Taipei Film Festival has dropped Berlinale-winning Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai as jury head of its International New Talent competition, following a heated debate on local social media over Wang’s reported role in the death of An Elephant Sitting Still director Hu Bo back in 2017.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International New Talent competition, which will see 10 debut and second feature films vying for the grand prize and the special jury prize. Wang was to be the jury president, with fellow jury members including Taiwanese actor-turned director Kai Ko, Cheng-Sim Lim, San Sebastian Film Festival’s delegate for US and East Asia,...
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International New Talent competition, which will see 10 debut and second feature films vying for the grand prize and the special jury prize. Wang was to be the jury president, with fellow jury members including Taiwanese actor-turned director Kai Ko, Cheng-Sim Lim, San Sebastian Film Festival’s delegate for US and East Asia,...
- 6/13/2024
- ScreenDaily
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
On Saturday, audiences in Berlin will see the world premiere of “Above the Dust,” a Chinese-made drama that plays somewhat incongruously in the Generation Kplus section, which screens films for or about children. Whether the film plays again, and where, is moot.
The film’s director Wang Xiaoshuai, a three-time winner of Silver Bear awards at the Berlinale, is taking a considerable personal risk going ahead with the screening in the absence of approval from the mainland Chinese authorities.
With a young teen boy as the protagonist, the film depicts a hardscrabble family in a village in northwest China in 2009. While their neighbors slowly migrate to the city, the boy’s parents dig up the arid land in search of family heirlooms. Communicating with the ghost of his grandfather, the boy learns about the 1950s reforms that transferred peasant-owned land to the government and about the disastrous Great Leap Forward.
The film’s director Wang Xiaoshuai, a three-time winner of Silver Bear awards at the Berlinale, is taking a considerable personal risk going ahead with the screening in the absence of approval from the mainland Chinese authorities.
With a young teen boy as the protagonist, the film depicts a hardscrabble family in a village in northwest China in 2009. While their neighbors slowly migrate to the city, the boy’s parents dig up the arid land in search of family heirlooms. Communicating with the ghost of his grandfather, the boy learns about the 1950s reforms that transferred peasant-owned land to the government and about the disastrous Great Leap Forward.
- 2/17/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai is known for his sensitive and touching depiction of young people’s and adolescents’ stories while also cataloging the consequences of China’s incredible and rapid modernization. In “Above the Dust” he does both. But he has taken a significant risk by showing it in Berlin before obtaining all the necessary permissions from the Chinese government.
Wang spoke to Variety before the film’s world premiere in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlin Film Festival.
Why tackle such a large subject as land reform in what appears to be a children’s film?
Firstly, I don’t think it’s really about children. I think [land reform] is a large subject, and difficult to explain. After ‘So Long My Son,’ this is about workers and peasants in China. And what has happened to them. China has had such rapid urbanization, and so I wanted to tell about what happened in the countryside.
Wang spoke to Variety before the film’s world premiere in the Generation Kplus section of the Berlin Film Festival.
Why tackle such a large subject as land reform in what appears to be a children’s film?
Firstly, I don’t think it’s really about children. I think [land reform] is a large subject, and difficult to explain. After ‘So Long My Son,’ this is about workers and peasants in China. And what has happened to them. China has had such rapid urbanization, and so I wanted to tell about what happened in the countryside.
- 2/17/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its full juries for the 2024 edition (February 16-24), with Italian actress Jasmine Trinca and German filmmaker Christian Petzold among those joining president Lupita Nyong’o on the main international jury.
Also on the jury are filmmakers Ann Hui (Hong Kong) and Albert Serra (Spain) alongside Ukrainian novelist and poet Oksana Zabuzhko.
The international jury will select the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears from the 20 films playing in Competition.
The three-member jury for the Encounters strand comprises filmmakers Lisandro Alonso (Argentina), Denis Côté (Canada) and Tizza Covi (Italy).
The Encounters jury will choose the winners of best film,...
Also on the jury are filmmakers Ann Hui (Hong Kong) and Albert Serra (Spain) alongside Ukrainian novelist and poet Oksana Zabuzhko.
