Taking place alongside Filmart, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) is one of Asia’s oldest and most established project markets, helping a string of award-winning films to get made.
Recent Haf successes include Mongolian drama If Only I Could Hibernate, which was selected for last year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka’s Stonewalling, which won best film at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards and was sold to KimStim for North America.
However, Haf is now just one component in an expanding range of activities organised by Hkiff Industry, the industry platform of Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff). This year, the festival has partnered with CAA China to launch the Hkiff Industry-caa China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which is presenting six selected projects to an industry-wide audience during Haf.
Hkiff Industry director Jacob Wong explains that a genre initiative is a logical next...
Recent Haf successes include Mongolian drama If Only I Could Hibernate, which was selected for last year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka’s Stonewalling, which won best film at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards and was sold to KimStim for North America.
However, Haf is now just one component in an expanding range of activities organised by Hkiff Industry, the industry platform of Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff). This year, the festival has partnered with CAA China to launch the Hkiff Industry-caa China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which is presenting six selected projects to an industry-wide audience during Haf.
Hkiff Industry director Jacob Wong explains that a genre initiative is a logical next...
- 3/5/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) has unveiled 26 in-development projects for the 22nd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), which will become part of the newly expanded Hkiff Industry Project Market.
The lineup features both veteran and rising filmmakers including Koji Fukada, Hong Khaou, Jang Kun-jae, Qiu Jiongjiong, Patiparn Boontarig, Wang Xiaoshuai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, and Zhang Lu. The projects cover comedy, horror, action, romance and family drama, including seven first features, two animations and a string of cross-country collaborations.
Scroll down for full list of projects
“The selection is a testament to the resurgence of diversity and the revitalisation of international collaborations,...
The lineup features both veteran and rising filmmakers including Koji Fukada, Hong Khaou, Jang Kun-jae, Qiu Jiongjiong, Patiparn Boontarig, Wang Xiaoshuai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, and Zhang Lu. The projects cover comedy, horror, action, romance and family drama, including seven first features, two animations and a string of cross-country collaborations.
Scroll down for full list of projects
“The selection is a testament to the resurgence of diversity and the revitalisation of international collaborations,...
- 1/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).
Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at Haf, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J. Werner.
The 22nd edition of the Haf project market will run March 11-13 and sit alongside the four-day FilMart (March 11-14) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Haf is operated by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and this year will showcase 26 in-development projects. This year it will also be accompanied by the first edition of the Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which aims to support the development of Chinese language genre films.
Among the highlights: Wang Xiaoshuai will produce Zhang Yushan...
Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at Haf, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J. Werner.
The 22nd edition of the Haf project market will run March 11-13 and sit alongside the four-day FilMart (March 11-14) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Haf is operated by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and this year will showcase 26 in-development projects. This year it will also be accompanied by the first edition of the Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which aims to support the development of Chinese language genre films.
Among the highlights: Wang Xiaoshuai will produce Zhang Yushan...
- 1/18/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
2023 was a weird year for Asian cinema. Although the “usual” Japanese masters were here once more, the Korean movie industry seems to have taken a significant step back in the absence of any work from their own big names, while the creative powers that have been boiling for some time in Asean countries and South-West Asia in general seem to be erupting at the moment, in, perhaps, a sign that the epicenter of Asian cinema might be changing soon. Apart from this, Iran, Taiwan and mainland China continued on the same path of quality, Hong Kong seems to find a new way with social/family dramas, while the biggest surprise seems to come from Sri Lanka, with the country producing a number of truly great films this year. Lastly, the progress of the diaspora films and particularly Asian-American ones continues, with “Past Lives” being a worthy successor to “Minari”
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- 12/14/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
The title of writer-director Zhang Lu’s The Shadowless Tower refers to the Miaoying Temple, whose pagoda, built in Beijing in 1279, offers little to no shade thanks to its unique design. Throughout the film, the pagoda looms large over characters but is often placed far enough in the background to feel almost invisible, a paradox reflected in Gu Wentong (Xin Balqing), a divorced father whose life has settled into a dispassionate existence.
Having just lost his mother, Wentong is goaded out of his dull routine of work and care for his young daughter when his brother-in-law, Li Jun (Wang Hongwei), informs him of the whereabouts of the man’s long-estranged father, Yunlai. Jun’s nervous plea to not tell Wentong’s sister (Li Qinqin) about his contact with the man hints at a dark family history that nonetheless doesn’t stop Wentong from attempting to re-establish ties with his father.
Having just lost his mother, Wentong is goaded out of his dull routine of work and care for his young daughter when his brother-in-law, Li Jun (Wang Hongwei), informs him of the whereabouts of the man’s long-estranged father, Yunlai. Jun’s nervous plea to not tell Wentong’s sister (Li Qinqin) about his contact with the man hints at a dark family history that nonetheless doesn’t stop Wentong from attempting to re-establish ties with his father.
- 9/22/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
After a one-year hiatus, the much-missed El Gouna Film Festival (Oct. 13 – 20) is back and poised to make an increased impact. Joining beloved festival director Intishal Al-Timimi this time around is esteemed Egyptian producer-director Marianne Khoury in the artistic director position.
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
- 8/24/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) has unveiled a first wave of international titles due to play at its upcoming comeback sixth edition, unfolding from October 13 to 20 after a one-year hiatus.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
- 8/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski, whose sixty-year career in cinema has included the highest honors of the Berlin, Venice and Cannes film festivals, received an invitation to attend China’s Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this year while he was in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards, where his latest movie, Eo, was nominated for an Oscar. Skolimowski says he accepted the surprise invite — which included serving as Shanghai’s jury president for the festival’s 30th-anniversary edition — for reasons both “very private and a little sentimental.”
