Want China Times, CNA 2014-01-01
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| Director of Baby Steps Barney Cheng, right, with Kuei Ya-lei and Patrick Lee at a press conference in Taipei, Dec. 30. (Photo/Lu Wei-chi) |
The
Taiwanese-American director of Baby Steps, a Taiwan-US produced film that is
currently being shot in Taiwan, said Monday that he hoped his film would
promote more acceptance of gay and lesbian families.
"I
want audiences all over the world to understand that love and family come in
many different ways. This movie is about a new kind of family," Barney
Cheng told CNA on the sidelines of a press conference in Taipei.
Written,
directed and acted in by Cheng, Baby Steps is about a gay couple living in the
United States who want to get married and raise their own child through a
surrogate mother.
The
Taiwanese mother of the character played by Cheng struggles, however, to accept
her son's sexuality due to her traditional upbringing.
The
comedy-drama stars veteran Taiwanese actress Kuei Ya-lei as the mother and
Cheng and American actor Michael Adam Hamilton as the couple.
The film is
being produced by Taiwan's Hsu Li-kong and Lan Ta-peng and Britain's Stephen
Israel and has received funding from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture.
"I
hope this movie will entertain the audience as well as make this world a better
place for everybody," said the 42-year-old director. "I want to
inspire more gay people to come out," Cheng said, adding "I want to
inspire more acceptance and celebration of different families."
He said
that he also hopes to let the world know that Taiwan is a "very open-minded"
place. "I think Taiwan is the only country in the world that is able to
take the risk to make this movie," Cheng said.
Baby Steps
is Cheng's first feature film. He had previously starred in Woody Allen's
Hollywood Ending.
As for his
view of the recent same-sex marriage debate in Taiwan, Cheng said he was happy
that people are having the discussion. "I would love for this movie to
lead to more discussion because I think people should talk about it."
To better
portray her character, actress Kuei Ya-lei said she met with the woman who
inspired the character — Cheng's mother — and listened to her talk about her
struggles coming to terms with her son's sexuality.
"Although
it is a very difficult role to play, I love it," said Kuei, who had played
a similar role in Ang Lee's 1993 award-winning film The Wedding Banquet. She
also starred as a mother in the 1993 film, which is about a gay
Taiwanese-American man who marries a woman to please his parents.
Cheng told
reporters that if The Wedding Banquet is about a son's coming out story, then
his film is about "a mother's 'coming out.'"
"The
son wants to stand in the sunlight, but the mother is hiding in the closet and
afraid to come out," the director said.
Hamilton,
meanwhile, said the film is about accepting differences.
"Different
doesn't mean bad. Different doesn't mean we should get rid of it. As a people,
as a world, we need to realize that we need to accept the difference, to
understand other people, to really make an effort to see what are they going
through," he said.
Producer
Hsu Li-kong said he decided to produce the film because he was moved by the
script and the passion of the director. "I hope they (gay people) can live
in the sunlight and pursue happiness and basic human rights like us," Hsu
said.
The film,
with a production cost of around US$2 million, will be shot in Taiwan and Los
Angeles. It is expected to hit theaters in 2015.
Also
attending the press conference Monday were actress Yvette Mercedes, who plays
Cheng's friend, and Taiwanese actor Patrick Lee, who stars as Cheng's brother.
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