A LOVE LETTER TO CHINATOWN’S MUSICAL ROOTS
The Prop Master’s Dream is the first documentary to spotlight Cantonese Opera in North America from within, offering an intimate portrait of artistic devotion, cultural memory, and the enduring power of storytelling. A masterful blend of song, dance, martial arts, mime, and intricate costuming set to live music, the opera is simply magical—and worth fighting for. If we lose it, we lose a part of our community’s soul.
Synopsis:
The Prop Master’s Dream follows Rosa Cheng, a fearless artist determined to revive Cantonese Opera.Her boldest creation pays tribute to Wah-Kwan Gwan(1929–2000), a legendary prop master of Chinese and Indigenous heritage who was raised in Guangdong. Though little known outside the Chinese community, he was deeply revered within it. To honour his legacy, Rosa assembles a team of young artists to blend Cantonese melodies with jazz, blues, and Indigenous rhythms. Against the backdrop of a fading Chinatown and the urgency to save a vanishing art form, Rosa puts everything on the line to bring this dream to life.
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April Liu is an independent filmmaker, curator, and cultural programmer passionate about Chinese Canadian stories. She authored Divine Threads, a major study of Cantonese Opera in Canada, and advises on programming and development at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in Vancouver, BC. Her media projects have appeared on CBC Gem, CBC Arts, and international platforms. Credits include My Father’s Family (producer), A Pregnant Woman (associate producer), A-Yi (cultural advisor), and Chemical Consent (producer, forthcoming).
more here: https://april-liu.com/
The Prop Master's Dream 