The first of 7 director interviews Wilson conducted at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Mary Stephen is a legend in world cinema, having worked as an editor for Éric Rohmer and Ann Hui, and being a celebrated film director in her own right. Wilson chats with Mary about her latest film, the personal documentary PALIMPSEST: THE STORY OF A NAME — its twisty narrative structure, its relationship to memory and family, and her deep ties to the city of Hong Kong. They also dig into her remarkable career as an editor, from switching between film and digital, to her creative collaborations with Rohmer, Ann Hui, and Jessey Tsang, and what she carries from that work into her own filmmaking.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
03:08 Mary presenting her film to Hong Kong audiences
05:03 Palimpsest's twisty narrative
07:04 How being an editor influenced her filmmaking
08:25 Narration and narrative in the film
10:27 Unused archive footage
12:27 Mary's relationship with her family
15:11 Mary’s relationship with Hong Kong
17:33 Editing: Switching from film to digital
19:20 Working with Eric Rohmer
30:13 Collaborations with Ann Hui and Jessey Tsang
35:41 Working with collaborators as a director herself
38:43 Closing
