Skip to main content
Queens of the Qing Dynasty film image, director Ashley McKenzie

Queens of the Qing Dynasty

This event has passed

Recovering from a suicide attempt in a Cape Breton hospital, Star (Sarah Walker), a neurodiverse teen, is drawn into the orbit of An (Ziyin Zheng), a genderqueer volunteer. Despite their disparate backgrounds (An has recently arrived from Shanghai), the pair operate on identical idiosyncratic frequencies, fortifying their bond through a flurry of text messages and unguarded declarations. After disclosing her aspiration of becoming a trophy wife to An, Star incants, “You’re sinning… making me evil.”

In reality, there’s nothing sinister afoot in Ashley McKenzie’s (Werewolf, 2016) extraordinary sophomore feature. Rather, it’s a disarmingly open-hearted, formally exhilarating ode to a fairy tale friendship. A heady mix of unvarnished-yet-eloquent dialogue, transportive electronic compositions by Yu Su and Cecile Believe, and visual flourishes that meld social media, animation, and VR, the film sees McKenzie adhering to her social realist principles while exploring a more expansive, sensorially rich brand of cinema. Unfolding in society’s margins, Queens of the Qing Dynasty burns as incandescently as its two stars.

 

Q&A Oct 5 & Oct 7

Director
Cast

Sarah Walker, Ziyin Zheng, Wendy Wishart, Jana Reddick, Yao Xue, Cherlena Brake

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022

Language

In English, Mandarin, and Russian with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
Content Warning

Self Harm

18+
122 min
Drama Experimental & Avant Garde LGBTQIA2S+ Romance Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Ghost Elephants

Dir. Werner Herzog
99 min

Everyone's favourite German adventurer, Werner Herzog goes on the hunt for the largest land mammal on the planet, the fabled "ghost elephant" of the Angolan highlands -- that may, or may not, exist.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Things You Kill

Dir. Alireza Khatami
113 min

Thirty-something professor Ali leads an apparently stable life. But when his ailing mother dies under ambiguous circumstances, he starts to unravel, resulting in an act that shatters our understanding of his person.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Miroirs No. 3

Dir. Christian Petzold
86 min

Following a car crash that kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is physically unhurt but emotionally distraught. A local woman takes her in, but she gradually realizes she's in the midst of an eerie, mysterious family situation.

Image: © Schramm Film A4 Kopie

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Analogue Revolution: How Feminist Media Changed the World

Dir. Marusya Bociurkiw
94 min

Bonnie Thompson, Bonnie Sherr Klein, Moira Simpson, Zainub Verjee, Judy Rebick are among the Canadian feminist creatives who recount tales from the trenches, the gory glory days of 1970s, 80s and 90s, before the internet changed everything.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Montreal, ma belle

Dir. Xiaodan He
118 min

In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes

Dir. Jenn Strom
82 min

A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Producer

Ashley McKenzie, Britt Kerr, Nelson MacDonald

Screenwriter

Ashley McKenzie

Cinematography

Scott Moore

Editor

Ashley McKenzie, Scott Moore

Production Design

Michael Pierson

Original Music

Yu Su, Cecile Believe

Director

Ashley McKenzie headshot, Queens of the Qing Dynasty director

Ashley McKenzie

Ashley McKenzie (she/they) is a filmmaker based in Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island). Her debut feature Werewolf (2016) won the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association in 2017. Film Comment called Werewolf “an austere, marvelously focused debut feature,” while The New Yorker named it to their Best Movies of 2018 list. Ashley’s films have screened at the Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, and Sydney Film Festival, and have been curated by the Criterion Channel, MUBI, and Anthology Film Archives.

Filmography: Werewolf (2016)