For Macau Stories 3 – City Maze, local director Doug Kin-tak Chan presents The Roar of a Mother Bear depicting the story of a mother’s investigation into her 18-year-old daughter’s murder.
In the beginning of the film, a young boy is kidnapped and soon develops a friendship with the kidnapper’s daughter. Eventually he is released and eleven years later, the girl, now grown up, is about to get married, but before her wedding, she is murdered. Her mother Bela attempts to find out why, and while she believes the murder may somehow be in revenge for the kidnapping, Bela treats the boy well, even helping him to get an ID card in 1990. The story touches on the issue of immigration by setting the tale alongside historical events in Macau when the government granted illegal immigrants ID cards. Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding the murder and the mother is unveiled.
Initially the director planned to film a revenge story, but he changed his mind after one of the actresses shared a disturbing and touching story of a mother bear killing a baby bear after the daily painful suffering of her bile being extracted. She reportedly made a loud roar before killing the baby bear.
Doug says that he received tremendous support from CUT in terms of funds and manpower.
“With its reputation as a mature and committed filmmaking association, CUT was able to attract a lot of passionate and skilled people to assist with the production,” he notes.
Reflecting on the changes in Macau’s filmmaking industry over the years, Doug compares the production process of his award-winning local film Love is Not a Sin (2002) to his most recent work. While filming Love, Doug worked with five actresses and a photographer. He had to look after and follow all aspects of the production on his own.
“Today there are more enthusiastic film crews around but full-time crews are in great demand, so I hope the government will be able to grant more funds to support full-time film crews,” he says.