Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market.
The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.
Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. A man, nicknamed “Reindeer,”, is released from prison and becomes involved in a child-abduction case across Northeast China. The man, a pregnant young woman and a mute boy wade into the dense forests of the frozen North in search of an abducted child. The film exposes a family-run human trafficking organization and portrays the underworld of the Northern border of China.
The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni and Song Jia.
The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.
Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. A man, nicknamed “Reindeer,”, is released from prison and becomes involved in a child-abduction case across Northeast China. The man, a pregnant young woman and a mute boy wade into the dense forests of the frozen North in search of an abducted child. The film exposes a family-run human trafficking organization and portrays the underworld of the Northern border of China.
The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni and Song Jia.
- 5/9/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
China’s Midnight Blur Films has sold the rights to Chinese arthouse title “Wisdom Tooth” to French firm Asc Distribution, which will release it theatrically in France later this year.
The deal also includes theatrical, video and TV rights for Belgium, Switzerland and the French overseas departments and territories.
The debut feature from director Liang Ming premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in October, where it received the jury prize and best director award. Its European premiere was at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, where it took part in the Bright Future Competition.
Set during a freezing winter in a hardscrabble fishing town in China’s industrial northeast, the film tells the story of a shifting web of relationships between a young girl, her beloved brother and his new, charismatic girlfriend. The three become embroiled in shady dealings in their town after an oil spill grounds the local fishing...
The deal also includes theatrical, video and TV rights for Belgium, Switzerland and the French overseas departments and territories.
The debut feature from director Liang Ming premiered at the Pingyao International Film Festival in October, where it received the jury prize and best director award. Its European premiere was at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, where it took part in the Bright Future Competition.
Set during a freezing winter in a hardscrabble fishing town in China’s industrial northeast, the film tells the story of a shifting web of relationships between a young girl, her beloved brother and his new, charismatic girlfriend. The three become embroiled in shady dealings in their town after an oil spill grounds the local fishing...
- 3/6/2020
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
It was the shot Chinese-American director Ren Wen had spent an entire day of his short 15-day shoot preparing for: a long take in which a supposedly sweet old woman brutally kicks the protagonist of the film out of the car, leaving him to die in the freezing night of a future world where the sun has flamed out.
But when Chinese censors handed “Last Sunrise” back to Ren with the single, vague piece of feedback that the film “showed too much of the darkness of humanity,” he realized the shot had to go. “The problem is they’re not specific, so we just had to cut whatever we thought they might find too dark or violent” — about four minutes of material, he says. More experienced Chinese colleagues had counseled him to cut more than he thought necessary. Not removing enough “shows that you have an ‘attitude problem,’ which will...
But when Chinese censors handed “Last Sunrise” back to Ren with the single, vague piece of feedback that the film “showed too much of the darkness of humanity,” he realized the shot had to go. “The problem is they’re not specific, so we just had to cut whatever we thought they might find too dark or violent” — about four minutes of material, he says. More experienced Chinese colleagues had counseled him to cut more than he thought necessary. Not removing enough “shows that you have an ‘attitude problem,’ which will...
- 5/14/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“A First Farewell,” which debuted this week at the Berlin Film Festival, has secured its first sale and looks set to have a promising festival career. The movie is the first in nearly 30 years at the Berlinale to have been shot in Uighur, the language spoken in the vast western Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Following its premiere in Berlin’s Generation Kplus youth section, the Chinese-made film has received 10 additional festival invitations and been sold to Italy’s Mariposa Cinematografica. Sales agent Flash Forward Entertainment says it is also in advanced negotiations to license the film to major territories including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, India, and South Korea.
At home in China, the completed film, by first-time director Lina Wang, secured investment from Tencent Pictures, the filmmaking arm of China’s social media, games and video giant Tencent. A domestic release strategy has not yet been elaborated.
Following its premiere in Berlin’s Generation Kplus youth section, the Chinese-made film has received 10 additional festival invitations and been sold to Italy’s Mariposa Cinematografica. Sales agent Flash Forward Entertainment says it is also in advanced negotiations to license the film to major territories including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Spain, India, and South Korea.
At home in China, the completed film, by first-time director Lina Wang, secured investment from Tencent Pictures, the filmmaking arm of China’s social media, games and video giant Tencent. A domestic release strategy has not yet been elaborated.
- 2/14/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Independent cinema, as it existed in its ’90s heyday, is undergoing a slow death in China, suffering the joint onslaught of hot money luring away talent to commercial projects and intensifying censorship.
