Critical Biography Filmography Reviews Links
Lai, Yan-chi Mo – Critical Biography Top
Mo Lai Yan-Chi studied at Hong Kong Baptist University’s Department of Cinema and Television. She is a multimedia performer and has been involved in theater from her university days. She has served as actress, playwright, producer, and director, frequently within the context of her work with the independent theatre company, FM Theatre Power. Lai also has several solo theatrical performances (e.g., her play Women in Red, which ran at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in 2014) to her credit. Her theatrical work has won Lai many critical accolades, as well as leading to numerous opportunities for cultural exchanges abroad, including visits to observe the development of local theatre in India and Bangladesh, and studies with the San Francisco Mime Troupe sponsored by the Asian People’s Theatre Festival Society. Lai has also received a scholarship to pursue graduate studies abroad, and she graduated from the master’s program in theatre at Leeds University in 2010. She was also appointed by West Kowloon District Authority and Hong Kong Arts Development Council to conduct research on performance in public spaces in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and London.
Aside from her work in the theatre, Lai has also been a filmmaker from the beginning. In 2004, she made the documentary Sex House (2004), on which she served as screenwriter, director, cinematographer, gaffer, sound recordist, as well as film editor. The short was part of the 12th IFVA Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Festival, where it became one of the works recommended by the jury. Lai’s most recent works are the short 1 + 1 (2010) and the follow-up feature N + N (2012). As a child, the Hong Kong-born Lai was sent to live in a village in mainland China, where she was taken care of by an elderly relative. Her childhood experiences helped her to make 1 + 1, a response to the Hong Kong government’s decision to evict Choi Yuen Village in order to allow for the development of the Hong Kong Express Rail Link. The film focuses on the relationship between a young girl and her grandfather, and the effect that the eviction of Choi Yuen village has on their lives. It played at the Broadway Cinematheque for nearly five months, and was a critical and popular success that led to the feature N + N – an extension and elaboration on the short’s narrative that also starred social activist and local theater veteran Augustine Mok Chiu-Yu (whose other film appearances include documentations of his street theater performances in Ann Hui’s Ordinary Heroes [1999] and in Evans Chan’s The Life and Times of Wu Zhong Xian [2004]). N + N made its debut at the 2012 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival. It played at the Broadway Cinematheque for nearly one year, was entered into almost 30 international film festivals and won eight grand awards. Lai has received numerous awards, including the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Award for Young Artist (Film) and the Chang Kuo-sin Award for Aspiring Young Communicators. She is also a Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection awardee and the Hong Kong Spirit Ambassador.
Filmography Top
Feature Films:
| Role | Title (English) | Title (Chinese) | Year |
| Director | N+N (Trailer) | N+N | 2012 |
| Director Writer | Not only Long Hair, Not only Ernesto Che Guevara | 不是長毛 不是切古華拉 (Trailer) | 2004 |
Shorts:
| Role | Title (English) | Title (Chinese) | Year |
| Director | Think Different | N/A | 2016 |
| Director | Water Saves, Save Water (Trailer) | 集腋成裘 | 2012 |
| Director | Lost In Toilet | 迷失廁格 (Full movie) | 2012 |
| Director Writer | 1+1 (Trailer) | 1+1 | 2010 |
| Director Writer Editor | Sex House | 馬檻 | 2004 |
| Director Writer Editor | Dummy Teacher | 笨蛋老師 | 2004 |
| Director | N/A | 信望愛 (Full movie) | N/A |
| Director | Mommy, Mama and us | 媽媽, 媽咪 與我們 (Full movie) | N/A |
Reviews Top
N+N (2012):
Hong Kong Film Critics Society (In Chinese) – 當理想碰觸現實──看賴恩慈的《N+N》
Inmedia HK (In Chinese) – 淺析《N+N》：人與物的N個信念
The Hong Kong Economic Journal (In Chinese) – 新銳導演賴恩慈 本土主義強化再強化
1+1 (2010):
EastAsia (In French) – ENTRETIEN AVEC LAI YAN-CHI ET VICKY WONG – RÉALISATEURS DE LA FRESH WAVE (PARIS CINÉMA)
Festival Paris Cinema (In French) – PLACE À LA JEUNE GÉNÉRATION HONGKONGAISE !
Not only Long Hair, Not only Ernesto Che Guevara (2004):
SCMP – Not only revolutionaries, not just film
Others:
HK Magazine – Mo Lai Yan-chi
Time Out Hong Kong – Mo Lai Yan-chi
RTHK – Mo Lai Yan Chi: Woman in Red
Varsity – A Rehearsal of Life
Links Top
Facebook Fan page of Lai Yan-chi Mo: https://www.facebook.com/Molaiart
Mo Production: http://www.fmtp.net/moproductions
Youtube channel of Film & mliF: https://www.youtube.com/FilmNmlif
FM Theatre Power: http://www.fmtp.net/
Hong Kong Women Filmmakers 
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