Q&a / Director Audrey Diwan on filming Emmanuelle in Hong Kong, how her love affair with Chanel began at the Venice Film Festival, and working with Poor Things producer Ed Guiney

Dec 19 , 2024

Actress Angela Yuen and director Audrey Diwan at the Chanel cruise 2024-25 show in Hong Kong, in November. Photos: Handout

Audrey Diwan came to Hong Kong for the first time in 2023 – it didn’t take her long to return for Chanel’s cruise show, and she also directed a short film starring Angela Yuen for the occasion

French-Lebanese director Audrey Diwan had never been to Hong Kong before decamping to the city in 2023 to shoot her latest film, Emmanuelle, based on the 1967 erotic novel by Emmanuelle Arsan.

A former journalist, Diwan is also a Chanel ambassador and recently directed a short film for the brand. Starring Hong Kong actress Angela Yuen and French actor Benjamin Voisin, the video depicts the meeting of two strangers in Hong Kong at night.

Titled Modern Flirt, the arresting video was created for the iteration of the Chanel cruise 2024-25 show in Hong Kong last month, where we had the opportunity to chat with Diwan before the star-studded event.

Audrey Diwan at the Chanel cruise 2024-25 show in Hong Kong, in November. Photo: Handout

How is it to be back in Hong Kong after shooting here twice?

I fell in love with Hong Kong, so whenever I have the chance to be back, I’m happy. When Chanel called and asked if I could make [Modern Flirt] in Hong Kong, I said yes, of course. That was a gift. I was nostalgic about the experience of shooting Emmanuelle in Hong Kong and then Chanel said, why don’t you go back? I asked my crew, and everyone was ready to pack.

Tell me about filming Emmanuelle here.

I was writing Emmanuelle during Covid and then I arrived here and, to me, Hong Kong was a fantasy – I had never been here before. I knew Hong Kong through cinema, like Wong Kar-wai’s films and the Hong Kong new wave. I arrived here exactly when they reopened the city and I saw the city coming back to life. It was quite different back then, a bit empty, and now I see all this energy.

Did you get to explore the city?

I met many artists here and I found them to be very socially involved, also in topics like climate change, and I was quite moved by it.