But independent-style films that look and feel like indies — yet are nonetheless studio-financed and exist within China’s strict censorship regime — may see a renaissance, particularly as the country’s industry matures and viewers’ tastes diversify.
To be sure, independent cinema has had a unique trajectory in Communist China. Unlike in the U.S., where the category was defined in opposition to the big Hollywood studios, Chinese independent cinema has historically stood in opposition to the state. All Chinese films must pass strict content reviews to obtain a “dragon seal” prior to commercial release, but early indies consciously chose not to do so, occupying a space more akin to underground cinema.
Now, with the appearance of non-government-backed private studios,...
But independent-style films that look and feel like indies — yet are nonetheless studio-financed and exist within China’s strict censorship regime — may see a renaissance, particularly as the country’s industry matures and viewers’ tastes diversify.
To be sure, independent cinema has had a unique trajectory in Communist China. Unlike in the U.S., where the category was defined in opposition to the big Hollywood studios, Chinese independent cinema has historically stood in opposition to the state. All Chinese films must pass strict content reviews to obtain a “dragon seal” prior to commercial release, but early indies consciously chose not to do so, occupying a space more akin to underground cinema.
Now, with the appearance of non-government-backed private studios,...
- 2/7/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics a question pertaining to the contemporary movie landscape.
This week’s question: What’s a criminally under-appreciated 2018 movie that people should be sure to watch before the end of the year?
Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly), Freelance
I would like to draw everyone’s attention to Yen Tan’s exquisite AIDS crisis drama “1985”–a compassionate and gorgeously shot black & white film that follows a young, closeted man as he visits his conservative parents in a small Texan town and harbors heartbreaking secrets. It’s a true tearjerker, delicately small-scaled and features some of the most fully-realized character journeys I’ve seen on screen this year. I believe it comes out on DVD/Blu mid-December; hopefully it will be available for digital rental at that point as well.
Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM), Solzy at the Movies/Freelance
Even though it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...
This week’s question: What’s a criminally under-appreciated 2018 movie that people should be sure to watch before the end of the year?
Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly), Freelance
I would like to draw everyone’s attention to Yen Tan’s exquisite AIDS crisis drama “1985”–a compassionate and gorgeously shot black & white film that follows a young, closeted man as he visits his conservative parents in a small Texan town and harbors heartbreaking secrets. It’s a true tearjerker, delicately small-scaled and features some of the most fully-realized character journeys I’ve seen on screen this year. I believe it comes out on DVD/Blu mid-December; hopefully it will be available for digital rental at that point as well.
Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM), Solzy at the Movies/Freelance
Even though it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...
- 12/3/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
After an interlude producing the successful noir “Black Coal, Thin Ice”, awarded in Berlin, Vivian Qu is back on the director chair with her sophomore film “Angels Wear White”. The movie premiered at the last edition of Venice International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Best Film Award and went on collecting several nominations and awards, one for all the prestigious Taiwanese Golden Horse Award. Nevertheless, the film has encountered some problems with Chinese censorship because of its controversial topic and social commentary.
In a provincial seaside town on the Hainan Island, Mia (Wen Qi) works as a cleaner for an upmarket motel. She hasn’t got documents and tries to maintain a low profile, taking any job she finds without questioning too much, as – like many migrants – her goal is to save enough money to buy her way through bureaucracy. A hard-working, cheeky and friendly 15-year-old,...
In a provincial seaside town on the Hainan Island, Mia (Wen Qi) works as a cleaner for an upmarket motel. She hasn’t got documents and tries to maintain a low profile, taking any job she finds without questioning too much, as – like many migrants – her goal is to save enough money to buy her way through bureaucracy. A hard-working, cheeky and friendly 15-year-old,...
- 10/20/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
As China is set to take over North America to become the single largest film market within the next years, more attention will/should be paid to its formidable and ever-expanding supply of home-grown talents. With the world premiere of his debut feature The Enigma of Arrival in Busan, the spotlight is on writer/director Song Wen, best known for founding the Xining First International Film Festival which, for its celebration of non-mainstream films and emerging filmmakers, is sometimes referred to as the Chinese Sundance.
This background is telling, for Song’s approach to this multiplex-friendly, nostalgia-laced dramatic thriller is not without arthouse aspirations. And while it ultimately doesn’t meet some of its loftier goals, it’s a surprise nonetheless to find such dreamy, strikingly sensitive tone in an essentially commercial picture.
