Cleopatra Kavannagh

"It is with great joy that I announce the re-release Teenage Dirtbag, Director’s Cut, in remastered cinematic quality. For years the film has not been available to stream anywhere, but has lived on in DVD rewatches and in the hearts of the fans. As the writer and director, I am excited to reintroduce the film to the world.

It’s been a long road to get here. Mine is a common story of the-filmmaker-got-screwed by the industry. Especially common for women directors, who at the time made up about 2% of all films. (That has now improved to about a whopping 5% of all films. 😑)

Anyway, the short story is: after the film got picked up by a distributor, they never paid me a cent. Even so, I was immensely proud of the wildfire of emotional response to the film. I was a first-time director, and we made it on a tiny budget with unknown actors.

We didn’t even get distribution outside of the US, but somehow the fans found it. I got messages from people in other countries who tattooed poems from the film onto their bodies. I was floored, shocked and humbled… I am still humbled to this day.

After a decade of no control, it came time for the rights to revert back to me. The distributor wanted to keep it, and I had to fight to have my film back. Once I had it, I cried. But I also wanted to do everything I could to return the film to its loyal audience with the most care possible. I started by re-editing the film to bring the best performances forward.

As I could afford it, I worked with talented people who were able to use modern technology to fix some of our low budget sound issues. And with tools today, we were able to deliver better color and picture as well. The result is the Director’s Cut of Teenage Dirtbag.

Don’t worry. It’s still the same gritty indie film, but dusted off and given the proper love it deserves. I did this for you, the fans, who have inspired me to continue writing and directing, even when it feels impossible. This is my love letter and thank you…. Teenage Dirtbag now belongs to all of you!

Available globally on Amazon Prime, Relay, Plex and more platforms soon."

I've already waxed on about how much I love Director Zeng Qingjie's work and his use of the "feminine gaze" so I won't repeat myself too much but dammit the way he portrays desire (especially women’s desire) and does so this skillfully with barely a word of dialogue is unmatched.

Just look at the cinematography:

It's the architectural framing of the curtains and the soft backlighting to emphasize the intimacy of the characters being "alone" as husband and wife for the first time. It's the gradual tightening of each shot to capture the characters' growing physical awareness of one another. It's the play of power with her more physically dominant in the frame while he guides her movements verbally. It's the impressionistic use of a handheld camera and the fluid rack focus on the eyes to mimic the intoxication of their almost-but-not-quite kiss.

And don't forget Zeng's strategic insert of a close-up:

Look at how the lighting reveals the texture of the clothes she's taking off him! And the blanket he hugs to bring her closer! And the goosebumps that appear on his skin when she washes him! All that suggestive wetness.

(Side Note: Hilariously, Tumblr marked those particular images of the blanket and goosebumps as needing a content label so I had to remove them.)

There's a certain haziness to the scene but where they touch is still in focus--there's sensuality in the tactile.

Director Zeng, please make at least 1-2 romance dramas a year and show these other directors how it's done.

@pscentral event 36: TRIOS