ACF 1560: Romantic comedy SHANGHAI CALLING to play at two New York area film festivals

Shanghai Calling

Directed by Daniel Hsia

USA/China, 2012, 100 minutes

 

A modern day romantic comedy set between two cities, New York & Shanghai, is about to descend upon New York City and Long Island.  SHANGHAI CALLING  will be playing the Stony Brook Film Festival on Saturday, July 21^st at 7:00pm followed by the opening night premiere at the Asian American International Film Festival on Wednesday, July 25^th at 7:00pm. This New York City premiere will be at Asia Society and will include a Q&A with the director and producer and a gala reception to follow. There will be an encore NYC screening, also with a Q&A featuring the director and producer, on July 28, 2012 at 5:15pm at the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas.

From first-time feature Director Daniel Hsia and produced by Janet Yang (The People vs. Larry Flint), comes this new age romantic comedy filled with stellar performances by Daniel Henney (“X Men Origins: Wolverine”), Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings) , Bill Paxton (“Big Love”), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), and rising star Zhu Zhu.

SHANGHAI CALLING tells the story of Sam Chao (Daniel Henney), an up-and-coming Manhattan attorney angling for partnership, who is dispatched by his bosses to Shanghai to open the firm’s new satellite office there. If Sam completes the three-month assignment, they will give him the promotion he’s been dreaming about.

But Sam may not be suited for life in China. His first day in Shanghai, he humiliates Amanda (Eliza Coupe), the lovely relocation specialist hired to smooth his way into the expat community, browbeats Fang Fang (Zhu Zhu), his hyper-capable office assistant, and insults everyone he meets with his refusal to adapt to local customs.

When his insistence on doing things his way costs an important client a potential billion-dollar deal, Sam must rely on the very people he has alienated to fix his blunders and save his job. As he painfully learns to temper his take-no-prisoners style, Sam slowly discovers a new way of looking at the world—and at Amanda.