The film opens with an intriguing sort-of prologue. The thoughtful, weary voice of narrator San Pi (Liu...
This background is telling, for Song’s approach to this multiplex-friendly, nostalgia-laced dramatic thriller is not without arthouse aspirations. And while it ultimately doesn’t meet some of its loftier goals, it’s a surprise nonetheless to find such dreamy, strikingly sensitive tone in an essentially commercial picture.
The film opens with an intriguing sort-of prologue. The thoughtful, weary voice of narrator San Pi (Liu...
- 10/7/2018
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
Open letter calls for 50/50 gender parity pledge and training in unconscious bias.
The European Women’s Audiovsiual Network (Ewa) has published a strongly-worded open letter to Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice film festival, decrying the lack of female directors selected for the main competition this year and calling him out on his claim of “quality not gender”.
It calls on Barbera to commit to 50/50 gender equity for female dirctors and to educate his programming team in how to avoid the pitfalls of unconscious bias.
The letter was co-signed by Women in Film and Television International (Wifti), Wift Nordic,...
The European Women’s Audiovsiual Network (Ewa) has published a strongly-worded open letter to Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice film festival, decrying the lack of female directors selected for the main competition this year and calling him out on his claim of “quality not gender”.
It calls on Barbera to commit to 50/50 gender equity for female dirctors and to educate his programming team in how to avoid the pitfalls of unconscious bias.
The letter was co-signed by Women in Film and Television International (Wifti), Wift Nordic,...
- 8/13/2018
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
The Sarajevo Film Festival kicked off Friday with Polish drama “Cold War,” marking a return to the city for Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski.
Pawlikowski, who won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his film about star-crossed lovers in 1950s Europe, said he was especially delighted to have his film open the festival. “I have been in love with Sarajevo for a long time – haunted by it,” he said, adding that he became enamored of the city after seeing Emir Kusturica’s 1981 film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?”
During the opening ceremony, festival director Mirsad Purivata presented Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan with an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for his “extraordinary contribution to the art of film.” “This is great honor for me, really, and I accept it with my heart,” Ceylan said.
The festival is showcasing his cinematic and photographic works, including his 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,...
Pawlikowski, who won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his film about star-crossed lovers in 1950s Europe, said he was especially delighted to have his film open the festival. “I have been in love with Sarajevo for a long time – haunted by it,” he said, adding that he became enamored of the city after seeing Emir Kusturica’s 1981 film “Do You Remember Dolly Bell?”
During the opening ceremony, festival director Mirsad Purivata presented Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan with an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for his “extraordinary contribution to the art of film.” “This is great honor for me, really, and I accept it with my heart,” Ceylan said.
The festival is showcasing his cinematic and photographic works, including his 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,...
- 8/11/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival is under fire from the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and other advocacy groups due to the lack of women directors in its lineup.
In a forthright open letter, the Ewa and signatories including Women in Film & TV International, Wift Nordic, Wift Sweden, and the Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network, call on Venice to follow the lead of Cannes and Locarno by introducing a diversity pledge and to train staff in detecting “unconscious bias.”
Venice’s main competition lineup only features one female director, Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale. The numbers are getting worse, not better. While women directors made up 22% of the competition in 2012, that percentage has decreased or stayed the same each year since. It has dropped to 4.5% the last two years.
In the letter, which is published in full below, the group says, “Venice, we have seen this film before…these festivals indicate their priorities and values.
In a forthright open letter, the Ewa and signatories including Women in Film & TV International, Wift Nordic, Wift Sweden, and the Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network, call on Venice to follow the lead of Cannes and Locarno by introducing a diversity pledge and to train staff in detecting “unconscious bias.”
Venice’s main competition lineup only features one female director, Jennifer Kent for The Nightingale. The numbers are getting worse, not better. While women directors made up 22% of the competition in 2012, that percentage has decreased or stayed the same each year since. It has dropped to 4.5% the last two years.
In the letter, which is published in full below, the group says, “Venice, we have seen this film before…these festivals indicate their priorities and values.
- 8/10/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival has come under fire from the European Women’s Audiovisual Network and several other advocacy groups for virtually shutting out female directors from its competition section. In an open letter, the Ewa has also demanded that Venice join the Cannes and Locarno fests in signing a gender-parity pledge.
“We have seen this film before,” the letter said, referring to the fact that, for the second year in a row, only one out of the 21 competition titles at Venice is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale.” “Angels Wear White,” by Chinese director Vivian Qu, was last year’s lone competition title directed by a woman.
