“The Violin Case” is set to make its premiere tomorrow at the Studio City Cinema in Cotai, marking the culmination of continued passion and years of hard work.
A one-night mini-odyssey, it marks the first theatrical feature length film of award-winning director Max Bessmertny, an NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate who has directed a variety of short films, including 12 set in Macau such as “Tricycle Thief”, “Dirty Laundry” and “The Handover”. Leading the project with him is local producer Virginia Ho Hoi Ian, who has had over 20 years of experience in producing commercials and documentaries, also marking her first film. The Post interviewed the duo earlier this week on their journey towards the coming premiere, which could be an odyssey itself.
It started with losing an artwork
The made-in-Macau indie film tells the story of an American painter named Theo who left his painted violin artwork in the back of a cab, and embarked on a desperate search in what can only be described as “the worst night of his life”.
While making for an interesting story, the movie’s plot is actually rooted in a real-life event that took place over 10 years ago, when Bessmertny’s father, veteran artist Konstantin Bessmertny, left his violin artwork in the back of a taxi in Hong Kong. An extensive search by the father and son ensued, but despite concerted efforts, it has never been found. But it laid the foundation for the film’s story, developed over two years before filming began in 2022, with Macau, 42 locations and its multicultural character, as its backdrop
Bessmertny noted that his favourite part about the film is mixing both a documentary and fictional aspect, highlighting the incident that started it all. “You can’t really get to the truth without exploring fiction. Interestingly enough, when you’re creating fiction, you have to go through documentary evidence, real life, real people. You try and figure out if a certain situation would happen. And then you exaggerate it”, he pointed out.
A question that the pair said they often get asked is what the genre of their film is. “It’s about an artist, but it’s not artsy. Is it a crime? Is it a thriller? Is it a comedy? And we’re always like, well, we’re all of the above”, being a mix of genres and an arthouse film with commercial value, Ho said.
The film’s genres aren’t the only things that are mixed, with a multicultural cast including Kelsey Wilhelm, Clara Brito, Filipe Baptista Tou, Mi Lee, and Nicole Place. Bessmertny and Ho highlighted that for this film, made during the COVID-19 pandemic, they mostly worked with non-actors, along with some brought back from Bessmertny’s previous short films, all chosen for their own unique characteristics and nuances. And while English is its main language, Portuguese and Chinese are also used, along with French and Tagalog.
Contributing to the film’s universe are Macau’s multicultural aspects including as a place that has inhabitants of different nationalities. Ho noted: “This is the universe, this is Macau that we live in. And we try very hard to translate it to cinema, not to sanitise it”, but actually present the city that the character is living in, believing in “mixing reality and imagination”.
Following the completion of the film, a private screening was then held at Galaxy Cinemas in 2023.
Overcoming challenges
The entire project was no easy task, overcoming a variety of challenges over a six-year period, including managing a tight budget and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the duo and the rest of their crew were resilient, taking on a driven, “go-getter” attitude from their 24 long night shoots to post-production in 2023 to the duo eventually finding the right platforms and decisionmakers to pitch to.
Reflecting on the project, Ho noted: “It was so much pressure on us”, especially on her and Bessmertny as they led a project that they were both experiencing for the first time, needing to have all the answers and right decisions. But Bessmertny said that it was something they willingly took on, also highlighting the bond, shared energy and driven attitude that they had with the film’s crew to push through it all. And if given the chance to do it again, both said that they would.
“No matter how hard it was and how hard it affected us emotionally and physically, it’s the best experience”, Ho said. Bessmertny added: “And it’s meant to be…The greatest decision that we made was, first of all, to shoot it. Second of all, to keep funding it, third to reconnect, and fourth to promote it and then to release it ourselves”, also emerging with key takeaways and lessons for future projects.
The “incredible support” that they received also cannot be understated, the pair pointed out, from the individual film lovers and stakeholders to venue sponsors.
“Even though it was painful, stressful and a rollercoaster for the past six years until now, we actually also got lucky”, Ho said, adding that they had help in a variety of ways: “Some financially, some just donated their time, advice and location. So we had help, also highlighting support from the Cultural Development Fund to attend film markets to promote the film and gain insight into the film industry.
Bessmertny added: “The openness, the willingness to see something rise? This is where you can tell an industry can happen because we have so many stakeholders who are interested in supporting it. And no industry runs on its own. It starts from every other industry as well because that’s cinema. It’s always working with other industries”
From Macau to the world and back
In 2025, Bessmertny and Ho went on to promote and pitch, the 90 minute, film in 10 different film markets and festivals in 12 cities around the world, a period that they described as a valuable time for networking and learning.
Markets “widen your world view”, Bessmertny said, and besides learning more about what was going on in the industry and making connections for the future, these events were also part of what helped the pair figure out how to market the film and find the right people and decision makers to approach, as well as overcome self-doubt and, at times, rejection. But it also helped them craft the film’s positioning.
Going back to the genre question that they constantly get asked, it was through meeting people from the industry and film markets that they eventually learnt to stand in the middle instead of being under a single genre. “We realised it’s also like Macau. We’re not totally Chinese, but we’re also not totally Portuguese. We’re not totally West, not totally East…We’re in the middle. We’re a mix, and maybe that’s okay”, Ho said.
Following tomorrow’s premiere, Bessmertny said the film is scheduled for a limited release at both Studio City Cinema and the Galaxy Macau Cinema starting from May 22, with more details coming soon. A trailer of the movie can be found on: https://youtu.be/74hoJ1flCbQ. Meanwhile, the film is also set to be screened overseas, starting with Lisbon on September 11.
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This photo taken last July shows award-winning director Max Bessmertny (left) and producer Virginia Ho Hoi Ian (centre) posing during the FIRST International Film Festival - Film Industry in Xining, capital of western Qinghai Province. – Photos: The Violin Case team
