Distinction

Description

Ambitiously tackling the frailties of the Hong Kong educational system, Jevons Au’s moving and nuanced drama depicts the attempt of a special needs school to collaborate with students from other schools to put on a musical. Using a diverse array of characters and a storyline based on true events, Distinction demonstrates how separating kids with disabilities leads to stigmatization and ignorance while institutions designated for high-performing kids can sometimes neglect those students’ interests in artistic pursuits. 

“Au has quickly proven himself a keen observer of human nature, less a technician and more an emotional storyteller, and it serves him well here. His most obvious targets are the people and institutions that are failing kids with mental handicaps, but he’s just as interested in turning his camera on the attitudes and institutions that are stifling so-called normal kids, and failing them in other ways.” —Elizabeth Kerr, The Hollywood Reporter

Film Details