The international jury will select the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears from the 20 films playing in Competition.
The three-member jury for the Encounters strand comprises filmmakers Lisandro Alonso (Argentina), Denis Côté (Canada) and Tizza Covi (Italy).
The Encounters jury will choose the winners of best film,...
- 2/1/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has unveiled their February 2024 lineup, featuring Roy Andersson’s little-seen 1991 short World of Glory, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing starring Catherine Keener with an early Jake Gyllenhaal performance, and special Black History Month selections: Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, Kasi Lemmon’s Eve’s Bayou, Carl Franklin’s One False Move, and more.
Check out the lineup below, including recently added January titles, and get 30 days free here.
Just-Added
American Movie, directed by Christopher Smith | Festival Focus: Sundance
Pieces of April, directed by Peter Hedges | Festival Focus: Sundance
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Festival Focus: Sundance
But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit | Festival Focus: Sundance
Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg | Festival Focus: Sundance
Medicine for Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins | First Films First
Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg | First Films First
Shithouse, directed by Cooper Raiff | First Films First
Age of Panic,...
Check out the lineup below, including recently added January titles, and get 30 days free here.
Just-Added
American Movie, directed by Christopher Smith | Festival Focus: Sundance
Pieces of April, directed by Peter Hedges | Festival Focus: Sundance
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Festival Focus: Sundance
But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit | Festival Focus: Sundance
Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg | Festival Focus: Sundance
Medicine for Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins | First Films First
Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg | First Films First
Shithouse, directed by Cooper Raiff | First Films First
Age of Panic,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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
“No More Bets,” the smash hit Chinese crime thriller that has earned more than half a billion dollars in its home market, is hurriedly adding new territories to release.
It will release in the U.K. and Ireland from Friday through distributor Trinity Cine Asia. It will release in Hong Kong, on Sept. 21, through Haven Productions, Mandarin Entertainment and Intercontinental. It was given a limited release in the U.S. on Sept. 1.
Said to be based on actual events, the story involves a computer programmer and a model who are lured abroad by a job offer that turns out to be a scam. Instead, they are prevented from leaving and are obliged to work as online scammers, ripping off other unknowing victims.
The film was released in China in early August and spent three weeks at the top of the box office chart. It has amassed $547 million in 31 days of release,...
It will release in the U.K. and Ireland from Friday through distributor Trinity Cine Asia. It will release in Hong Kong, on Sept. 21, through Haven Productions, Mandarin Entertainment and Intercontinental. It was given a limited release in the U.S. on Sept. 1.
Said to be based on actual events, the story involves a computer programmer and a model who are lured abroad by a job offer that turns out to be a scam. Instead, they are prevented from leaving and are obliged to work as online scammers, ripping off other unknowing victims.
The film was released in China in early August and spent three weeks at the top of the box office chart. It has amassed $547 million in 31 days of release,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Wang Xiaoshuai, director of “So Long, My Son” and “Red Amnesia,” will be the most senior mainland Chinese director to present a new film at a major Western festival this year.
That may be a reflection of the growing political and economic separation between China and the West over the past couple of years — with Covid an additional irritant. But tough times can also breed innovation.
Wang’s latest, “The Hotel,” a chamber piece about a small group of Chinese tourists trapped in a hotel in Thailand during the early days of the pandemic, was inspired by events that Wang personally endured in 2020. It was made in almost improvised fashion, with a hastily written screenplay and shot with available crew.
The film was financed and produced entirely outside mainland China and has not obtained the “Dragon Seal,” the mark of China’s censorship approval. That means the film cannot (yet) have a release in China,...
That may be a reflection of the growing political and economic separation between China and the West over the past couple of years — with Covid an additional irritant. But tough times can also breed innovation.
Wang’s latest, “The Hotel,” a chamber piece about a small group of Chinese tourists trapped in a hotel in Thailand during the early days of the pandemic, was inspired by events that Wang personally endured in 2020. It was made in almost improvised fashion, with a hastily written screenplay and shot with available crew.
