Ashley McKenzie on Her Romantic Second Feature ‘Queens of the Qing Dynasty’
variety.comCaitlin Quinlan Filmmaker Ashley McKenzie (“Werewolf”) returns to the Berlinale this year with her second feature, “Queens of the Qing Dynasty,” premiering in Encounters on Tuesday.
The writer-director stands out as an emerging Canadian talent, backed by the Toronto Film Critics Assn., who awarded her debut film the $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award in 2017.An impressive new offering, “Queens” showcases McKenzie’s flair for loose, floating narratives and complex characters hoping to break free from their ennui.
Protagonist Star (Sarah Walker) navigates life after a suicide attempt with the help of a special kind of babysitter, hospital volunteer An (Ziyin Zheng).
An idiosyncratic friendship blooms and Star finally begins to feel a sense of kinship in her life, supported by a vibrantly queer individual who stands apart from the beige monotony of her experiences in the outside world. Where did this story originate for you? I auditioned two teenagers for my last feature, “Werewolf,” and I didn’t end up casting them but I developed a relationship with them.
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