The Ewa took issue with Venice artistic chief Alberto Barbera, who, while pledging to try to do more to boost female representation, said recently that he would quit “if we impose quotas or gender-equality needs.”
“When Alberto Barbera threatens to quit,...
“We have seen this film before,” the letter said, referring to the fact that, for the second year in a row, only one out of the 21 competition titles at Venice is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale.” “Angels Wear White,” by Chinese director Vivian Qu, was last year’s lone competition title directed by a woman.
The Ewa took issue with Venice artistic chief Alberto Barbera, who, while pledging to try to do more to boost female representation, said recently that he would quit “if we impose quotas or gender-equality needs.”
“When Alberto Barbera threatens to quit,...
- 8/10/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A group of global women's organizations have written an open letter to the president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta, which specifically calls out Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera for the lack of female representation in the official lineup each year.
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
- 8/10/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A group of global women's organizations have written an open letter to the president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta, which specifically calls out Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera for the lack of female representation in the official lineup each year.
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
Last year, one film out of 21 in the official lineup was directed by a woman, Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White. Barbera doubled down this year with just one film again, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale. "Venice, we have seen this film before," reads the letter.
"As if years of repeating that the ...
- 8/10/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
This year’s Venice Film Festival lineup has some world class auteurs on display — from Alfonso Cuaron to the Coen brothers — but once again, female filmmakers didn’t fare so well. Among the 21 films announced as part of this year’s competition lineup, only one is directed by a woman: Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale,” the Australian filmmaker’s followup to her lauded “The Babadook.” Moreover, among the 60 films picked as part of the festival’s “Official Selection”, just eight were directed by women. Other female filmmakers represented on the slate include Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Mary Harron, Sarah Marx, and Margherita Ferri.
In recent years, the annual festival has similarly fallen short when it comes to women-directed films, averaging just one in a field of 18 to 22 selections over the past six years. It wasn’t always this way: in 2012, 2011, 2009, the festival hosted four competition titles from women, but their representation has seriously dipped.
In recent years, the annual festival has similarly fallen short when it comes to women-directed films, averaging just one in a field of 18 to 22 selections over the past six years. It wasn’t always this way: in 2012, 2011, 2009, the festival hosted four competition titles from women, but their representation has seriously dipped.
- 7/25/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The programme will screen 17 titles from around the world.
Sarajevo Film Festival (August 10-18) has revealed the 17 titles that will play in its Kinoscope programme, with China, Brazil and the Us all represented.
The Kinoscope section is open to films from around the world, excluding the Southeastern European territories which comprise the festival’s competition strand.
On the list is a special screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May this year. Screen’s review described it as ‘a masterful ensemble piece about a ‘family’ living on its wits’.
Also appearing after...
Sarajevo Film Festival (August 10-18) has revealed the 17 titles that will play in its Kinoscope programme, with China, Brazil and the Us all represented.
The Kinoscope section is open to films from around the world, excluding the Southeastern European territories which comprise the festival’s competition strand.
On the list is a special screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May this year. Screen’s review described it as ‘a masterful ensemble piece about a ‘family’ living on its wits’.
Also appearing after...
- 7/25/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Contemporary Chinese Cinema is a column devoted to exploring contemporary Chinese-language cinema primarily as it is revealed to us at North American multiplexes.Dead PigsWith the exception of the fine time-travel romantic comedy How Long Will I Love U, which has been doing very well at the box office in China and can still be found in select cities over here, there haven’t been many Chinese films of note recently on North American screens. There will be more to look forward to this summer, starting with Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee and the Four Heavenly Kings, which is set for a late July release. And recently New York audiences have been blessed by retrospectives on Sylvia Chang and Chang Cheh. For the rest of us, however, pickings have been slim. While current distribution patterns see a decent number of Chinese films make it to select mainstream multiplexes, those films...
- 6/19/2018
- MUBI
As the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements press for gender equity in the U.S., women in China’s film industry also suffer from a lack of opportunity and sexist treatment, director Vivian Qu said in Cannes on Sunday.
“The differences in remuneration between men and women in China are less obvious [than in the West], but they are well understood,” said Qu, whose child abuse and conspiracy drama “Angels Wear White” was the biggest breakout indie film from China last year.
“Any women-centric film proposal cannot get beyond a certain budget level. But if you take a male assistant to a meeting, then you can get more money. There is an assumption that women filmmakers cannot handle a big budget.”
Qu spoke at a seminar organized by global fashion giant Kering on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. Other speakers at the event included singer-actress Chris Lee and actor Z. Tao.
