Mike Figgis Directing Josie Ho’s ‘Mother Tongue’ in Hong Kong

“Mother Tongue,” a suspense thriller directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas,” “Internal Affairs”) starts shooting in Hong Kong this week. It stars and is produced by actor-singer-producer Josie Ho (“Contagion,” “Lucky Day”).

Figgis and Ho will hold a start-of production ceremony Wednesday at Hong Kong’s Shaw Studios. Production is expected to last until April with the completed film having set a tentative release schedule in January 2022.

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Ho plays two characters. The first is an award-winning actress who is involved in a relationship with a younger woman played by Minami (“Battle Royale”) while in search of her long lost daughter, behind her partner’s back. She also plays the actress’s bitter sister.

Bruce Wagner (“Maps to the Stars,” “Wild Palms”) penned the script and Ho is producing the film together with Conroy Chan, with whom she co-founded film entertainment 852 Films. “Mother Tongue” also stars Julian Sands (“A Room With A View”), Elaine Jin (“Mad World”) and Canon Nawata (“Love Dart”).

Ho has also recently appeared in American drama “Habit,” the directorial debut of Janell Shirtcliff to be released this year, and period epic “Rajah,” in which she plays the lover of British adventurer Sir James Brooke (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Ho and 852 Films are also working with “American History X” director Tony Kaye on musical documentary feature “The Hong Kong Sound” and two projects with Luc Besson (“Leon: The Professional,” “Lucy”).

The daughter of the late Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, Ho has shown considerable entrepreneurial flair and activities across the entertainment industry. 852 Films – the number is a reference to the international dialing code for Hong Kong – was established in 2007 with Chan and talent manager and producer Andrew Ooi.

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