Producer Mil Alcain and Writer/Director Hao Zheng Team Up for 'New Year's Eve'

Mil Alcain, producer of the recent film "Capsule," is producing writer/director Hao Zheng's upcoming film "New Year's Eve," (Publicity photo).

LOS ANGELES – Film producer Mil Alcain and writer/director Hao Zheng (“The Chef”) explore the unique relationship between an Chinese boy and his family in the recently completed coming of age film “New Year’s Eve.”

Set in a village in Gansu, China, the film tells the story of a 19-year-old boy who returns home from kung fu school to celebrate Chinese New Year. But he is forced to deal with the consequences of going against his mother’s wishes by attending the martial arts academy. The film stars newcomer Qi Su, Grace Chang (“The Joy Luck Club”) and Leann Lei (“Tales from the Loop”).

“The whole process of making this movie was pretty memorable and involved many challenges,” Alcain said. “We were originally scheduled to film in February. Our story changed to be completely set in China so we needed an all-Chinese cast and since Chinese New Year falls on February and is a very important holiday for the Chinese community, it's customary that no work is done during that week, so we had to push production because of it. Also, since the residents there had a bad experience with a previous film crew, we had to deal with some unhappy neighbors, but in the end it was all worth it!”

Alcain comes to the film after working on such films as “Capsule,” “When the Music Stops Playing,” “Grey Matter” and many others.

With Zheng’s script and direction, “New Year’s Eve,” offers a compelling look at life and culture in a Chinese village where tradition and honor are a way of life.

“I learned a lot about Chinese culture through this filmmaking process and also about making a movie where you don't speak the language,” Alcain said. “I'd done a foreign language film in the past but that didn't have as much dialogue as this. But it was clear these actors brought an amazing energy and creativity to make this story come to life!”

The film will be heading to a number of film festivals and is already gaining much buzz for its engaging story and its unique performances.