Distinction

Description

With his tender, socially conscious film Distinction, director Jevons Au follows three characters and illuminates an unhealthy educational system that provides little sympathy for students with mental and physical disabilities: Ms. Tsu (Jo Koo), a music teacher at a school for students with disabilities, is assigned the task of supervising an extracurricular musical production; Zoey (Jennifer Ku) is an underachiever at a high-achieving school who volunteers to help with the production so she can earn extra credit and appease her parents; Ka Ho (Kaki Sham) is a poor, rebellious student who lives with his brother with a mental disability, and has no choice but to get involved with the musical lest he be kicked out of school. Because Hong Kong’s mainstream community views musical theater as a frivolous waste of time, no one initially wants to be involved with the production. However, it ultimately gives them a renewed sense of purpose, and teaches them about potential within themselves that had previously been lying dormant. Although Au is clearly targeting people and institutions that systematically fail children with mental disabilities, Distinction also shines a light on attitudes that are detrimental to the emotional development of kids, who are encouraged to disregard passion projects in favor of achieving arbitrary standards.

More information: https://www.siff.net/festival/distinction

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