Front Cover

Front Cover is a 2015 American drama romance film written and directed by Ray Yeung. The story follows Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American fashion stylist (Jake Choi), who rejects his ethnic heritage, who is assigned to style Ning (James Chen), an ostensibly heterosexual patriotic actor from Beijing. Front Cover received mostly positive critical reception and received awards from festivals such as San Diego Outfest, Boston Asian American Film Festival, and Outflix Film Festival.[1]

Front Cover
Directed byRay Yeung
Screenplay byRay Yeung
Produced byKaer Vanice, Chowee Leow, Stan Guingon
StarringJake Choi, James Chen, Elizabeth Sung, Jennifer Neals Page, Sonia Villani, Li Jun Li, Ming Lee, Benjamin Thys, Tom Ligon
CinematographyEun-ah Lee
Edited byJoseph Gutowski
Music byPaul Turner, Darren Morze, Chad Mica, Nick Christian
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Release date
  • May 28, 2015 (2015-05-28) (Seattle International Film Festival)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States

Plot

Front Cover tells the story of Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American who rejects his Asian heritage and has learned to suppress it to climb up the social ladder. Through talent and hard work he attains his dream job as an assistant to Francesca, a celebrity fashion stylist. One day Francesca assigns Ryan to style Ning, an actor who has just arrived from Beijing, for a top magazine photo shoot. Ning dismisses Ryan's initial Western styling and demands Ryan create an image for him that represents the power of the new China. Their opinions clash, resulting in a strained working relationship.

Over the following days, they socialize while working together and discover not only do they have a lot in common, a mutual attraction begins to develop. As they get closer, Ryan reveals that he detests his Chinese heritage because he is ashamed of his impoverished upbringing. Ning also opens up and confesses that he is closeted. As they fall in love, a Chinese tabloid magazine exposes Ning as gay. Terrified of the impact it will have on his career, Ning begs Ryan to lie for him at a press conference. Ryan must now decide whether to help Ning or stay true to himself.[2]

Cast

Release

Front Cover premiered in 2015 at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Strand Releasing[3] and Edko Films Ltd.[4] acquired USA and Hong Kong distribution rights. It was released in the US in August 2016 and in Hong Kong in October 2016.

Reception

Front Cover holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com described it as, "A skillfully written and acted gay love story about two young men of Chinese ancestry...The transition from distrust to wary friendship to something more passionate in a movie like this depends a lot on the writing, and Yeung’s is subtle and assured, tracing an emotional arc that’s believably nuanced."[6] Robyn Bahr of the Village Voice described it as a "sexy, ambitious queer rom-com(ish) drama."[7] Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed the movie for the New York Times, calling it "sensitive, decorous and buffed by Eun-ah Lee’s warm photography."[8]

Accolades

Awards
  • Best Screenplay, FilmOut San Diego Film Festival, 2016[9]
  • Jury Award Best Domestic Feature, Outflix Film Festival Memphis, 2016[10]
  • Audience Award for Best Narrative Film, Boston Asian American Film Festival, 2016[11]
  • Best Full Feature, Serile Filmului Gay International Film Festival Romania, 2016[12]
  • Best Actor (James Chen), Australia Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival, 2017[13]

Nominations

References
  1. "FRONT COVER WILL COMPETE AT THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  2. Cheshire, Godfrey. "Front Cover movie review & film summary (2016)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  3. "TIFF: Ray Yeung's 'Front Cover' Goes to Strand Releasing". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  4. Frater, Patrick (2015-10-03). "Busan: Edko Films Snags 'Cover' Rights". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  5. Front Cover (2016), retrieved 2019-11-07
  6. Cheshire, Godfrey. "Front Cover movie review & film summary (2016) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  7. "Queer Rom-Com(ish) Drama 'Front Cover' Is an Ambitious Breakthrough". The Village Voice. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  8. Catsoulis, Jeannette (2016-08-04). "Review: In 'Front Cover,' Struggling for Self-Acceptance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  9. "FilmOut San Diego Sponsors". filmoutsandiego.com. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  10. OUTMemphis (2016-09-16). "Outflix 2016 Award Winners!". OUTMemphis. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  11. "Boston Asian American Film Festival (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  12. "Serile Filmului Gay International Film Festival, Romania (2016)". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  13. "Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival 2017". Concrete Playground. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  14. "SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AUDIENCE & COMPETITION AWARDS". siff.net. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
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