Jessica’s Choice
Author of Queen’s Road Central and Other Stories, Matthew Harrison has just released his latest novel, Jessica’s Choice. Set in Hong Kong, the story revolves around a young woman’s journey from delusion to self-knowledge.‑Unlucky in love, Jessica Wong returns to Hong Kong to devote herself to a mission – converting the territory’s corporations to social responsibility. Yet she becomes entangled with divorcee Errol and her mother’s admirer Nathan. Mainland analyst Liu Rong seems to offer a way out.‑Misunderstandings mount into crisis, and Jessica must make a choice... We have five copies of Harrison’s new novel to give away. To win, simply tell us the university where Matthew Harrison studied English.

Courtesy of Phaeton Limited.

Educating Rita
Director Andy Burt presents the award-winning British theatrical work, Educating Rita, from March 4-8 at the HK Arts Centre. Rita, a young hairdresser with a thirst for knowledge, signs up for university and meets English professor Frank Byrant. Frank has a thirst of his own – for whisky – but it fails to provide the inspiration for the poetry he so longingly wants to write. An unusual friendship develops out of their weekly tutorials, as Rita seeks relief from her humdrum life through learning and Frank’s rising ambition to turn Rita into an educated person gets the better of him. Can a man and a woman ever just be friends? We have two pairs of tickets to give away. Simply tell us the name of this work’s playwright.

Courtesy of Stylus Productions.

Kaidan
Director Hideo Nakata (Ring (1998); Ring 2 (1999)) brings us Kaidan, his first Japanese film since 2002. Nakata’s new horror is a tale about a samurai who murders a debt collector and disposes of the body in a river. Cursed by his victim, the samurai kills himself and his wife, leaving a baby son to be raised by a loyal servant. A quarter of a century later, the son has grows to become a handsome tobacco seller, Shinkichi (Kikuosuke Onoe). By a twist of fate, he meets and falls for Toyoshiga (Hitomi Kuroki), the daughter of the debt collector. Toyoshiga becomes madly jealous of the females Shinkichi is surrounded by and haunts him after her death, caused by an injury that eerily reflects the one the samurai had inflicted on her father. We have 10 pairs of tickets to give away, which can be won simply by telling us who is the actress that plays Ohisa in the film.

Courtesy of Lark Films.

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Please submit separate entries for each competition. These may be posted together. The closing date for all entries is 29 February 2008 unless stated otherwise. Competitions are open to all Hong Kong residents, except the employees of bc magazine, the companies and organisations with whom the competition is being run, their agents or anyone directly connected with the promotion. No responsibility can be accepted for entries lost, delayed, mislaid or damaged in the post or offered for delivery insufficiently stamped. Proof of postage will not be accepted as proof of receipt. Prizes are as stated only and no cash alternatives will be given. Winners will be notified by post and may be required to collect their prizes in person. The winning answers and names of prize winners will be made available to those who enclose a stamped addressed envelope with their entries. Prizes unclaimed after one month of notification will be deemed forfeit. The decision of the judging panel is final and no correspondence will be entered into. All entries and the copyright to them automatically become the property of bc magazine. All entrants are deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them and to cooperate in any publicity that may arise from them.