The Faerie Queene
Director: Lenny Luo
Cast:Noah Livingston, Benjamin Ting, Jennifer Jade
Crew:Writer: Lenny Luo. Producers: Lenny Luo, Alicia Sing, Knoton Fung, Cole Crosby, Lawrence Kan, Sean Li.
Email:lennyluo11@gmail.com
Web:lennyluo.com/tfq
Synopsis
An outcast. A golden boy. A girl trying to figure things out. An act of malice and a fickle game of cat and mouse. In an uncanny character study about the toxicity and disarray of modern teen culture, three young souls are driven to the edge over questions that have no answers.
Trailer
About the director
Lenny Luo is a 20-year-old Asian American filmmaker, raised in Hong Kong, based in New York.
He shot The Faerie Queene, his debut feature film, in his senior year of High School in Hong Kong, and has since been balancing post-production while pursuing an undergraduate film BFA at NYU Tisch.
Filmmaker's note
I was 17 when I began writing this film. 18 when I directed it. 19 now finishing it.
This film has taken up three years of my relatively short life and yet I am more tied to it than ever. The writing of the script began out of an attempt to process a dangerous culture that had infected certain circles at my high school. One that promoted reckless, predatory behavior and toxic masculinity, culminating in multiple sexual assault incidents. Those scribbles and brainstorms evolved into The Faerie Queene—an attempt to comment on the culture, vices, demons, and ultimately, the underlying resilience of my generation.
Too often, stories that depict high school are told through dated lenses by out-of-touch adults. Authentic, relevant issues are routinely overlooked in favor of flashier, hyper-sexualized, overdramatized, "more entertaining" storylines. Being just out of high school, I had the opportunity to capture the authentic experience at close range. And so I tried my best. And I hope that the work we've created can do some good.