Skolimowski, 85, revealed those reasons on stage Friday at the Shanghai Grand Theater, during the festival’s opening ceremony.
“My father was born in North East China over 100 years ago, where my grandfather, the famous Polish architect, Kazimierz Skolimowski, devoted himself to designing the urban plan for one of the great cities 1,000 kilometers from here,” Skolimowski said during his brief remarks before the mostly Chinese crowd.
Skolimowski, 85, revealed those reasons on stage Friday at the Shanghai Grand Theater, during the festival’s opening ceremony.
“My father was born in North East China over 100 years ago, where my grandfather, the famous Polish architect, Kazimierz Skolimowski, devoted himself to designing the urban plan for one of the great cities 1,000 kilometers from here,” Skolimowski said during his brief remarks before the mostly Chinese crowd.
- 6/13/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Shanghai International Film Festival kicked off on a triumphant note Friday night in China’s commercial capital as the country’s film industry threw open its doors to the global film community.
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
This year’s edition of China’s most prestigious cinema event is the first in over three years that is easily accessible to the outside world after the past three festivals were either canceled, put online or simply very difficult to attend because of the country’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. The festival also happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, as well as arriving at a moment when China’s commercial film industry is finally regaining some momentum after the long years of the pandemic.
“Each section of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival is fully back offline, and we are more than thrilled to meet all guests in-person again,” says Wenquan He,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff) has unveiled the major competition selections for its 25th edition (June 9-18), which will be the first to be held in a fully physical format with international guests since before the pandemic.
The festival’s Golden Goblet Awards comprises five sections – Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film and Short Film. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.
Siff’s main competition will screen 12 films, including Mom, Is That You?!, from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yoji Yamada; European titles including Muyeres, from Spanish director Marta Lallana, and The Chapel, from Belgium’s Dominique Deruddere; Indian director Haobam Paban Kumar’s Joseph’s Son; and three Chinese titles – Liu Jiayin’s All Ears, Johnathan Li’s Dust To Dust and Chen Shizhong’s Good Autumn, Mommy.
Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski is heading the jury for the main competition,...
The festival’s Golden Goblet Awards comprises five sections – Main Competition, Asian New Talent, Animation Film, Documentary Film and Short Film. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Shanghai Grand Theater on June 17.
Siff’s main competition will screen 12 films, including Mom, Is That You?!, from Japanese veteran filmmaker Yoji Yamada; European titles including Muyeres, from Spanish director Marta Lallana, and The Chapel, from Belgium’s Dominique Deruddere; Indian director Haobam Paban Kumar’s Joseph’s Son; and three Chinese titles – Liu Jiayin’s All Ears, Johnathan Li’s Dust To Dust and Chen Shizhong’s Good Autumn, Mommy.
Poland’s Jerzy Skolimowski is heading the jury for the main competition,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Mainland Chinese star Wang Luodan and Hong Kong-born Bosco Wong head the cast of “My Dearest Stranger.”
The high-end suspense drama series is a production fronted by mainland Chinese distributor-producer Hishow Entertainment, which announced the production at the Cannes Market, adjacent to the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Based on the best-selling novel “Secret Love,” by Fan Shu and adapted by renowned screenwriter Cao Xueping (“Game Changer”), “My Dearest Stranger” tells a compelling story of Yu Xiao, a housewife who realizes her seemingly perfect husband may have a dark side. Yu decides to cooperate with policeman Song Cheng to find out the truth, while trying to keep her own secrets from the world.
The story will be adapted as 16 episodes, directed by Taiwan-based Lin Yu-Hsien.
“My Dearest Stranger” begins production in June in Chengdu, Sichuan, with backing from Alibaba-owned streaming platform Youku.
The main cast and crew are pulled together from Mainland China,...
The high-end suspense drama series is a production fronted by mainland Chinese distributor-producer Hishow Entertainment, which announced the production at the Cannes Market, adjacent to the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Based on the best-selling novel “Secret Love,” by Fan Shu and adapted by renowned screenwriter Cao Xueping (“Game Changer”), “My Dearest Stranger” tells a compelling story of Yu Xiao, a housewife who realizes her seemingly perfect husband may have a dark side. Yu decides to cooperate with policeman Song Cheng to find out the truth, while trying to keep her own secrets from the world.
The story will be adapted as 16 episodes, directed by Taiwan-based Lin Yu-Hsien.
“My Dearest Stranger” begins production in June in Chengdu, Sichuan, with backing from Alibaba-owned streaming platform Youku.
The main cast and crew are pulled together from Mainland China,...
- 5/23/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” has been set as the opening title of next month’s Sydney Film Festival, which will celebrate its 70th edition, June 7-18. The film, a tale of sprituality and survival in 1940s Australia, starring Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid, will also play in the festival’s competition section.
Other titles in competition include: the world premiere of Australian documentary feature “The Dark Emu Story,” directed by Allan Clarke; Christian Petzold’s previously announced “Afire”; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Scrapper”; Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster”; Aki Kaurismäki’s compassionate comedy “Fallen Leaves”; Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb”; Asmae El Moudir’s “The Mother of All Lies”; Alice Englert’s directorial debut “Bad Behaviour”; Celine Song’s Sundance and Berlinale 2023 selected romance “Past Lives”; Liu Jian’s 2023 Berlinale-selected animation “Art College 1994”; Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” a thriller about an...
