Film Festival (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  18. ^ "Serile Filmului Gay International Film Festival, Romania (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  19. ^ a b c "Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival 2017". Concrete Playground. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
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