"between leaving and becoming, i learned that softness is not surrender." 惜別港灣
LONGING BAYSHORE
FILM DETAILS
Title: Longing Bayshore
Duration: 29 minutes
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
Subtitles: English & Traditional Chinese
Locations: Vancouver & Hong Kong
Format: Digital HD, 16:9
Genre: Queer drama / Poetic narrative short
LONGING BAYSHORE is a poetic queer short film tracing the quiet unraveling and inner transformation of a middle-aged man who relocates from Hong Kong to Vancouver. Once defined by the rigid structures of city life and finance, he now drifts through Chinatowns, queer gatherings, and solitary moments that awaken a long-buried feminine self. This migration is not a rupture, but a silent shift—one that reveals how displacement can soften what once was hardened. Between two harbours, he begins not to flee, but to return—to a self once silenced, now quietly reclaiming its place.
《惜別港灣》是一部詩意式的酷兒短片，講述一位中年男子自香港遷往溫哥 華後，靜靜展開的內在轉化旅程。他曾活在金融與城市秩序中，如今在唐人 街與孤寂片刻裡，漸漸甦醒那個被壓抑的女性自我。這場遷徙不是斷裂，而 是一種無聲的轉向——讓曾經僵硬的身份悄然鬆動。在兩個港灣之間，他學 會的不只是離開，而是向那個柔軟卻被遺忘的自己回返。
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENTS
The film begins at a solitary party and ends with a fleeting, fated encounter. Between nostalgia and desire, it explores how genuine connection dissolves identity boundaries—gender, race, culture—revealing a quiet path toward emotional healing. Through dreams and memory, the characters undergo a subtle transformation. In each other, they find reflections of the past and directions for the future. This is not a story of escape, but of recognition. It’s about those brief, intimate moments that awaken something soft and childlike within us. Set against a shifting world, the film believes that even if we must keep moving forward, there is still meaning in the shared glances, and in the lingering hope that someone out there understands.
影片始於一場孤獨派對，終於一次命定邂逅。在鄉愁與欲望之間，角 色穿越夢境與記憶，完成蛻變與和解。他們在彼此身上看見過去，也 看見未來方向。這不是逃離的故事，而是一場關於看見與被理解的 靜謐旅程。在變動世界裡，哪怕仍需在人群中前行，仍值得相信：某 處有人懂你，與你心靈相通。
In East Asian narratives, “hometown” often evokes pastoral nostalgia—but for queer urban youth, the city is home. Longing Bayshore explores this tension: the longing for belonging within a fast-paced, masculine world, and the quiet emergence of a repressed feminine self. Rooted in yin-yang philosophy, the film reflects on imbalance—between city and village, masculinity and softness, collective and self. Set in Vancouver, the story follows a fleeting queer encounter that awakens a deeper emotional truth: that home is not a place, but where the heart rests. Co-written with Richard Chan, whose real-life journey inspired the film, this is a love letter to the displaced and the searching—those still learning to call themselves home.
在東亞語境中，「故鄉」常被視為鄉土的象徵，但對都市長大的酷兒 而言，城市即是原鄉。《惜別港灣》透過一段他鄉邂逅，映照都市中的 陰陽失衡與歸屬感迷惘。主角在溫哥華海岸尋回內在女性自我，亦 尋得心之所安。這是獻給漂泊靈魂的溫柔情書。
Bobby Pan
Orion Zhang
PRODUCER’S STATEMENT
From the humid subtropics of Hong Kong to the crisp air of Vancouver, my journey has been one of seeking belonging. In the city’s relentless pace, I often felt adrift, my queer identity muffled by expectations. LONGING BAYSHORE emerged from this tension—a cinematic exploration of displacement and the quiet yearning for connection. Through this film, I aim to illuminate the silent struggles of queer individuals navigating between cultures and selves. It’s a tribute to those who find solace not in places, but in moments of genuine understanding.
從香港的亞熱帶濕潤走入溫哥華的寒冷清新，我的旅程是一段尋找 歸屬的過程。在城市的快節奏中，我常感漂泊，酷兒身份被期待所掩 蓋。《惜別港灣》源於這種張力——對位移與連結渴望的電影探索。
透過這部作品，我希望照亮那些在文化與自我之間穿梭的酷兒個體 的無聲掙扎。這是獻給那些在真誠理解的瞬間找到慰藉的人們的致 敬。
LONGING BAYSHORE explores themes of queer tenderness, emotional displacement, and the slow reconciliation with one’s feminine self. Set between Hong Kong and Vancouver, the film navigates the emotional residue of urban migration, diasporic memory, and identity in transition. It examines how queerness unfolds not through confrontation, but through softness, dance, and silence. Through drag aesthetics, jazz rhythm, and waacking movement, the story becomes a meditation on in-betweenness—of gender, of place, of time. Drawing on East Asian slow cinema and voiceover poetry, the film is both a love letter to those who drift, and a quiet call to those still waiting to be seen.
KEY THEMES & KEYWORDS
VISUAL STYLE & AESTHETIC
Queer Tenderness
Urban Alienation (Hong Kong)
Feminine Awakening
Chinatown Nostalgia
Drag Aesthetics
Voiceover Poetry
Jazz Rhythm
East Asian Slow Cinema
CREATIVE TEAM
starring Richard Chan, Daniel Unrau, Xiaoqing Ye, Proud Channara
based on the original story by Richard Chan
directed and written by Bobby Pan & Orion Zhang produced by Richard Chan
assistant producer Anna Sreekullkorn
1st assistant director Helen Shen
2nd assistant director Charlotte Hong
scripty Theo Gardner
director of photography Bobby Pan
hk unit director of photography Orion Zhang cam op Adolfo Bermudez
1st assistant camera Allen Ge
2nd assistant camera Lucas Rivas sound mixer/boom op Emma Shang
gaffer Anton Hing
key grip Aryan Kurungode
grip Yushi Hirao
production designer Orion Zhang
art director Melrose Yan
art assistant Kat Zheng, Selyna Deng, Xixi
art director & graphic designer Ebenezer Somado
hmua Yelyn Yu
wardrobe artist Heather Wan
bts Cherry Chan, Warren Tang
intimacy coordinator Brianne Aryn
CONTACT
Richard Chan, Producer
Email: yuichanrc@gmail.com
Social media:IG - @rcrrichie / @longingbayshore Website: longingbayshore.com