Other titles in competition include: the world premiere of Australian documentary feature “The Dark Emu Story,” directed by Allan Clarke; Christian Petzold’s previously announced “Afire”; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Scrapper”; Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster”; Aki Kaurismäki’s compassionate comedy “Fallen Leaves”; Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb”; Asmae El Moudir’s “The Mother of All Lies”; Alice Englert’s directorial debut “Bad Behaviour”; Celine Song’s Sundance and Berlinale 2023 selected romance “Past Lives”; Liu Jian’s 2023 Berlinale-selected animation “Art College 1994”; Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” a thriller about an...
- 5/10/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
In evident, art-house fashion, the film follows Choi Hyeon, a S.Korean man, who works in China as a professor and is married there, in a melancholic trip in the streets of the city of Gyeongju, and down memory lane. In his trip, that was instigated by the death of an old friend, he meets another old friend, the deceased's wife, an ex-lover and gets to know the beautiful owner of a tea-house and her friends.
“Gyeongju” is available from Echelon Studios
Zhang Lu directs a very personal film, with the protagonist conversely mirroring his own situation, since Lu is Chinese, but now works in S. Korea. The dialogue is scarce and the pace quite slow, as Lu almost forces the audience to observe the surroundings, the beauties of the city, and the everyday life in it.
Through this trip, and the experiences Choi Hyeon has, he also makes some subtle comments,...
“Gyeongju” is available from Echelon Studios
Zhang Lu directs a very personal film, with the protagonist conversely mirroring his own situation, since Lu is Chinese, but now works in S. Korea. The dialogue is scarce and the pace quite slow, as Lu almost forces the audience to observe the surroundings, the beauties of the city, and the everyday life in it.
Through this trip, and the experiences Choi Hyeon has, he also makes some subtle comments,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Project marks second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Chinese sales company Parallax Films has taken the international rights (excluding Japan) to Berlinale Forum title Remembering Every Night.
It marks the second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Her latest follows three women of different generations who walk the streets of Tama New Town, a satellite city of Tokyo, over the course of one day. Each woman is burdened with her own worries and feelings of isolation as they struggle to move forward in their lives.
Chinese sales company Parallax Films has taken the international rights (excluding Japan) to Berlinale Forum title Remembering Every Night.
It marks the second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Her latest follows three women of different generations who walk the streets of Tama New Town, a satellite city of Tokyo, over the course of one day. Each woman is burdened with her own worries and feelings of isolation as they struggle to move forward in their lives.
- 2/21/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Watching over Beijing’s Xicheng district is an enormous white pagoda, a relic of the Kublai Khan rule, so majestic and otherworldly in looks and stature it might as well have been dropped on Earth from a far-flung planet. Legend has it the monument casts no shadow––not in its immediate vicinity, at least––though its silhouette is said to stretch as far as Tibet. No other corner of the megalopolis features as prominently as this one in Zhang Lu’s The Shadowless Tower, a film to which the 13th-century wonder lends its title as well as a metaphor for the kind of permanence its drifters fumble after. And no one among them is as drawn to it as Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing).
A middle-aged food critic, Gu’s the divorced father to a six-year-old daughter who’s been essentially adopted by his sister and her husband. His literary ambitions...
A middle-aged food critic, Gu’s the divorced father to a six-year-old daughter who’s been essentially adopted by his sister and her husband. His literary ambitions...
- 2/20/2023
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Eight films have screened with 11 more to come.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
- 2/20/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The central characters in The Shadowless Tower are orphaned, disconnected, separated from the roots that give them an emotional and spiritual mooring. The loss of his elderly mother prompts a divorced, middle-aged food critic to seek out the father from whom he’s been estranged since childhood, shaking him out of his torpor and causing him to re-examine his relationships. Chinese writer-director Zhang Lu’s minor-key drama will be too muted and elusive to break beyond festivals, but its melancholy spell stays with you.
The structure that gives the film its oblique title is the Yuan Dynasty White Pagoda, soaring high above Beijing’s Xicheng district but believed to cast a shadow only on the faraway Tibetan planes. Perhaps because he feels simultaneously stuck and adrift in a life going nowhere since his divorce two years earlier, former poet Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing) regards this prominent architectural feature of the...
The structure that gives the film its oblique title is the Yuan Dynasty White Pagoda, soaring high above Beijing’s Xicheng district but believed to cast a shadow only on the faraway Tibetan planes. Perhaps because he feels simultaneously stuck and adrift in a life going nowhere since his divorce two years earlier, former poet Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing) regards this prominent architectural feature of the...
- 2/18/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The eccentric design of the White Pagoda, a 13th-century Buddhist temple in the Xicheng district of Beijing, makes it hard to see its shadow. This has given rise to the local legend that its shade can actually be found some two thousand miles away in Tibet, the temple’s spiritual home. The landmark is a constant presence in Chinese director Zhang Lu’s tender, brimming “The Shadowless Tower,” which fixes its setting in the very heart of the Chinese capital, a city rarely portrayed as fondly as it is here. But the pagoda can also be seen as an evocatively imperfect metaphor for a lifestage: that tipping point in the middle of one’s time when, with the past and future weighing equally on either side, you can feel disoriented and suddenly directionless, as when the sun is directly overhead and you cast no shadow.
The gently befuddled Gu Wentong...
The gently befuddled Gu Wentong...
- 2/18/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
’Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything’, ’The Survival Of Kindness’ and ’BlackBerry’ land with middling scores.
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
- 2/18/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
As China’s post-pandemic reopening gathers steam, film executives in Beijing are feeling cautiously optimistic for the first time in years. Local audiences have cast off their masks and returned to the multiplex, regulators are signaling a relaxing of control, and film professionals are finally traveling freely again to re-engage with international festivals and markets.
