"The concept for Shanghai Bride originated on a summer's afternoon,
in the heart of Shanghai's Nanjing East Road. I happened to have a few days
free after finishing production on The Last Breadbox, and I was enjoying
touring this city in which I'd lived back in the 80's, but hadn't really seen since
its metamorphosis into a cosmopolitan and thriving capitalist hub. As I was
people-watching from the fast food chain, I noticed a strange phenomenon: the
pedestrian traffic consisted mostly of sophisticated, chic looking young women,
who were busy chatting into their mobiles and clicking along in their impossibly
high stilettos, while behind them trailed their boyfriends, who were trying to
keep pace while lugging mountains of shopping bags.

The immediate question that came to my mind was, how was it that in a
patriarchal society like China, where girls are still largely preferred over boys,
one could consistently observe men bending themselves backwards to please
their girlfriends?

This observation sat in the back of my mind for two years, until a Canadian
Producer and I decided to try and make a pitch out of it and send it to the
Australian International Documentary Conference Pitch 'n Punt competition.
There it picked up development funding and so the documentary began.

Over two and a half years we followed four different characters in their quest for
love in a city where materialistic values overshadow everything. In the end, we
whittled the film down to two key characters who we felt embodied most of the
dilemmas and attitudes which we were frequently encountering in Shanghai.
Some find the documentary touching, some find it bleak, most find it amusing.
We hope people will find it all three." - Melanie Ansley

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