The film was financed and produced entirely outside mainland China and has not obtained the “Dragon Seal,” the mark of China’s censorship approval. That means the film cannot (yet) have a release in China,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Mubi, the global curated film streaming service, production company and film distributor, has announced the introduction of its one-of-a-kind curator model in the country in partnership with critically acclaimed Director, Al Jafree Md Yusop. As part of the collaboration, Al Jafree has carefully handpicked a selection of ten diverse films for the platform, giving film enthusiasts looking for distinct content an opportunity to experience these films through the lens of the director. This maiden curated selection will be available to viewers under the ‘Hand-picked by Al Jafree Md Yusop’ spotlight starting March 18, 2022.
From Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Double Life of Veronique, to Wong Kar Wai’s multi award-winning In The Mood For Love and Agnes Varda’s Vagabond, to Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, the curation boasts of gems from Asian and global classics, to all-time favourites catering to distinct cinematic sensibilities. Other notable titles from the curation include...
From Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Double Life of Veronique, to Wong Kar Wai’s multi award-winning In The Mood For Love and Agnes Varda’s Vagabond, to Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, the curation boasts of gems from Asian and global classics, to all-time favourites catering to distinct cinematic sensibilities. Other notable titles from the curation include...
- 3/22/2022
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
While the specific sociopolitical moment (the re-emergence of censorship in China affecting the line-up of this year’s Berlinale with eliminating Zhang Yimou’s “One Second” from the official competition due to “post-production issues” being only the most prominent example) surrounding the world premiere of “So Long, My Son”, the newest film by the Chinese 6th generation director Wang Xiaoshui, might be forgotten in the next couple of months, the film itself, the skill it was filmed with and its social relevance are here to stay with us for quite a period of time.
“So Long, My Son” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The world premiere at Berlinale was crowned with the double Silver Bear for both of the leading actors and more of the festival exposure is likely to occur for Wang’s three-hour epic, examining the social and humane cost of the decades...
“So Long, My Son” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The world premiere at Berlinale was crowned with the double Silver Bear for both of the leading actors and more of the festival exposure is likely to occur for Wang’s three-hour epic, examining the social and humane cost of the decades...
- 2/7/2022
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Sales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic. StraDa Films is planning a theatrical release “when the situation allows.”
M-Appeal previously closed deals for France to Diaphana, which plans a theatrical release in the second semester of 2021, with 80 to 150 prints; Portugal to Leopardo Filmes, which plans a theatrical release in November 2021; Korea to GreenNarae Media, which is planning to release the film in theaters in fall or early winter of 2021, “ideally on 100 screens or more if the pandemic situation allows”; and Taiwan to Andrews Films, which is planning a theatrical release in fall or winter 2021.
M-Appeal is in...
Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic. StraDa Films is planning a theatrical release “when the situation allows.”
M-Appeal previously closed deals for France to Diaphana, which plans a theatrical release in the second semester of 2021, with 80 to 150 prints; Portugal to Leopardo Filmes, which plans a theatrical release in November 2021; Korea to GreenNarae Media, which is planning to release the film in theaters in fall or early winter of 2021, “ideally on 100 screens or more if the pandemic situation allows”; and Taiwan to Andrews Films, which is planning a theatrical release in fall or winter 2021.
M-Appeal is in...
- 3/5/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Considering the political issues that torment the whole Sinophone world, and the ways all these countries (even this term is under consideration) are connected and clashing at the same time, coming up with a title and which films to include in that list is at least as difficult as winnowing the films in the list.
Despite all the turmoil, however, films of utmost quality continue to come out from this region, if even the “Hollywood of the East” (aka Hong Kong) is definitely not in the place it used to be during the 90s, with the fact that Chinese “Better Days” and Taiwanese “A Sun” are shortlisted for the Oscar for Foreign Movie, highlighting the fact in the most eloquent fashion.
In an effort to select some of the best Sinophone movies of the decade (2011-2020), we came up with 50 we felt were the ones that truly stand out in terms of quality,...
Despite all the turmoil, however, films of utmost quality continue to come out from this region, if even the “Hollywood of the East” (aka Hong Kong) is definitely not in the place it used to be during the 90s, with the fact that Chinese “Better Days” and Taiwanese “A Sun” are shortlisted for the Oscar for Foreign Movie, highlighting the fact in the most eloquent fashion.