Beijing industry players warn, however, that the current recovery is likely to benefit China’s big commercial tentpoles and Hollywood studio movies first — and that any rebound for the country’s nascent indie import business could take time.
On the international front, China’s re-engagement with the global film community at large is readily apparent at the year’s first major film festival, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where six Chinese features will premiere — including two in competition (Liu Jian’s animated film Art College 1984 and Zhang Lu’s drama The Shadowless Tower) — along...
Beijing industry players warn, however, that the current recovery is likely to benefit China’s big commercial tentpoles and Hollywood studio movies first — and that any rebound for the country’s nascent indie import business could take time.
On the international front, China’s re-engagement with the global film community at large is readily apparent at the year’s first major film festival, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where six Chinese features will premiere — including two in competition (Liu Jian’s animated film Art College 1984 and Zhang Lu’s drama The Shadowless Tower) — along...
- 2/17/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films Boutique has closed a flurry of deals on “Subtraction,” Mani Haghighi’s Iranian noir thriller which world premiered at Toronto in the competition Platform section.
The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and Cis (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films).
The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival.
Set in downtown Tehran, the movie stars Farzaneh as a young driving instructor who spots her husband, Jalal, walking into a woman’s apartment.
The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and Cis (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films).
The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival.
Set in downtown Tehran, the movie stars Farzaneh as a young driving instructor who spots her husband, Jalal, walking into a woman’s apartment.
- 2/15/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Slate includes features in Competition, Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections
Berlin-based sales outfit Films Boutique has unveiled a six-title Berlinale slate, including Zhang Lu’s competition title The Shadowless Tower as well as features playing in the festival’s Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections.
Films Boutique is representing two films playing in Encounters: Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s The Klezmer Project and Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó’s White Plastic Sky.
It is also handling director Claire Simon’s Forum documentary Our Body and Amr Gamal’s Panorama film The Burdened.
Rounding out Films Boutique’s EFM slate is Jessica Woodworth’s Luka,...
Berlin-based sales outfit Films Boutique has unveiled a six-title Berlinale slate, including Zhang Lu’s competition title The Shadowless Tower as well as features playing in the festival’s Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections.
Films Boutique is representing two films playing in Encounters: Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s The Klezmer Project and Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó’s White Plastic Sky.
It is also handling director Claire Simon’s Forum documentary Our Body and Amr Gamal’s Panorama film The Burdened.
Rounding out Films Boutique’s EFM slate is Jessica Woodworth’s Luka,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Festival runs in Austin, Texas, from March 10-19.
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
- 2/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Golden Angel Awards ceremony in San Gabriel, California, was an occasion that kept politics in the foreground, but which simultaneously managed to downplay the frosty current state of U.S.-China diplomatic relations.
The awards event on Friday night also served as the opening ceremony of the 18th edition of the Chinese American Film Festival (Caff) and Chinese American TV Festival (Catf), annual events which showcase Chinese movies in the home state of American moviemaking.
After an elegant fashion show by Chinese womenswear brand Yu Tai Xiang, U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu took to the stage to speak about the upcoming midterm elections in the U.S., talk up Chinese-American history, and to rail against the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S.
“We need the [U.S.] public to know that Aapi [Asian American and Pacific Islander] history is American history,” she said.
Caff organizer James Su laid down a similarly laudable message.
The awards event on Friday night also served as the opening ceremony of the 18th edition of the Chinese American Film Festival (Caff) and Chinese American TV Festival (Catf), annual events which showcase Chinese movies in the home state of American moviemaking.
After an elegant fashion show by Chinese womenswear brand Yu Tai Xiang, U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu took to the stage to speak about the upcoming midterm elections in the U.S., talk up Chinese-American history, and to rail against the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S.
“We need the [U.S.] public to know that Aapi [Asian American and Pacific Islander] history is American history,” she said.
Caff organizer James Su laid down a similarly laudable message.
- 11/7/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The 17th Osaka Asian Film Festival (Oaff) launched with the Japanese premiere screening of Zhang Lu (張律)’s Drama “Yanagawa” (漫長的告白) at Umeda Burg 7 on March 10, 2022.
The evening launched with a video message from Kamikura Tsuneyuki (上倉庸敬), Chairperson of the Osaka Executive Committee for the Promotion of Moving Image Culture in which he gave the opening greetings. Then, before the screening of the opening film “Yanagawa”, audiences were shown a video message from Zhang Lu, the director.
In his introductory message, Zhang Lu said, “Hello everyone at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I am the director, Zhang Lu. I am very honored to have my film “Yanagawa” selected as the opening film of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I would like to express my gratitude to all the Japanese staff who worked on this film. I would especially like to thank actors Ikematsu Sosuke (池松壮亮) and Nakano Ryoko (中野良子) for their brilliant performances.
The evening launched with a video message from Kamikura Tsuneyuki (上倉庸敬), Chairperson of the Osaka Executive Committee for the Promotion of Moving Image Culture in which he gave the opening greetings. Then, before the screening of the opening film “Yanagawa”, audiences were shown a video message from Zhang Lu, the director.
In his introductory message, Zhang Lu said, “Hello everyone at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I am the director, Zhang Lu. I am very honored to have my film “Yanagawa” selected as the opening film of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I would like to express my gratitude to all the Japanese staff who worked on this film. I would especially like to thank actors Ikematsu Sosuke (池松壮亮) and Nakano Ryoko (中野良子) for their brilliant performances.