“The differences in remuneration between men and women in China are less obvious [than in the West], but they are well understood,” said Qu, whose child abuse and conspiracy drama “Angels Wear White” was the biggest breakout indie film from China last year.
“Any women-centric film proposal cannot get beyond a certain budget level. But if you take a male assistant to a meeting, then you can get more money. There is an assumption that women filmmakers cannot handle a big budget.”
Qu spoke at a seminar organized by global fashion giant Kering on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. Other speakers at the event included singer-actress Chris Lee and actor Z. Tao.
- 5/13/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
If there’s a common theme weaved throughout the 2018 Nashville Film Festival, it’s a strong sense of diversity. With submissions from more than 135 countries and female filmmakers making up more than 40% of the film bracket, in addition to several films led by African-Americans and those who defy gender norms, filmmakers from wide-ranging backgrounds are turning to the Nashville Film Festival as an outlet to share their voices.
“The storytelling has gotten deeper,” artistic director Brian Owens says of the 2018 festival, which runs May 10-19 at Regal Hollywood Stadium 27. “These films really address the now, all the way through the program. There really seems to be an urgency that wasn’t there before. It’s a reflection of the times.”
This sense of urgency is mirrored in the festival’s numerous documentaries, a category in which the presence of women is prominent across a variety of socially conscious films. “Dark Money” is one example,...
“The storytelling has gotten deeper,” artistic director Brian Owens says of the 2018 festival, which runs May 10-19 at Regal Hollywood Stadium 27. “These films really address the now, all the way through the program. There really seems to be an urgency that wasn’t there before. It’s a reflection of the times.”
This sense of urgency is mirrored in the festival’s numerous documentaries, a category in which the presence of women is prominent across a variety of socially conscious films. “Dark Money” is one example,...
- 5/10/2018
- by Cillea Houghton
- Variety Film + TV
“I’m a supporter of positive discrimination in everyday life, but not in the selection process of Cannes. Filmmakers want to be considered as artists,” said Thierry Frémaux after the Cannes lineup was announced.
Fremaux, director of the fest, is expected to announce further measures in support of anti-harassment initiatives at a Monday press conference in advance of the fest’s opening.
His earlier remarks came in defense of the world’s most high-profile festival selecting only three female-helmed films for its 2018 competition. While observers had hoped that in the wake of #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, gender pay parity and inclusion riders, Cannes would reconsider its attitude toward women directors, Fremaux’s answer is both honest and disingenous.
Honest because women helmers will tell you that it’s true — they are artists and should be considered as such, just as their male counterparts are — but disingenuous because what...
Fremaux, director of the fest, is expected to announce further measures in support of anti-harassment initiatives at a Monday press conference in advance of the fest’s opening.
His earlier remarks came in defense of the world’s most high-profile festival selecting only three female-helmed films for its 2018 competition. While observers had hoped that in the wake of #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, gender pay parity and inclusion riders, Cannes would reconsider its attitude toward women directors, Fremaux’s answer is both honest and disingenous.
Honest because women helmers will tell you that it’s true — they are artists and should be considered as such, just as their male counterparts are — but disingenuous because what...
- 5/7/2018
- by Simran Hans
- Variety Film + TV
At last year’s Venice Film Festival, just one film from a female filmmaker — Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White” — was counted amongst the starry competition titles, and while Qu’s film didn’t win the big prize, it walked away with its own timely distinction: it’s a #MeToo film made before #MeToo swept Hollywood. Just weeks after Venice wrapped, disgraced producer Harvey Weintsein was accused of multiple acts of sexual assault and harassment, setting loose a new era in the industry.
Qu’s film proved to be a prescient piece of #MeToo cinema during its premiere, and its power has only increased during the subsequent months between its Venice debut and its domestic release.
Half-noir, half-human drama, the film follows young hotel clerk Mia (Vicky Chen), who witnesses a horrific sexual assault perpetrated against a pair of young schoolgirls by a middle-aged man during a night shift. Terrified of losing her job,...
Qu’s film proved to be a prescient piece of #MeToo cinema during its premiere, and its power has only increased during the subsequent months between its Venice debut and its domestic release.
Half-noir, half-human drama, the film follows young hotel clerk Mia (Vicky Chen), who witnesses a horrific sexual assault perpetrated against a pair of young schoolgirls by a middle-aged man during a night shift. Terrified of losing her job,...
