Toronto based filmmaker Timothy Yeung has wowed audiences worldwide with his breakthrough award-winning short film '90 Days' (2014). The film is a comment on the dark side of contemporary Hong Kong where many arrive with big dreams for a new life but end up finding only hardship and a fight for survival. '90 Days' is the length of time Li jan, a young female Chinese immigrant, has on her Hong Kong tourist visa to make a new life for herself. Sadly, during her quest and urgency to make money for her family back home, her dream becomes a nightmare as she falls into prostitution on the city's sinister and seedy streets.

In an interview with Timothy Yeung, here is what he had to say:

ME: Can you tell us about the inspiration and the journey to make this film?

TIMOTHY: The original starting point for 90 Days came from an image I had while in Toronto. The image was of a woman at a pay phone, and every time she tried to make a phone call she would hang up. She would keep trying but every time she would finish dialing she would hang up the phone. However, a story was not developed from this original image. Years later I shot an observational documentary in Hong Kong about a Chinese Calligraphy Artist with no arms. The artist would travel from China to Hong Kong with a tourist Visa, and sell his paintings on the street that he painted using his mouth and feet. While the Calligraphy Artist was in Hong Kong, he would stay in the underground red light motels in the Kowloon District of Hong Kong where the underground prostitution took place. While documenting the Calligraphy Artist's life, I was able to see first hand the world of underground prostitution in the Red Light Motels. From observing the world and listening to the stories of the different women involved we were able to come up with the story for 90 Days. The film is based on different stories and the interactions I heard while being at the hotel. Through being in the environment all the locations in the film are from real red light motels and the dialogues were inspired from listening to the stories. Through the first image of a woman at a pay phone and listening to the stories of the workers in the Red Light Motels, the story of 90 Days came together. Through development and working with the whole team we were able to fine tune the script and create this film as a team.

ME: When did you become a writer and director?

TIMOTHY: I studied at Ryerson University in Toronto where I received a Undergraduate Degree in Arts & Contemporary Studies and a Diploma in Film Production. After school I received an opportunity to work at WOWtv a Canadian Chinese Television station in Toronto as a Producer. During this time at the television station, I produced and directed a local food travel program, and then went on to to produce and direct commercials in Toronto. After a enjoyable two years in television, I wanted to get back to narrative filmmaking. I applied and was accepted to NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia for my Masters in Fine Arts for Film Production - Writing & Directing. After a good first year at Tisch Asia, I received an opportunity to work on a feature film with a very well known producer and established Hong Kong director in Hong Kong and China. I then took a year off school to work with the two. After the feature I returned to school and made the short film 90 Days during my second year of studies. I have recently finished my third year of studies at NYU, and have completed all the necessary course work. I'm currently planning towards my thesis film so I can finally graduate.

ME: What was the overall experience of making your film?

TIMOTHY: Overall it was an amazing experience to have the opportunity to make this film with such a great team. Our producer ChorChun Lau walked all over Kowloon to help me look for locations, and because it was a student production she even helped make the drapes, mirrors, and find all the props. The lead actress was also our co-writer who helped me make the film more personal, as she is from China so during some of our rewrites, she could add a personal sentiment to the film. We shot for 5 and a half nights from 6pm to 6am everyday. The crew was very supportive and worked incredibly hard to ensure we would make our day. We also shot in all real locations, and some of the motels we shot at, actually had prostitutes working while we were filming, and that gave our North American team a bit of a worry. We advised the team to simply not look around and try to be as discreet as possible. Basically, the experience was great and everyone really went above and beyond to insure we could make this film.

ME: What has it been like to screen your film at several festivals and to have had such a positive response from audiences?

TIMOTHY: It was great to be able to screen at Palm Springs Short Fest. The audience and other filmmakers were very positive towards our film. We were very honored to be able to have the opportunity to share our film with the audience. Winning the awards was very unexpected as we were already very happy to simply get to screen. Even now our whole team is still shocked at the wins. It does feel great as now the whole team can share in this win, as this really was a team effort from everyone. I'm happy that we could all share this win with everyone who worked so hard on the project. Most recently, we won the KODAK student Gold Award. http://motion.kodak.com/motion/About/News/2014/Aug11_1.htm

ME: What are your plans for future Projects?

TIMOTHY: I am currently working towards my thesis. I have a feature script that has been written and it's a film set in Hong Kong. The film is about a shy Canadian born Chinese young man named James who meets a free spirited Local Hong Kong Artist named Tina. Over the course of one night these two take a adventurous walk along Hong Kong, and inspire each other to overcome their fears and go after their dreams, while accidentally making everyone else in the city fall in love. In addition, I'm also writing a relationship drama set in Toronto called "My Life Without Me" that follows the ups and downs of a relationship and this idea of selfishness. It's still at a very preliminary stage, but I hope to get it at a good place, as I would like to shoot a story in Toronto.

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Interview by Vanessa McMahon