- 3/10/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Osaka Asian Film Festival has unveiled its biggest ever program – a total of 76 films – to unspool next month.
Its competition section includes the acclaimed Korean debut film “Aloners,” which offers an exacting critique of the alienating effects upon life of modern capitalist economies; Hong Kong biopic “Anita”; the world premiere of “Angry Son,” which combines LGBT and mixed race themes in a heartwarming comedy; Kong Dashan’s new take on “Journey to the West,” as a ragtag group of people on a UFO hunt; “Mama’s Affair,” the second film by Kearen Pang, whose 2017 debut “29+1” won Osaka’s audience award, “No Land’s Man” from Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and festival circuit hit “Barbarian Invasion.”
The spotlight section includes ten titles. Among them are “The Ground Beneath her Feet” from Bangladesh’s Mohammad Rabby Mridha; “A Room of Her own” from China’s Xie Yiran; and Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Whether the Weather is Fine.
Its competition section includes the acclaimed Korean debut film “Aloners,” which offers an exacting critique of the alienating effects upon life of modern capitalist economies; Hong Kong biopic “Anita”; the world premiere of “Angry Son,” which combines LGBT and mixed race themes in a heartwarming comedy; Kong Dashan’s new take on “Journey to the West,” as a ragtag group of people on a UFO hunt; “Mama’s Affair,” the second film by Kearen Pang, whose 2017 debut “29+1” won Osaka’s audience award, “No Land’s Man” from Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and festival circuit hit “Barbarian Invasion.”
The spotlight section includes ten titles. Among them are “The Ground Beneath her Feet” from Bangladesh’s Mohammad Rabby Mridha; “A Room of Her own” from China’s Xie Yiran; and Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Whether the Weather is Fine.
- 2/17/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
New Japanese distributor has also secured rights to two further Zhang features.
New Japanese distributor Foggy has swooped on all Japanese rights to Zhang Lu’s romantic drama Yanagawa in a deal with China’s Parallax Films.
It is the first Chinese film from the Korean-Chinese director in over 10 years and won the top prize at this week’s Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France, following its world premiere at Busan in October. It is also set to open Japan’s Osaka Asian Film Festival on March 10.
Starring Japanese actor Sosuke Ikematsu and China’s Ni Ni and Zhang Luyi,...
New Japanese distributor Foggy has swooped on all Japanese rights to Zhang Lu’s romantic drama Yanagawa in a deal with China’s Parallax Films.
It is the first Chinese film from the Korean-Chinese director in over 10 years and won the top prize at this week’s Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France, following its world premiere at Busan in October. It is also set to open Japan’s Osaka Asian Film Festival on March 10.
Starring Japanese actor Sosuke Ikematsu and China’s Ni Ni and Zhang Luyi,...
- 2/12/2022
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Here are all the winners of the 28th Vesoul Iff Asian Cinemas that took place from the 1st to the 8th of February in Vesoul, France.
Honorary Golden Cyclo:
(offered by the Agglomeration Community and the city of Vesoul)
Mrs. Leila Hatami, actress, Iran for her entire career, and Mr. Kôji Fukada, director, Japan for the all of his work.
Cyclo D’Or:
(offered by the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), International Jury: President: Ms. Leila Hatami, actress (Iran), members: Ms. Suha Arraf, director (Palestine), Ms. Tran Bich Quan, distributor, producer (France), Mr. Zig Dulay, director (Philippines)
Yanagawa by Zhang Lu (China) Beautiful, strong images, based on a powerful and perfectly told story, lead us to the discovery of brotherly relationship and love
Grand Jury Prize:
Along The Sea by Fujimoto Akio (Japan) Exposing a calm, restful nature on the one hand, harsh and merciless on the other, the film confronts...
Honorary Golden Cyclo:
(offered by the Agglomeration Community and the city of Vesoul)
Mrs. Leila Hatami, actress, Iran for her entire career, and Mr. Kôji Fukada, director, Japan for the all of his work.
Cyclo D’Or:
(offered by the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), International Jury: President: Ms. Leila Hatami, actress (Iran), members: Ms. Suha Arraf, director (Palestine), Ms. Tran Bich Quan, distributor, producer (France), Mr. Zig Dulay, director (Philippines)
Yanagawa by Zhang Lu (China) Beautiful, strong images, based on a powerful and perfectly told story, lead us to the discovery of brotherly relationship and love
Grand Jury Prize:
Along The Sea by Fujimoto Akio (Japan) Exposing a calm, restful nature on the one hand, harsh and merciless on the other, the film confronts...
- 2/9/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
“Yanagawa,” which this week won the top prize at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas in France, has been set as the opening title of the 17th Osaka Asian Film Festival in Japan. The festival, which runs as an in-person event, March 10-20, 2022 will close with multinational co-production “Miss Osaka.”
Yanagawa, was directed by Korean-Chinese auteur Zhang Lu, and was filmed in China and Japan. Telling a tale of search for East-Asian identity, the film is Zhang’s first mainly Chinese-language picture in the eleven years since “Dooman River.”
It had its world premiere screening at Busan and was subsequently the opening film for the Pingyao International Film Festival. It is expected to receive a Japanese theatrical release later this year, though a date has not yet been finalized.
A unique Danish-Norwegian-Japanese co-production, directed by Daniel Dencik, “Miss Osaka” is a drama with mystery and thriller elements that...
Yanagawa, was directed by Korean-Chinese auteur Zhang Lu, and was filmed in China and Japan. Telling a tale of search for East-Asian identity, the film is Zhang’s first mainly Chinese-language picture in the eleven years since “Dooman River.”
