Hsia Moon is an embodiment of allure and wisdom. Aptly dubbed the ‘Peerless Beauty', she was discovered and signed by Great Wall at the age of 17 and shot to fame with her debut role in A Night-Time Wife (1952), enjoying a meteoric rise and a stellar career spanning 41 films over 17 years.

Born Yang Meng in Shanghai in 1933, she moved with her family to Hong Kong in 1947 where she attended Maryknoll Convent School. Hsia was married when young, at age 21, to Lin Baocheng, a businessman, and the couple had two daughters and a son. Five decades have passed since her last screen appearance in 1967. Held on the occasion marking the 65th anniversary of the ‘Crown Princess of Great Wall' on the silver screen, this retrospective celebrates an icon not only of beauty but of cinematic glamour and charm befitting her screen name – a summer dream.

Credited as the muse of directorial heavyweights, including Griffin Yue Feng, Yuen Yang-an, Li Pingqian and Zhu Shilin, Hsia's rise to stardom was nothing short of an ethereal voyage. Whether playing an ancient beauty or a modern city girl, she imbued her characters with a beguiling blend of cool assurance, regal poise and stately sophistication, channelling her sensuality into an ancient belle, a Malayan girl in sarong, a graceful mistress and a mesmeric social butterfly, living in their skin and inhabiting them.

A talented dancer with tremendous flair in costume roles, Hsia took after her Peking opera- loving parents and developed a passion for xiqu. To prepare for her role in the Yue opera films, The Princess Falls in Love (1962) and My Darling Princess (1964), she even enrolled at the Shanghai Yue Opera Theatre and received dramatic training in postures, poses and other stage manoeuvres for months.

In 1978, Hsia closed her garment factory after ten years in business, which afforded her the time to establish Bluebird Movie Enterprises Ltd. Installed herself as producer, she released Boat People (1982) and Homecoming (1984), among other crowd-pleasing hits.

Made possible by the generous support of Sil-Metropole Organisation and South China Film Industry Workers Union, ‘‘Hsia Moon: Princess of an Era'' presents a fine selection of 13 films featuring Hsia on either side of the camera, promising a mesmerising summer reverie for cinephiles to indulge in!

In collaboration with: Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd. & South China Film Industry Workers Union