I walked into the screening for
The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World not sure what to expect. It was an entertaining look at West Lake; a restaurant and banquet hall in Hunan Province, China. Director
Weijun Chen introduces us to the owner Mrs. Qin Linzi, members of her staff and customers who come to West Lake for wedding and birthday banquets among other special occasions.The film is colourful, lively and the sounds are vivid with the hustle and bustle that take place at West Lake. Editor Jean Tsien has done a great job considering she did not meet with the director nor the producer, as she shared during the Q&A. She received a hard-drive and just went ahead and edited it as she saw fit. The result is a film that juxtaposes West Lake's lavish banquets -- enjoyed by China's middle-class -- and the lives of those who work there; many of whom are alone in the city and come from very humble families. When asked what her challenges were as an editor in trying to make this a mareketable film, Tsien said she treats every film as a new project. The editing is "like cooking." For her, the market is the audience.
One of the producers was in attendance and was able to tell us that the film will be shown in the UK as a four-art series by BBC. Sundance is also trying to do something to release it in this part of the world. In the meantime, you can sample some of West Lake's amazing banquets one last time on Sat, Sept 13th at 9:15 AM.
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