It had its world premiere screening at Busan and was subsequently the opening film for the Pingyao International Film Festival. It is expected to receive a Japanese theatrical release later this year, though a date has not yet been finalized.
A unique Danish-Norwegian-Japanese co-production, directed by Daniel Dencik, “Miss Osaka” is a drama with mystery and thriller elements that...
- 2/9/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Zhang Lu’s “Yanagawa” (China), Hong Sung-eun’s “Aloners” (South Korea) and Fujimoto Akio’s “Along the Sea” (Japan/Vietnam) were among the top award winners at France’s Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemas.
“Yanagawa,” which opened the 2021 Pingyao Film Festival, won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top honor awarded by the international jury. “Aloners,” which has previously won awards at Jeonju and Torino, won the international jury prize and the Netpac jury award.
The grand jury prize went to San Sebastian, Tokyo and Fajr player “Along the Sea,” which also won the festival’s critic’s choice award and the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco) jury prize. The Inalco jury also recognized Da Fei’s “The Coffin Painter” (China).
The international jury accorded special mentions to Chung Mong-Hong’s Venice selection “The Falls” (Taiwan), Brillante Mendoza’s Busan Kim Ji Seok Award winner...
“Yanagawa,” which opened the 2021 Pingyao Film Festival, won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top honor awarded by the international jury. “Aloners,” which has previously won awards at Jeonju and Torino, won the international jury prize and the Netpac jury award.
The grand jury prize went to San Sebastian, Tokyo and Fajr player “Along the Sea,” which also won the festival’s critic’s choice award and the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco) jury prize. The Inalco jury also recognized Da Fei’s “The Coffin Painter” (China).
The international jury accorded special mentions to Chung Mong-Hong’s Venice selection “The Falls” (Taiwan), Brillante Mendoza’s Busan Kim Ji Seok Award winner...
- 2/8/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Most of us have a kind of bucket list with things like visiting distant places, doing something we are scared of but attracted to, saying ‘no’ to someone who made our life miserable, building a thing that would make other people jealous or whatever floats our individual boats. We would probably have even more ideas if the clock was ticking faster than one would like it to. What would be that one thing we absolutely needed to do if we had the worst of all news being delivered to us?
“Yanagawa ” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Zhang Lu builds the plot of his gentle drama “Yanagawa” around that concept, sending Dong on a trip to “Venice of Japan” Yanagawa with his older brother Li Chun (Bai Qing Xin). Dong has been diagnosed with 4th stage of cancer, and it’s a road of no return which he silently accepts,...
“Yanagawa ” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
Zhang Lu builds the plot of his gentle drama “Yanagawa” around that concept, sending Dong on a trip to “Venice of Japan” Yanagawa with his older brother Li Chun (Bai Qing Xin). Dong has been diagnosed with 4th stage of cancer, and it’s a road of no return which he silently accepts,...
- 2/7/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Most of us have a kind of bucket list with things like visiting distant places, doing something we are scared of but attracted to, saying ‘no’ to someone who made our life miserable, building a thing that would make other people jealous or whatever floats our individual boats. We would probably have even more ideas if the clock was ticking faster than one would like it to. What would be that one thing we absolutely needed to do if we had the worst of all news being delivered to us?
Zhang Lu builds the plot of his gentle drama “Yanagawa” around that concept, sending Dong on a trip to “Venice of Japan” Yanagawa with his older brother Li Chun (Bai Qing Xin). Dong has been diagnosed with 4th stage of cancer, and it’s a road of no return which he silently accepts, deciding not to lose the word about...
Zhang Lu builds the plot of his gentle drama “Yanagawa” around that concept, sending Dong on a trip to “Venice of Japan” Yanagawa with his older brother Li Chun (Bai Qing Xin). Dong has been diagnosed with 4th stage of cancer, and it’s a road of no return which he silently accepts, deciding not to lose the word about...
- 12/12/2021
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Small but growing production firm Midnight Blur Films has had a strong fall.
Its soft sci-fi feature “Journey to the West” just won top accolades at China’s Pingyao Intl. Film Festival, including the Fei Mu prize for best film, the Cinephilia Critics’ Award, and the youth jury award.
Its rights arm Parallax International Sales is at Tokyo this year looking for buyers for a selection of strong titles including “Journey to the West,” Asian Future Competition selection “The Coffin Painter,” director Zhang Lu’s Japan-set “Yanagawa,” stylish drama about the life of a Sichuan opera actor in the 80s “A New Old Play,” and “Annular Eclipse,” a dark sci-fi second feature from writer-director Zhang Chi.
“We hope we can build more connections with Asian buyers this year and expand our network to find buyers,” said Cao Liuying, co-founder and head of international sales.
In a year when the American Film Market...
Its soft sci-fi feature “Journey to the West” just won top accolades at China’s Pingyao Intl. Film Festival, including the Fei Mu prize for best film, the Cinephilia Critics’ Award, and the youth jury award.
Its rights arm Parallax International Sales is at Tokyo this year looking for buyers for a selection of strong titles including “Journey to the West,” Asian Future Competition selection “The Coffin Painter,” director Zhang Lu’s Japan-set “Yanagawa,” stylish drama about the life of a Sichuan opera actor in the 80s “A New Old Play,” and “Annular Eclipse,” a dark sci-fi second feature from writer-director Zhang Chi.
“We hope we can build more connections with Asian buyers this year and expand our network to find buyers,” said Cao Liuying, co-founder and head of international sales.
In a year when the American Film Market...
- 11/4/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Titles include Japan-set, Chinese-language romance ‘Yanagawa’.
