Little Big Master
Description
Based on the real-life story of Lillian Lui, a woman who made headlines in Hong Kong when she became the territory’s lowest-paid school headmistress, Little Big Master is at turns genuinely heartwarming and heartbreaking. Faced with a broken education system, misguided parents and a tone-deaf school board, headmistress Lui Wai-hung resigns her post at a prestigious private school. At first planning to travel the world with her (coincidentally) recently out-of-work husband, Lui sees a news report about an impoverished school that is scheduled to close and the dire plight of the six children who currently attend it. With the intention of finding new sources of education for the children, Lui agrees to a monthly salary of HK$4,500 (less than $600 USD) to run the school until its closure. But, when faced with the children’s hardscrabble lives, neglect and the stigma of poverty that follows them, Lui becomes invested in turning the school around and saving it. With just the right doses of melodrama, director Adrian Kwan presents a deeply emotional and enlightening story without sacrificing social or cultural complexity.
Adrian Kwan studied filmmaking in Canada. He returned to Hong Kong in 1992 and joined the television industry before taking part in the productions of several films, including Peter Ho Sun Chan’s He’s a Woman, She’s a Man; Who’s the Woman, Who’s the Man; Comrades: Almost a Love Story (SFIFF 1997); and Who Am I?. Because Kwon aims to spread hope and positive core values through his films, he has become known as the “Gospel Director.” Life Is a Miracle, If U Care… and The Miracle Box are some of his most well-known films.
Trailer
//www.youtube.com/embed/Wj7qLvJ6q2EFilm Details
Language Cantonese
Original Language Title 五個小孩的校長
Year 2015
Runtime 112
Country Hong Kong/China
Director Adrian Kwan
Producer Benny Chan, Alvin Lam, Stanley Tong
Writer Adrian Kwan, Hannah Chang
Editor Curran Pang
Cinematographer Anthony Pun
Music Wong Kin-wai
Cast Miriam Yeung, Louis Koo, Winnie Ho Yuen-ying
Print Source Universe Films Distribution Co., Ltd.