Mary Stephen:
Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk) & Shorts
Mary Stephen:
Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk) & Shorts
Mary Stephen made a name for herself editing the films of directors such as Éric Rohmer, Ann Hui, Amos WHY, and Jessey Tsang, but her accomplishments as a director deserve recognition as well. Long before Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2025), an investigation into her family history, won two prizes at the Golden Horse Awards last year, her talents as a filmmaker were on display. In this programme, we present four of her directorial projects, dating back to her student days in Montreal. Together, they show Stephen’s early mastery of the craft of editing, her experimental spirit, her interest in the film essay and documentary form, and her uniquely poetic and personal style. All four films are now part of the M+ Collection after their digitisation and restoration with the support of M+.
Mary Stephen. Labyrinthe, 1973. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. The Great Canadian Puberty Rite, 1974. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. A Very Easy Death, 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk), 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk), 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. Labyrinthe, 1973. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. The Great Canadian Puberty Rite, 1974. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. A Very Easy Death, 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk), 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
Mary Stephen. Ombres de soie (Shades of Silk), 1975. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.
About the Director
Mary Stephen (b. 1953, Hong Kong), currently based in Paris, is widely regarded as one of the two most internationally acclaimed film editors from Hong Kong. She was the editor and occasional co-composer on the films of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer. Over the past 20 years, she has edited fiction and documentary films from several continents, including Yoïchiro Okutani’s Nude at Heart (2021), Ann Hui’s Our Time Will Come (2017), Seren Yüce’s Majority (2010), and Du Haibin’s 1428 (2009). Stephen’s multifaceted talents are also evident in her own directorial works, which include Ombres de soie (1978), Vision from the Edge: Breyten Breytenbach Painting the Lines (1998, IDFA), and Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2025).
Image at top: Mary Stephen. Labyrinthe, 1973. Photo: M+, Hong Kong; Courtesy of the artist.