Enter The Clones Of Bruce

description

A look at the history, controversy, and legacy behind one of the most bizarre and successful genres in movie history: the Bruce Lee exploitation craze.

When Bruce Lee died in 1974 at the peak of his superstardom, he had completed only four feature films. But within hours of his funeral, Hong Kong movie studios began to produce hundreds of unauthorized biopics, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and rip-offs starring a competing series of Lee lookalikes. Over the next decade, fueled by both deception and demand, ‘Bruceploitation’ would become a staple of global cinema. Director David Gregory – who’d previously explored film’s transgressive edges in his award-winning documentaries LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON – now examines this uniquely ‘70s phenomenon via interviews with Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Liang and Dragon Lee; martial arts movie legends that include Angela Mao, David Chiang, Phillip Ko, Casanova Wong, Yasuaki Kurata and Sammo Hung; and the producers, directors, distributors and experts – along with copious clips from the films themselves – that for the first time reveal the history, controversy and legacy behind one of the most bizarre and successful genres in movie history

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Tribeca 2023

DIRECTOR'S BIO
David Gregory made his first feature-length documentary TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE – THE SHOCKING TRUTH in 2000 for the distribution company he co-founded, Blue Underground. He went on to direct – and often produce and edit – over 100 documentary features and shorts. He made his narrative feature-directing debut in 2008 with PLAGUE TOWN, which he also co-wrote and co-edited. Gregory's other works include the 2011 Grand Guignol-inspired anthology horror feature THE THEATRE BIZARRE, LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (Winner of the Best Documentary Award at Sitges and the Director Award’ at the Morbido Festival in Mexico), BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (Fantasia International Film 2019), TALES OF THE UNCANNY, (2020), and executive producer on the landmark folk-horror documentary WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED (CUFF 2021). David Gregory is co-founder and CEO of Severin Films, the production/distribution label dedicated to the world’s most provocative cinema for physical media, theatrical, streaming and beyond.