- 4/18/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Angels may wear white, but Xioawen and Mia aren’t angels. The two girls, played with vigor by Zhou Meijun and Wen Qu, respectively, don’t enjoy the kind of hashtag-blessed reality they might dream about. Mia, the older of the two, cleans up at a low-rent love motel that Wen and a friend are brought to by a man who turns out to be the local police commissioner; he’s there for exactly the reason you’d queasily suspect and, we soon learn, does exactly that.
If you weren’t aware that “Angels Wear White” premiered a month before the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, you’d be forgiven for thinking Vivian Qu’s nuanced drama was made to show the #MeToo movement from a Chinese perspective. The actual assault is never shown, with Qu focusing entirely on the aftermath — a long, drawn-out process that’s no less traumatic than...
If you weren’t aware that “Angels Wear White” premiered a month before the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, you’d be forgiven for thinking Vivian Qu’s nuanced drama was made to show the #MeToo movement from a Chinese perspective. The actual assault is never shown, with Qu focusing entirely on the aftermath — a long, drawn-out process that’s no less traumatic than...
- 2/9/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Angels Wear White, Youth and The Third Murder also score multiple nods.
Source: 21st Century Shengkai Film
‘Legend Of The Demon Cat’
Chen Kaige’s lavish period drama Legend Of The Demon Cat racked up the most nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards, with six nods in all, including best director.
The co-production between Hong Kong, China and Japan was also nominated for best supporting actress (Kitty Zhang Yuqi), cinematography, costume design, production design and visual effects. However, the film wasn’t nominated in the best film category.
Three films scored five nods apiece and were all nominated for best film – Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White and Feng Xiaogang’s Youth, both from mainland China, and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder.
Rounding out the best film category are Newton from Indian filmmaker Amit V. Masurkar and The Day After from South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, which both racked...
Source: 21st Century Shengkai Film
‘Legend Of The Demon Cat’
Chen Kaige’s lavish period drama Legend Of The Demon Cat racked up the most nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards, with six nods in all, including best director.
The co-production between Hong Kong, China and Japan was also nominated for best supporting actress (Kitty Zhang Yuqi), cinematography, costume design, production design and visual effects. However, the film wasn’t nominated in the best film category.
Three films scored five nods apiece and were all nominated for best film – Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White and Feng Xiaogang’s Youth, both from mainland China, and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder.
Rounding out the best film category are Newton from Indian filmmaker Amit V. Masurkar and The Day After from South Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, which both racked...
- 1/11/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Festival launches international competition to be judged by audiences.
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
- 1/9/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Every year, new films premiere at festivals around the world with the hopes of obtaining distribution so they can be seen by general audiences. Of course, not every film ends up with that fate: some don’t get accepted to festivals, others screen at smaller festivals with less publicity, and even the ones that do end up premiering at a major fest aren’t guaranteed a deal. This results in great films falling through the cracks, ignored and/or forgotten because of their perceived profitability rather than their quality.
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
- 12/31/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
After The Conformist's Tokyo FilmEx screening, a viewer asked director Cai Shangjun whether film noir is a genre on the rise in Chinese cinema. It's not hard to see why. Cai's third and latest feature, which bowed at FilmEx alongside Vivian Qu's noir-inflected Angels Wear White, is a finely crafted tale in which a hard-boiled hoodlum contends with myriad criminals, multiple conspiracies and an icy femme fatale in bleak border outposts in China and Russia.
Though The Conformist's story and visual style bear scant resemblance to Bernando Bertolucci's thriller of the same name, Cai has acquitted himself with many...
Though The Conformist's story and visual style bear scant resemblance to Bernando Bertolucci's thriller of the same name, Cai has acquitted himself with many...
- 11/29/2017
- by Clarence Tsui
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Being the biggest of its kind in Asia, the Busan International Film Festival offers an excellent showcase for emerging talents from the vast and vastly varied continent. Premiering in the regionally focused section “A Window on Asian Cinema”, the alluring, densely-packed dramatic thriller The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful makes a case for genre filmmaking in Taiwan, a country audiences worldwide probably associate with the lyrical, contemplative imagery of Hou Hsiao-hsien or Tsai Ming-liang . Thanks in no small part to a sizzling female ensemble (actressexuals: take note), director Ya-che Yang’s third feature shows a snappier side of the island and thoroughly entertains.
Set in the indeterminate past in the tropical metropolis Kaohsiung, the story centers around Madame Tang (Kara Wai) – who ostensibly runs an antiques dealership but mainly acts as a go-between for dirty businessmen and crooked politicians – and her two daughters Ning (Ke-Xi Wu) and Chen...