Chinese sales company Parallax Films is one of the few from Asia to have a physical presence in Cannes, and co-founder and head of international sales Cao Liuying is in town with a trio of new titles.
Japan-set romantic drama Yanagawa is the first Chinese-language film by Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu in over 10 years. It stars China’s Ni Ni with Japanese actor Sosuke Ikematsu.
Parallax is also handling Wang Xide’s debut feature A Chat which recounts the loss and grief of three generations of women; and Zhang Chi’s sci-fi thriller Annular Eclipse,...
Chinese sales company Parallax Films is one of the few from Asia to have a physical presence in Cannes, and co-founder and head of international sales Cao Liuying is in town with a trio of new titles.
Japan-set romantic drama Yanagawa is the first Chinese-language film by Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu in over 10 years. It stars China’s Ni Ni with Japanese actor Sosuke Ikematsu.
Parallax is also handling Wang Xide’s debut feature A Chat which recounts the loss and grief of three generations of women; and Zhang Chi’s sci-fi thriller Annular Eclipse,...
- 7/7/2021
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Lee Choon-yun’s Whispering Corridors horror series helped launch the renaissance of Korean cinema.
Veteran South Korean producer Lee Choon-yun, whose Whispering Corridors horror series helped launch the renaissance of Korean cinema, died last night (May 11) in Seoul of heart failure.
Born October 21, 1951, Lee was 69 years old.
The local film industry has mobilised to organize his funeral as an “industry funeral” on May 15. In addition to being a prolific producer, Lee was known as a stalwart “elder brother” to the community, fostering careers and spearheaded causes such as the defense of cultural diversity in the Screen Quota movement and of...
Veteran South Korean producer Lee Choon-yun, whose Whispering Corridors horror series helped launch the renaissance of Korean cinema, died last night (May 11) in Seoul of heart failure.
Born October 21, 1951, Lee was 69 years old.
The local film industry has mobilised to organize his funeral as an “industry funeral” on May 15. In addition to being a prolific producer, Lee was known as a stalwart “elder brother” to the community, fostering careers and spearheaded causes such as the defense of cultural diversity in the Screen Quota movement and of...
- 5/12/2021
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
Asian films feature prominently on the debut slate of Crescendo House, a newly-launched distributor in North America. The company aims to take a boutique and curatorial approach at a time when streaming is changing the sector.
Each film will receive an exclusive, limited edition, collector’s home video release featuring bespoke artwork, packaging, and hours of extra content. Once the initial run sells out, the company will use the audience reception to convey the value of the film to exhibitors and secure wider theatrical releases suitable to them. “This exclusive content model aims to re-engage and inspire audiences with closely curated films that feature new and unique styles and voices,” said company founder and CEO Jason Ooi.
Crescendo has picked up rights to “Labyrinth of Cinema,” “Bloodsuckers,” and “Fukuoka,” and will schedule all three for release by the end of 2021.
The timing may be fortuitous. Not only are North American...
Each film will receive an exclusive, limited edition, collector’s home video release featuring bespoke artwork, packaging, and hours of extra content. Once the initial run sells out, the company will use the audience reception to convey the value of the film to exhibitors and secure wider theatrical releases suitable to them. “This exclusive content model aims to re-engage and inspire audiences with closely curated films that feature new and unique styles and voices,” said company founder and CEO Jason Ooi.
Crescendo has picked up rights to “Labyrinth of Cinema,” “Bloodsuckers,” and “Fukuoka,” and will schedule all three for release by the end of 2021.
The timing may be fortuitous. Not only are North American...
- 5/4/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Lee Joo-young has become a darling of sorts of Korean indie cinema. The actress, who studies film and theatre at the Kyung Hee University, started her cinematic journey with a debut in the short “Behinds” in 2011. But it wasn’t until indie director Zhang Lu’s “A Quiet Dream” in 2016 and her work in K-dramas like “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo” that her profile rose in prominence. Interesting roles in other Korean indies like “Jane” and “Maggie” followed, in which her performances were met with positive responses.
2020 has been good to her professionally. Beginning with her role of a transgender chef in the hit series “Itaewon Class“, which received a very favourable response, she also was the leading lady in the indie film “Baseball Girl” by Choi Yoon-tae, which released in the second half of 2020 and saw a high number of admissions, with her performance once again being applauded by critics,...
2020 has been good to her professionally. Beginning with her role of a transgender chef in the hit series “Itaewon Class“, which received a very favourable response, she also was the leading lady in the indie film “Baseball Girl” by Choi Yoon-tae, which released in the second half of 2020 and saw a high number of admissions, with her performance once again being applauded by critics,...
- 10/16/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu has finished shooting “Yanagawa,” his first Chinese film in over a decade, which he filmed in Japan. The project is backed by China’s Huanxi Media and Midnight Blur Films, with both firms holding global rights.
The new title is now heading into post-production, though the coronavirus epidemic in China has complicated work flows. It is the first film to come out of the production arm of Midnight Blur Films.
The movie tells the story of two very different brothers who take a trip to Yanagawa, Japan, to find the woman they both loved in their youth. It stars Chinese actress Ni Ni, who appeared alongside Christian Bale in Zhang Yimou’s 2011 historical war drama “The Flowers of War,” as well as actors Zhang Luyi (“The Devotion of Suspect X”) and Xin Baiqing (Chen Kaige’s “Legend of the Demon Cat”) as the two brothers. The...
The new title is now heading into post-production, though the coronavirus epidemic in China has complicated work flows. It is the first film to come out of the production arm of Midnight Blur Films.
