Front Cover is a 2015 drama romance film written and directed by Ray Yeung. The story follows Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American fashion stylist, who rejects his ethnic heritage, who is assigned to style Ning, an ostensibly heterosexual patriotic actor from Beijing. Front Cover received mixed critical reviews and received awards from festivals such as San Diego Outfest, Boston Asian American Film Festival, and Outflix Film Festival.
Plot
Front Cover tells the story of Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American who rejects his Asian heritage and has learnt to suppress it to climb up the social ladder. Through talent and hard work he has attained his dream job as an assistant to Francesca, a celebrity fashion stylist. One day Francesca assigns Ryan to style Ning, an actor who has just arrived from Beijing, for a top magazine photo shoot. Ning dismisses Ryan's initial Western styling and demands Ryan creates an image for him which represents the power of the new China. Their opinions clash resulting in a strained working relationship. Over the following days, they socialize whilst working together and discover not only do they share a lot in common, a mutual attraction begins to develop. As they get closer Ryan reveals that he detests his Chinese heritage because he is ashamed of his impoverished upbringing. Ning also opens up and confesses that he is closeted. As they fall in love, a Chinese tabloid magazine exposes Ning as gay. Terrified of the impact it will have on his career, Ning begs Ryan to lie for him at a press conference. Ryan must now decide whether to help Ning or stay true to himself.
Front Cover premiered in 2015 at the Seattle International Film Festival. in the Catalyst Competition section, and was again in Competition at the 2015 Chicago International Film Festival. It was the closing film for the Asian American International Film Festival in New York in 2016, as well as for the 2016 Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival, and the Poland LGBT Film Festival. Strand Releasing and Edko Films Ltd. acquired USA and Hong Kong distribution rights. It was released in the US in August 2016 and in Hong Kong in October 2016. Sahamongkolfilm International Co, Ltd. released the movie in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2016.
Reception
Front Cover holds an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com describes it as, "A skillfully written and acted gay love story about two young men of Chinese ancestry...The transition from distrust to wary friendship to something more passionate in a movie like this depends a lot on the writing, and Yeung’s is subtle and assured, tracing an emotional arc that’s believably nuanced." Robyn Bahr of the Village Voice described it as a "sexy, ambitious queer rom-com drama." Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed the movie for the New York Times and called the film a "sensitive, decorous and buffed by Eun-ah Lee’s warm photography."
