Interview by Rui Pastorin
When local filmmaker Harriet Wong Teng Teng was in her first year at university, she promised herself that she would make a film with her grandma in mind. While time would pass and she went on to pursue her career in the film industry, she did not forget about that promise, directing her first feature-length film “Revisit” that explores universal family dynamics and the beauty of intergenerational relationships.
With the Cultural Development Fund providing a grant and having also received cash support from the China Film Directors Guild, the film was released in 2024 and has since won various awards* and nominations at home and overseas. Its story is a personal one for Wong, she told the Post in a recent interview, with the work starting while gathering up old memories.
Right before the onset of the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic, Wong was able to gather up and reflect on memories made with her grandma, later working with a scriptwriter to structure a movie before pitching for funding in Macau and Beijing. “I built it [the film and its story] up based on my own feelings and my own experiences and my own struggles”, she said.
Taking around four years to make and shot between the two places, the resulting family drama follows Olivia (“Oli”), a freelancer pursuing her career in Beijing who, upon receiving a call, returns to Macau to care for her ill grandmother. “No one is ready to take care of Grandma because everyone is busy”, she said, with their time together allowing them to reconnect and strengthen their bond.
Hong Kong singer, actress and model Cherry Ngan Cheuk Ling plays the role of Oli, bringing the character to life using her acting experience to go beyond what was in the script and help find the momentum or relationship with Grandma, played by the then 81-year-old amateur actress Cheung Wai Hing in her debut role, according to Wong. Together, the actresses brought impactful performances presented on the screen.
Describing the film further, she noted: “It’s a family drama, but it also wants to discover a bit of happiness” within Oli traversing her life and career and grandma dealing with age and ailments. “Both of them try to reconnect during the time they are together. And in the end, it’s a warm and, I can say, touching movie” that has resonated with many.
While happy with its overall reception, Wong said making the film did not come without its challenges, and the biggest one for her had to do with coping with the death of her grandma. It was a difficult moment, one that she had always feared and could never have prepared for. However, creating the movie helped her heal and continue to work towards acceptance, with the end result also giving Wong what she described as an “eternal presence”, adding: “I’m such a lucky person because I do think that most of us didn’t have this process of making a movie for someone you love”.
Another challenge came when Wong had to work on the film while she was pregnant, but it was also a time that she tapped into strength that she didn’t know she had. “The power of life is so big that you know that within yourself, you can be okay, that you can be really powerful”.
When the film came to its completion, Wong, who has been involved in the film industry for nearly 11 years, pointed out how empowering it felt, being an amazing feeling while also entering a huge world that she had never thought of before. And while the resulting film is a personal one, it is also universal for being true to the situations of others. She highlighted this through audience reactions and comments she received during screenings, with some proving emotional among audiences of different ages and backgrounds, relating to the story or even bringing back their own grandma’s warmth and presence through the screen, finding them again through cinema.
Looking ahead, Wong said that she and her team may kick off a feature film and two short movies this year, but she still looks back at “Revisit” and the work she and her tight-knit crew put in to it. She particularly highlighted that after making that movie, she found her position and the content of future projects that she hopes to explore. “I have more confidence in searching for that content because I can really relate to the genre of family”, taking this topic further.
*The film has won various awards and nominations since its release, with more details in a previous interview article dated December 19, 2025 and titled “Macau filmmaker Harriet Wong’s ‘Revisit’ touches audiences, garners more awards” (https://www.macaupostdaily.com/news/26957)
Photos recently provided by Harriet Wong Teng Teng
