“Shadow Magic” director Ann Hu has tapped Amy Irving (“Alias”), Helen Slater (“Supergirl”), Zhu Zhu (“Marco Polo”), and newcomer Harmonie Zhu to star in her next film, “Confetti.” According to a press release, the U.S./Chinese co-production is the story of a mother and daughter who suffer from the same learning disability. Principal photography has already kicked off in New York City and will move to China early next year.
Seven-year-old Meimei Chen (Harmonie Zhu) “is considered a strange and dumb girl, an outcast in her school and community. What no one recognizes, however, is that Meimei possesses a gift waiting to be unlocked,” the press release summarizes. “When her mother, Lan (Zhu Zhu), the wife of a Chinese tailor, learns that Meimei suffers the same learning disability as she does, she will stop at nothing to reverse her daughter’s fate, even if it takes her to the other side of the world and New York City.”
The Oscar-nominated Irving will take on the role of Helen, Meimei and Lan’s host in the United States. Slater will play an administrator at Meimei’s school.
Jagman Productions’ Josh Green and Dragon Films’ Zhuo Shun Guo are producing “Confetti.” Han Sanping, Hu’s frequent collaborator, will serve as exec producer.
Hu made her directorial debut with “Shadow Magic,” a story about a couple who fall in love as they learn to make films in 1902 Beijing. The film won the Chinese Academy Award as well as the Presidential Award in China for Best Film. Hu’s follow-up film, the 1948-set “Beauty Remains,” is about two sisters who fall for the same man.
