FILM & VIDEO

EMPIRE OF SILVER is a dynastic saga, a passionate romance, and a moral parable drawn from historical events. It tells the story of a banking empire on the “Wall Street of China” a century ago, through the tumult of the Boxers’ Rebellion, the invasion of the Allied Armies, and China’s Republican revolution.

The lives of wealthy patriarch Master Kang, his four sons and young wife are shattered by the kidnapping of a daughter-in-law. Three Kang brothers fall victim to the kidnap, and the

clan faces a succession crisis. Master Kang’s hedonistic third son, Third Master, reluctantly assumes the role of heir in spite of his personal and ideological battles with his father. Introspective and self-critical, he despises his father’s autocratic rule of the financial empire. Their blood-drawing conflict between the opposing beliefs of Legalism and Confucianism, the two main thought systems of China, is further inflamed by the involvement of Master Kang’s young wife. She is Third Master’s first and only love, robbed by his own father. Three headstrong characters engage in a deadly ménage-a-trois. They must look into their own hearts and one another’s

eyes to redefine themselves and their relationships. The family and its financial empire are transformed as greed, duplicity, lust, jealousy and violence surface under the pressures of

war and a catastrophic change from silver to paper bills. Personal loyalties and financial acumen are tested to the limit.



EMPIRE OF SILVER resonates strongly with today’s financial crisis. It is a film that will provoke debate and reflection, and ultimately move audiences with its truthful exploration of the human spirit.



EMPIRE OF SILVER was nominated for three Hong Kong Academy Awards including best cinematography, best art design and best make-up/costume in May of 2010. The film also won the Jury Award at Shanghai International Film Festival and the Best Narrative Feature Award at

Hawaii International Film Festival.