The Love-Hate Relationship Between Eastern Heroines and Western Men

When an oriental heroine and two western men collide, what kind of sparks will be raised? Wake Her Up, a recent immortal short film that has won several awards at international film festivals, shows us such a story. In the story, Liz, the Eastern heroine, is set as an immortal girl who meets Alistair, a handsome Western wizzard, on her way to seek justice in the Western world. This Western man shoulders the responsibility of his family and sacrifices a lot while growing up. But the appearance of Liz awakens his inner heart and hidden magic. The relationship between the two becomes the cornerstone of the story, as East meets West and justice and love awakens hidden forces and fights evil together.

During the process, the male and female protagonists playing these two roles also created a touching spark. Actress Olivia Wang (Chinese name:王欧) played Liz - the heorine in the film. She once said that her favourite line was the line ‘Wake her up.’ spoken by the male protagonist D'artagnan Zacharia. This line awakened the heroine's love and courage, and also awakened her inspiration and emotions in acting. She also mentioned that a tear shed by D'artagnan during the performance left a deep impression on her, which contained regret, sorrow and deep love for her, which also made her burst out with a more wonderful response and performance. That moment also became the most exciting scene of the play.

Additionally, the story is well balanced between the East and the West, and presents an Eastern woman who grows and awakens as she is torn between Western men.

The main character, Liz, is very unique and even explores the theme of “women's awakening”, which is lacking in our society today. Olivia Wang plays the female lead in an authentic and appealing way. She said in an interview. "This movie is not only about women's understanding of their own identity, but also about women's growth and breakthrough in the face of social oppression and emotional difficulties, which is also the most appealing point to me.”

Liz's experience shows a common but often overlooked psychological state. Through poetic language and physical performance, the creative team deconstruct the romanticized narrative of an ordinary “foreign love affair” and re-enact a deep reflection on “the gaze of the other” and “one's own growth”. It is a deep reflection on the “gaze of the other” and “one's own growth”. Therefore, for female audiences, this work can be said to be an unmissable masterpiece. Olivia understands the power of this core of female awakening and incorporates it into the female protagonist, Liz. Perhaps it is this core that has earned this work several Best Actress awards at the international level.

It is also worth mentioning that Wake Her Up is independently produced by Cross Encounters, a cross-cultural performing arts organization. As the first and only fully-qualified cross-cultural performing arts organization in Melbourne, Cross Encounters has been committed to promoting cross-cultural performing arts innovation and leading the exchange of performing arts between the East and the West. Its innovative cross-cultural film and theater productions have been widely reported by SBS, Xinhua News Agency and Australian Arts Review.

Since its inception, Cross Encounters has worked closely with the Australian Government, the Directorate General of Culture and other arts organizations to organize 18+ successful public programs, including 10 workshops. In the past few years, it has also created and owned 6 IP projects for film and television series. This time, this Wake Her Up is one of the brightest in recent times with its deep exploration and pursuit of cross-cultural and women's issues. This milestone presentation highlights Cross Encounters' strength and confidence in the field of cross-cultural performance. Wake Her Up is just the first step in the beginning, it is foreseeable that such innovative artist and creative team will explore more depth cross-cultural stories and bring more surprises to the global audience.