Hello
Lee Sonnie
Award-winning UK-Based Director & Founder of Burning Works.
Creator of the multi-award-winning feature The Distance We Drift (LIFF & BIFF 2026).
Currently developing the psychological thriller, The Good Courier.
the distance we drift (2026)
Length: 91 minutes
Genre: Romance, Drama
Stage: Completed 2026Logline:
In a brief encounter abroad, two Hong Kong immigrants in the UK seek solace in each other while confronting the fractures within.Synopsis:
The Distance We Drift is an intimate portrait of love, memory, and displacement in modern Britain.Ying, a Hong Kong immigrant living in the UK with her husband and young son, moves through her daily life with quiet detachment, caught between the familiarity of routine and a growing sense of emotional distance.When she unexpectedly encounters Hong, a former lover now living a modest life far removed from his past, their reunion reawakens a connection neither of them has fully let go of. In the spaces between conversations and silences, fragments of their shared past begin to surface — revealing a relationship shaped as much by absence as by intimacy.As they wander through London together, they become drawn to the story of a Chinese revolutionary once held in the city. Tracing his footsteps, their journey unfolds not as a search for history, but as a quiet confrontation with their own sense of belonging — and the lives they have left behind.Told through restrained, observational moments, the film explores how distance reshapes love, and how the past continues to echo in the present, even in the most ordinary encounters.FESTIVAL SELECTION & AWARDS:
-Official Selection, Beloit International Film Festival (2026, USA)
-Won Best Narrative Feature, Beloit International Film AWARD 2026
-Won Best Drama Feature, London Independent Film Festival (2026, UK)
-Official Selection, Kingston Independent Film Festival (2026, UK)
The Good courier
Length: 90 minutes
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Neo-Noir / Feminist Drama
Estimated Budget: $2,000,000 USD
Location: UK (Liverpool / London)
Stage: In-developmentLogline:
To buy his daughter’s UK citizenship, an immigrant father sold a young girl into a nightmare.
Three years later, she returns as his daughter's lover to dismantle his sanity, his family, and
his mask of patriarchal protection.Synopsis:
Three years ago in a rain-drenched Liverpool, Qiang, an undocumented immigrant,
works as a black-market courier to pay for his daughter’s UK visa fees. He accepts a
soul-crushing job: delivering Xiaoya, a drugged young girl destined for an
underground brothel. Driven by desperate survival, Qiang takes the blood money,
buying his daughter’s future with another girl’s life.Present day, London. Qiang and his daughter Lily have successfully obtained British
citizenship, and Lily is now a drama student. Their peace is shattered when Lily
brings home her new mentor: Xiaoya. Pretending to be strangers, Xiaoya begins a
slow, calculated psychological invasion of their home, seducing Lily and fostering a
dangerous, same-sex romance. Qiang is trapped—he cannot warn his daughter
without revealing his own monstrous past.Xiaoya doses Qiang with scopolamine—the exact sleep drug he used on her three
years ago. The domestic space transforms into a claustrophobic, hallucinatory
labyrinth as Qiang descends into acute psychosis, unable to distinguish between the
two women. Convinced Xiaoya is a demon kidnapping Lily, he begins a violent,
paranoid hunt through the house, unaware he is actually hunting his terrified daughter.
In a desperate struggle for survival, the victim and the daughter unite to break the
cycle of patriarchal violence, ultimately killing Qiang in self-defense.Tone & Vision
Concept: A high-concept psychological thriller that subverts the traditional male
savior narrative, exploring the hidden costs of immigration and the weight of guilt.Comparables: The social tension of Parasite meets the hallucinatory visual horror
of Black Swan.Commercial Appeal: It is a highly commercial thriller characterized by low risk,
contained locations, budget supported by the UK Independent Film Tax Credit,
and a shocking ending. The project offers strong potential for a hybrid casting
strategy (British-Asian and international Asian-American talent) to drive presales
Pitch materials, Financing plan, Treatment, or to discuss collaborations, Please contact us.
Gordon Liu's Medallion of Kung fu (2010)
Length: 22 minutes
Genre: Action / Coming of Age
Stage: Completed 2010Synopsis:
Martial Arts Legend Gordon Liu's last action short film. Gordon Liu personally guided by the martial arts Philosophy, just only talk about the truth of life, chanting young people to do their own, do not get lost. It maybe the last to watch Gordon Liu's fighting. Also, back to the 70's movie style and a Chinese martial arts drama.Starring:
Gordon LIU
Ronan PAK
Micheal WOO
About
Lee sonnie
Lee Sonnie is an award-winning writer, director and producer holding an MFA in Film Production. He is the founder of BURNING WORKS (UK) Ltd., in London.Born in Hong Kong and currently based in the UK, he possesses a versatile track record that spans commercial advertising, documentaries, and feature film screenwriting.Known for his precise mastery of cross-cultural and subversive themes, Sonnie demonstrated his extraordinary filmmaking resilience by producing his debut feature film, The Distance We Drift. The film achieved significant success on the international festival circuit,
consecutively winning the "Best Narrative Feature" award at both the Beloit International Film
Festival (BIFF) in the United States and the London Independent Film Festival (LIFF) in 2026.
Filmography:
The Distance We Drift (Directed & Produced, 2026, 91mins)
Rhapsody of Kidnapping (written, 2018, 102mins)
Medallion of Kung fu (Directed & Produced, 2010, 22mins)
Contact
Let's Build Something Great.
We are currently seeking international partners and co-producers for our new feature film slate. Get in touch to request pitch materials, private screeners, or to discuss future collaborations.