Set in the indeterminate past in the tropical metropolis Kaohsiung, the story centers around Madame Tang (Kara Wai) – who ostensibly runs an antiques dealership but mainly acts as a go-between for dirty businessmen and crooked politicians – and her two daughters Ning (Ke-Xi Wu) and Chen...
- 10/22/2017
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
Let’s think about the title to Vivian Qu’s sophomore effort Angels Wear White because the meaning goes far beyond the words themselves. On the surface it’s simply describing religious iconography and the idea that angels wear flowing white linens with halos on heads and harps in hands. But we’ve taken this concept and brought it into real life too. “White” has become synonymous with purity, trust, and expertise. We see a white lab coat on a doctor and automatically provide him/her a reverence built on nothing but an article of clothing. We don’t know them. We merely assume they have our best interests in mind. That white sheen doesn’t mean they’re incorruptible, though. Anyone can be bought or sold despite appearances. Everyone has a price.
Perhaps the cost is paid with money or maybe silence. For the young women at the center...
Perhaps the cost is paid with money or maybe silence. For the young women at the center...
- 10/15/2017
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Vivian Qu’s new film, “Angels Wear White,” couldn’t come to us at a better or worse time, depending on your point of view. In last week and a half or so, torrents of reports about the deserved fall of movie mogul and sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein have spilled across the web; the mounting accusations against him forced The Weinstein Company to save face by firing him last Sunday.
Continue reading Blistering, Bleak ‘Angels Wear White’ Takes On Patriarchal Cultures [BFI London Film Fest Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Blistering, Bleak ‘Angels Wear White’ Takes On Patriarchal Cultures [BFI London Film Fest Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/13/2017
- by Andrew Crump
- The Playlist
Although hailed by many as the only feature by a female (and Chinese) director to compete in the main competition at this year's Venice Film Festival, to minimize producer-writer-director Vivian Qu's Angels Wear White to its surrounding accomplishments would be to undersell what is achieved through the incisive blows that materialize from its skeletal framework. On a hot day in a seaside town running on tourism, two girls in pristine school uniforms—Xiaowen (Zhou Meijun) and Xinxin (Zhang Xinyue)—are sexually assaulted in a hotel. The perpetrator is the town's district commissioner, who they, their parents, and the lawyers and local police officers know. But to issue an arrest warrant for a man in power requires far more evidence than these claims, and this evidence belongs to the assault's only witness: Mia (Wen Qi), an underage migrant worker without a proper ID, whose coming forward could jeopardize her only source of income.
- 9/20/2017
- MUBI
Below you will find our favorite films of the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Top Picksfernando F. CROCE1. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)2. Zama (Lucrecia Martel)3. Western (Valeska Grisebach)4. Ex Libris (Frederick Wiseman)5. Faces Places (Agnès Varda, Jr)6. Manhunt (John Woo)7. Jeanette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (Bruno Dumont)8. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (S. Craig Zahler)9. The Day After (Hong Sang-soo)10. Let the Corpses Tan (Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani)Kelley DONG1. Rose Gold (Sarah Cwynar), Strangely Ordinary This Devotion (Dani Restack, Sheilah Wilson Restack)3. Good Luck (Ben Russell)4. Manhunt (John Woo)5. The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda), Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)Daniel KASMAN1. Ex Libris (Frederick Wiseman)2. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)3. Zama (Lucrecia Martel)4. Strangely Ordinary This Devotion (Dani Restack, Sheilah Wilson Restack)5. I Love You, Daddy (Louis C.K.)6. Rose Gold (Sarah Cwynar)7. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (S. Craig Zahler)8. below-above (André...
- 9/19/2017
- MUBI
This is the second time Vivian Qu has brought a film to the Toronto Film Festival. She was last here in 2014 with Trap Bear, her feature film directorial debut. This...
- 9/15/2017
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
Dear Danny and Kelley,The Rider sounds lovely, and I’m happy to hear Chloé Zhao has built on the melancholy promise of her first film, Songs My Brother Taught Me. Artists with a gift for empathy create anticipation for new works. Artists whose single stylistic tool is shock, on the other hand, cause only dread. So it goes with mother!, Darren Aronofsky’s latest suite of seizures and my noisiest, least rewarding experience at Tiff so far. Genius is like fire in that it is born from what it burns, says Malraux, so this allegory on the malefic artistic process opens with the subtlety and maidenly restraint expected from the maker of Requiem for a Dream: a full frontal glimpse of an incinerated woman, her blistering skin suggesting a melting gold effigy. The drama proper belongs to another wax dummy, an unnamed young wife played by Jennifer Lawrence...