The movie tells the story of two very different brothers who take a trip to Yanagawa, Japan, to find the woman they both loved in their youth. It stars Chinese actress Ni Ni, who appeared alongside Christian Bale in Zhang Yimou’s 2011 historical war drama “The Flowers of War,” as well as actors Zhang Luyi (“The Devotion of Suspect X”) and Xin Baiqing (Chen Kaige’s “Legend of the Demon Cat”) as the two brothers. The...
- 2/20/2020
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Although their acting may not have been recognized by The Academy, we imagine the SAG-winning cast of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has their pick of the litter when it comes to upcoming productions, both in Hollywood and beyond. We desperately hope this means they’ll be showing up in projects that let their skills shine rather than as Marvel villains or as part of the latest Disney live-action remakes. While that remains to be seen, one of the first projects coming post-Parasite for one of the stars is Fukuoka, featuring Jessica aka Kim Ki-jeong herself, Park So-dam.
The film, which actually premiered at last year’s Berlinale but is now arriving in Korean cinemas next month, comes from director Zhang Lu and also stars Kwon Hae-hyo (recently seen in Hong Sang-soo’s The Day After and Hotel by the River). The Japan-set film follows two friends from college,...
The film, which actually premiered at last year’s Berlinale but is now arriving in Korean cinemas next month, comes from director Zhang Lu and also stars Kwon Hae-hyo (recently seen in Hong Sang-soo’s The Day After and Hotel by the River). The Japan-set film follows two friends from college,...
- 2/17/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Following on from 2016’s A Quiet Dream, director Zhang Lu returns with another playfully enigmatic look at two meandering lives in Ode to the Goose.
The film opens with aspiring poet Yun-young traveling to the port town of Gunsan with companion Song-hyun. After being pointed in the direction of a hotel that is said to be selective of guests, the two are admitted entry and their journey bifurcates with Yun-young being drawn to the hotel owner’s shut-in daughter, while Song-hyun strikes up a friendship with the owner himself. Within this scenario, Zhang-lu weaves a rich tapestry of narrative threads that reflect on both his character’s present attitudes and their displaced pasts.
Zhang Lu’s smart, lyrical features have long made him a favourite of the international film festival scene, with past successes including Grain in Ear (2005), Dooman River (2010) and Gyeongju (2014). His latest recalls the work of Korea’s other great auteur,...
The film opens with aspiring poet Yun-young traveling to the port town of Gunsan with companion Song-hyun. After being pointed in the direction of a hotel that is said to be selective of guests, the two are admitted entry and their journey bifurcates with Yun-young being drawn to the hotel owner’s shut-in daughter, while Song-hyun strikes up a friendship with the owner himself. Within this scenario, Zhang-lu weaves a rich tapestry of narrative threads that reflect on both his character’s present attitudes and their displaced pasts.
Zhang Lu’s smart, lyrical features have long made him a favourite of the international film festival scene, with past successes including Grain in Ear (2005), Dooman River (2010) and Gyeongju (2014). His latest recalls the work of Korea’s other great auteur,...
- 8/2/2019
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Six Asian filmmakers will be assigned $145,000 (RMB1m) to make a high-quality film.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) is joining forces with China’s Heaven Pictures on a slate of six low-budget films from prominent Asian directors.
The initiative, entitled ‘B2B A Love Supreme’, with B2B standing for “Back to Basics”, will challenge each filmmaker to make a high-quality film with the relatively low budget of $145,000 (RMB1m).
The participating filmmakers include Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang (Stray Dogs), Japan’s Yuya Ishii (The Great Passage), Korean-Chinese veteran Zhang Lu (Fukuoka), Chinese indie filmmaker Yang Jin...
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) is joining forces with China’s Heaven Pictures on a slate of six low-budget films from prominent Asian directors.
The initiative, entitled ‘B2B A Love Supreme’, with B2B standing for “Back to Basics”, will challenge each filmmaker to make a high-quality film with the relatively low budget of $145,000 (RMB1m).
The participating filmmakers include Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang (Stray Dogs), Japan’s Yuya Ishii (The Great Passage), Korean-Chinese veteran Zhang Lu (Fukuoka), Chinese indie filmmaker Yang Jin...
- 6/20/2019
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) and China’s Heaven Pictures announced that they will award six Asian filmmakers RMB1 million in a joint project to demonstrate how high-quality films can still be made inexpensively.
The six films that emerge from the new initiative, titled “Back to Basics (B2B): A Love Supreme,” will be co-produced by the two entities and released over the next three years. Hkiffs will handle international sales and festival strategies, while Heaven Pictures will handle mainland distribution.
Participating directors include Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-Liang, Japan’s Ishii Yuya, Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu, Chinese independent filmmaker Yang Jin, Malaysian New Wave director Tan Chui Mui, and Hong Kong director Philip Yung, whose “Port of Call” won seven Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015.
“We aim to strip away the artifice of much contemporary movie-making, returning cinema to something raw and exciting,” said Jacob Wong,...
The six films that emerge from the new initiative, titled “Back to Basics (B2B): A Love Supreme,” will be co-produced by the two entities and released over the next three years. Hkiffs will handle international sales and festival strategies, while Heaven Pictures will handle mainland distribution.
Participating directors include Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-Liang, Japan’s Ishii Yuya, Korean-Chinese director Zhang Lu, Chinese independent filmmaker Yang Jin, Malaysian New Wave director Tan Chui Mui, and Hong Kong director Philip Yung, whose “Port of Call” won seven Hong Kong Film Awards in 2015.
“We aim to strip away the artifice of much contemporary movie-making, returning cinema to something raw and exciting,” said Jacob Wong,...
- 6/20/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
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