Ping Pong

Directed by Leong Po-Chih
Starring David Yip, Lucy Sheen, Robert Lee

This stylish and inventive warm comedy thriller, also the first British-Chinese feature film, stars Lucy Sheen as Elaine tasked with executing the will of Sam Wong, a Chinese businessman who has died in mysterious circumstances.

Join lead actress Lucy Sheen (Secrets & Lies) for this landmark bittersweet comedy thriller about family ties and cultural identity. The first British film to be shot extensively in London’s iconic Chinatown, it follows young law clerk Elaine Choi (a superb debut performance by Sheen) as she attempts to execute the will of Sam Wong, a Chinese businessman who has died in mysterious circumstances. Whilst each member of Wong’s family has much to gain, the will sets out a number of conditions they must first meet.

Defying cultural clichés, director Po-Chih Leong focuses on how these characters are caught between a remembered Chinese identity and a contemporary Britain that they are struggling to fit into. Produced on a tiny budget of £650,000 by Picture Palace Productions and Film Four International, this stylish, inventive and witty film marked a return to the UK for British-born but by then Hong Kong-based filmmaker Po-Chih Leong. Today, Ping Pong is seen as something of a milestone as the first British Chinese film, yet after its debut at the 1986 Venice Film Festival it became increasingly difficult to see. Recently that has changed, and we can now see it on the big screen again, taking its place as a key work of 1980s British cinema.

With thanks to Park Circus and Channel 4.

Cinema Rediscovered On Tour is a Watershed project in collaboration with principal sponsors Park Circus and StudioCanal. With Support from BFI Audience Projects Fund awarding National Lottery funding.