- 9/11/2017
- MUBI
While the Venice film festival’s main competition lineup this year has just one female director out of 21 films, the program outside of the main spotlight has more diverse lineups.
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them directed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"Film festivals...
Venice’s sidebar Critics’ Week, which focuses on new directors, has a total of seven competition films, with five of them directed by a woman, for example. The Critics’ Week has provided a launchpad for new filmmakers since 1984. In fact, the lone woman in the Venice 74 sidebar competition, Vivian Qu (Angels Wear White), first came to the Critics’ Week in 2013 with her debut film Trap Street.
"Film festivals...
- 9/8/2017
- by Ariston Anderson
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One of the most anticipated movies in Venice, Angels Wear White is not only the one film set completely in China, but also the only one from a female director in competition this year at the festival.
Helmer Vivian Qu returns after premiering her 2013 film Trap Street at the fest and returning the following year to serve on the jury.
In Qu's new film Angels Wear White, two schoolgirls are brutally assaulted by a middle-aged man in a seaside motel. A teenage receptionist who witnessed the abuse says nothing over fear of losing her job. The young girls fall...
Helmer Vivian Qu returns after premiering her 2013 film Trap Street at the fest and returning the following year to serve on the jury.
In Qu's new film Angels Wear White, two schoolgirls are brutally assaulted by a middle-aged man in a seaside motel. A teenage receptionist who witnessed the abuse says nothing over fear of losing her job. The young girls fall...
- 9/6/2017
- by Ariston Anderson
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With her second feature, Angels Wear White (Jia Nian Hua), Chinese director Vivian Qu graduates from the Venice Critics’ Week, where her 2013 debut Trap Street premiered, to the main competition of the festival. But this tale, which follows one of two girls of about 12 who was assaulted at a seaside hotel, and the teenage girl who was working the reception there that night, demonstrates many of the same weaknesses of her first feature — though its final shot does pack an impressive punch.
Dramatically exceptionally subdued, this story of rape and corruption leaves all the violence and histrionics...
Dramatically exceptionally subdued, this story of rape and corruption leaves all the violence and histrionics...
- 9/6/2017
- by Boyd van Hoeij
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As this year’s Venice Film Festival bows, the starry annual festival continues to draw fire for a lineup that leans heavily towards the side of male-directed offerings. At this year’s festival, only one film screening in a competition section that includes 21 films is directed by a woman, Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White.”
Just yesterday, festival director Alberto Barbera spoke out on the demographics of this year’s lineup, making it clear that he doesn’t blame the fest for furthering an environment rife with sexism and a lack of opportunities for female filmmakers. “I don’t think it’s our fault…I don’t like to think in terms of a quota when you make a selection process,” he said. “I’m sorry that there are very few films from women this year, but we are not producing films.”
Read More:Venice Film Festival Director Alberto Barbera...
Just yesterday, festival director Alberto Barbera spoke out on the demographics of this year’s lineup, making it clear that he doesn’t blame the fest for furthering an environment rife with sexism and a lack of opportunities for female filmmakers. “I don’t think it’s our fault…I don’t like to think in terms of a quota when you make a selection process,” he said. “I’m sorry that there are very few films from women this year, but we are not producing films.”
Read More:Venice Film Festival Director Alberto Barbera...
- 8/30/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The fall festival season officially kicks into high gear when the Venice Film Festival launches later this week (followed in short succession by Telluride, Tiff, and Nyff), but moviegoers eager to get a first peek at the year’s most exciting new selections will likely notice one distressing trend: a lack of female filmmakers hitting the Lido to bow their latest works. At this year’s festival, only one film screening in a competition section that includes 21 films is directed by a woman, Vivian Qu’s “Angels Wear White.”
It’s hardly the first time the festival has unveiled a male-dominated lineup, and it certainly seems like it won’t be the last.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, the outlet has caught up with festival director Alberto Barbera, who seems unpreturbed about the gender disparity in his lineup, and even less driven to correct it.
Read More:20 Female Directors Who...
It’s hardly the first time the festival has unveiled a male-dominated lineup, and it certainly seems like it won’t be the last.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, the outlet has caught up with festival director Alberto Barbera, who seems unpreturbed about the gender disparity in his lineup, and even less driven to correct it.
Read More:20 Female Directors Who...
- 8/29/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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