‘We need to be hopeful’: Hong Kong queer director Scud, renowned for his sexually explicit art-house movies, on leaving filmmaking
- Danny Cheng, better known as Scud, has been making films for 16 years and has decided to stop after his 10th – Naked Nations: Hong Kong Tribe
- Scud is known for sexually explicit films depicting drug use, death and depression, and is a pioneer of Asian queer cinema
Renowned queer filmmaker Danny Cheng Wan-cheung may be leaving Hong Kong and even stepping back from making films, but he is not too sad about it.
Resting on an armchair in the music lounge of Eaton HK in Jordan, Cheng, who goes by his artist name Scud, is still energetic, even after hours of media interviews. He is promoting the mini retrospective of his films by the Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (HKLGFF), of which he is this year’s “Director in Focus”.
Dressed in a blue blazer and white canvas shoes, he jokes about his growing belly and how much he has aged since he started making movies 16 years ago.
Cheng’s greying hair peeks out from underneath a bed of permed and dyed black curls, as part of his character’s look in his upcoming film Naked Nations: Hong Kong Tribe, which will also be his final feature.
With his jolly laughter and quirky sense of humour, it might be jarring for the uninitiated to learn that Cheng’s films predominantly deal with topics of death, drugs and depression. The director also does not at all shy away from full-frontal nudity, graphic imagery and same-sex eroticism.