When a nine year-old Filipino girl being raised by her migrant worker parents in Hong Kong can’t figure out why she's different, she decides instead that she must be special, so sets out on a quest to uncover her superpowers, oblivious to the true nature of her own genius.
Eight-year-old Lulu Hernandez is struggling to find her place in the world. The daughter of a hardworking Filipino migrant domestic worker couple, who are fortunately able to raise their daughter with them in Hong Kong, Lulu lives with her parents in their employer’s beautiful home in a coastal village in Sai Kung.
At the local primary school she attends, whip-smart Lulu can’t quite put her finger on why she is different, so wonders if she might actually be special? She decides that this must stem from her having superpowers like the super heroes she admires in the science fiction novels and comic books that she adores. So Lulu embarks on an exciting quest to determine exactly what those powers are, so that she can find her place in the world.
From her clubhouse/workshop and secret headquarters, a long forgotten, overgrown shipping container at the far end of the employer’s garden, Lulu leads the campaign, accompanied by her best friend and sidekick Lizzo, a bookish, Chinese girl who walks with a limp that slows her down a little, but is always game to tag along on Lulu’s outlandish adventures.
Following a series of hilarious failed attempts to test her superpowers, Lulu is devastated to eventually have to admit defeat and finally accepts that she is ordinary, but we then reveal that her best friend Lizzo is actually her robotic creation, developed and constructed in her clubhouse/engineering lab and thus the true nature of her unique genius is revealed.
All along we had assumed Lizzo was going to be our GIRL WONDER as the sidekick to our heroine’s hopeful superhero, and now we understand that it’s Lulu’s incredible feat of engineering and robotics wizardry that has really earned her the title of GIRL WONDER.
Joanna Bowers is a British Director, Producer and Screenwriter based in Hong Kong (and a US Green Card holder) with a focus on telling inspiring, international stories featuring unlikely heroines on journeys to achieve the extraordinary.
Her screenwriting projects have recently reach the quarter-finals of The Writer’s Lab US 2024 and the semi-finals of The Athena List 2024.
Originally from the UK, Joanna earned her degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Leeds. After graduation, Joanna relocated to Los Angeles where she began working in television commercial production as a director’s assistant and treatment writer, before roles in development and casting. She was also a member of Theatricum Botanicum theatre company and Upright Citizens Brigade.
Joanna began directing narrative short films in 2009, working with female writers to tell original stories from unique perspectives and her films screened at festivals including Palm Springs and Louisville International film festivals. She then relocated to Hong Kong where she landed commercial and documentary assignments throughout Asia for brands including The North Face, Cathay Pacific, HSBC and various NGOs.
Joanna’s feature documentary debut "The Helper" exploring the immense maternal sacrifices of migrant domestic workers was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign and went on to a sold out 3 month theatrical run and international distribution with releases on SVOD and streaming platforms including iTunes, AmazonPrime and and NatGeo. The film’s impact campaign gathered thousands of gestures of appreciation for migrant workers in the region.
Refocussing her directorial lens onto the environment, Joanna’s second feature documentary "reFashioned" profiled three passionate Hong Kongers spearheading radical solutions to the problems created by fast fashion. “reFashioned” premiered at Doc DMZ in Korea and Hawaii International Film Festival before theatrical releases in Hong Kong and Japan and was acquired for international distribution by Gravitas Ventures.
Joanna is currently in production on a documentary profiling seven rising-star, female basketball players from Hong Kong with their sights on America’s WNBA, hoping to make a fast-break play towards the world’s most elite sports teams.
The Athena List 2024 - Semi Finalist
Roadmap Writers Kids Competition 2024 - Semi Finalist
