Palimpsest: The Story of a Name (2026)

Palimpsest: The Story of a Name is a personal documentary by veteran editor and filmmaker Mary Stephen, who investigates why she has an English surname despite her Chinese family background. Her search stretches across four continents and eight decades, moving through family stories, colonial history, cultural identity, and conflicting memories.

Stephen draws on her father's home movies and diaries, family photographs, oral histories, and official archives to construct a layered portrait of her own past. The film becomes both an act of research and a meditation on how editing, memory, and storytelling can reshape the history we inherit.

• Mary Stephen directed the film.
• The documentary is approximately 109 minutes long and uses English, French, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
• It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025 and also competed at IDFA 2025.
• The film won Best Documentary and Best Editing at the 2025 Golden Horse Awards.
• The documentary received further festival screenings at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Jeonju International Film Festival in 2026.