Feng Xia, a Chinese immigrant and mother living in Montréal, lives a life shaped by duty: to her family, her culture, and a loveless marriage. But when she meets Camille, a spirited young Québécoise, long-buried desires are awakened. In the balmy Montréal summer, Feng Xia takes the radical step of choosing herself, embarking on a journey of forbidden love and overdue self-discovery. In one of the boldest turns in her career, screen icon Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks, Saving Face) delivers a haunting performance as a woman whose awakening leads to a profound reckoning with identity, exile, and the cost of liberation. A landmark in queer Asian diaspora cinema, Montréal, Ma Belle explores the paradoxes at the heart of immigrant life.
Festival 2026
Montreal, My Beautiful (Montréal, Ma Belle)
Canada, 2025
Directed by
Xiaodan He
Xiaodan He
Running time
118 mins
118 mins
Tickets
21 May 2026, 8:30 PM
Past Event
Rich Mix
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Director Bio
Xiaodan He is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker. Born and raised in China, she graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, before moving to Montreal, Quebec, in 2002. She directed a number of short films, prior to releasing her debut feature A Touch Of Spring in 2017. The film premiered at the 2017 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, and was screened at other film festivals including the 2017 Festival du nouveau cinéma and the Asian American International Film Festival, prior to going into commercial release in 2018. Her second feature film, Montreal, My Beautiful (2025), premiered at the 2025 Festival du nouveau cinéma and was selected at SODEC.