25th New York Asian Film Festival

July 10-26, 2026

Photo: © Bird Of Paradise Limited / the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

International Premiere

Bird of Paradise

媽樣年華

Mrs. Yeung has spent years holding a Hong Kong household together, managing a checked-out husband, a demanding teenage son, and the thousand thankless tasks that keep a family running. Then she secretly signs up for pole dancing, and something dangerous happens: she starts having fun. What looks like a midlife lark turns shockingly physical, closer to martial arts than play, demanding strength and nerve she didn’t know she had. As the lessons reawaken a self she had quietly shelved, the accommodating wife-and-mother act becomes harder to keep up. Joey Wu’s first feature turns domestic frustration into bright, nimble comedy, handing Catherine Chau a gloriously physical role as a woman who decides that disappearing politely is no longer on the schedule. Veteran Elaine Jin lends major support.

Director: Joey Wu
Producer: Saville Chan
Screenwriter: Joey Wu
Cast: Catherine Chau, Elaine Jin, Peter Chan (Chan Charm Man Peter), Yeung Nga Man, Jayden Cheung
Languages: Cantonese with Chinese and English Subtitles
2026; 95 min.; DCP
Country: Hong Kong

SCHEDULE:

Sunday July 19, 12:00pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Intro and Q&A with director Joey Wu

Joey Wu
胡翠兒

Joey Wu is a Hong Kong director and screenwriter who graduated from the School of Film at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her debut feature, Bird of Paradise, was selected as the winning project in the Higher Education Institution Group of the First Feature Film Initiative (FFFI), a program supported by the Hong Kong Film Development Council and funded by the Film Development Fund. As an emerging filmmaker, Wu brings a fresh voice to Hong Kong cinema through her work as both writer and director.