In an effort to select some of the best Sinophone movies of the decade (2011-2020), we came up with 50 we felt were the ones that truly stand out in terms of quality,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The directing debut of Chinese screenwriter Cao Jinling, the film is premiering at Cairo film festival next week.
Fortissimo Films has picked up worldwide rights, excluding China, to Anima (Moerdaoga), the debut feature of Chinese screenwriter Cao Jinling.
The film, which stars Wang Chuanjun and Qi Xi, is scheduled to have its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival on December 8, with the director in attendance.
Filmed on location in the Moerdaoga National Forest in Inner Mongolia, the film is set in the 1980s when China had just launched its programme of economic opening and development.
The coming-of-age story follows a young man,...
Fortissimo Films has picked up worldwide rights, excluding China, to Anima (Moerdaoga), the debut feature of Chinese screenwriter Cao Jinling.
The film, which stars Wang Chuanjun and Qi Xi, is scheduled to have its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival on December 8, with the director in attendance.
Filmed on location in the Moerdaoga National Forest in Inner Mongolia, the film is set in the 1980s when China had just launched its programme of economic opening and development.
The coming-of-age story follows a young man,...
- 12/2/2020
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Wang Xiaoshuai took the best director prize for So Long, My Son.
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took best film at the 14th Asian Film Awards (Afa) today (October 28). The Palme d’Or and multiple Oscars winner also took best screenplay, editing and production design.
Due to Covid-19, the awards show was broadcast on the Afaa’s website and Youtube channel as well as on Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm) website with pre-recorded messages from organizers, presenters and winners, all in different locales.
Presenting the best film award, last year’s winner Kore-eda Hirokazu said: “In March last year,...
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took best film at the 14th Asian Film Awards (Afa) today (October 28). The Palme d’Or and multiple Oscars winner also took best screenplay, editing and production design.
Due to Covid-19, the awards show was broadcast on the Afaa’s website and Youtube channel as well as on Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm) website with pre-recorded messages from organizers, presenters and winners, all in different locales.
Presenting the best film award, last year’s winner Kore-eda Hirokazu said: “In March last year,...
- 10/28/2020
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
South Korean Oscar sensation Parasite was the big winner at this year’s Asian Film Awards, which were held today in an online format due to continued pandemic challenges.
The movie won Best Film, Best Screenplay for co-writers Han Jin Won and director Bong Joon Ho, Best Production Design and Best Editing. Bong Joon Ho was pipped to the Best Director award, however, by Wang Xiaoshuai, who took the prize for Chinese feature So Long, My Son.
The 13th Asian Film Awards were organized by the Afa Academy with the collaboration of the Busan, Tokyo, and Hong Kong film festivals. The ceremony was broadcast online by the Afaa and Busan festival’s official websites and Youtube channels.
Further awards included Hikari winning Best New Director for 37 Seconds, Lee Byung-hun winning Best Actor for The Man Standing Next, which is South Korea’s Oscar entry this year, and Zhou Dongyu...
The movie won Best Film, Best Screenplay for co-writers Han Jin Won and director Bong Joon Ho, Best Production Design and Best Editing. Bong Joon Ho was pipped to the Best Director award, however, by Wang Xiaoshuai, who took the prize for Chinese feature So Long, My Son.
The 13th Asian Film Awards were organized by the Afa Academy with the collaboration of the Busan, Tokyo, and Hong Kong film festivals. The ceremony was broadcast online by the Afaa and Busan festival’s official websites and Youtube channels.
Further awards included Hikari winning Best New Director for 37 Seconds, Lee Byung-hun winning Best Actor for The Man Standing Next, which is South Korea’s Oscar entry this year, and Zhou Dongyu...
- 10/28/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” predictably dominated the Asian Film Awards. The dark comedy, which won Cannes 2019 and four Oscars, added four further prizes on Wednesday, including best film and best screenplay.
The Afa event this year shifted from its previous base in Hong Kong and Macau to Busan. And it moved its dates from March to October to coincide with the Busan International Film Festival. But the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing travel restrictions meant that the 14th Afa ceremony was an online one.
“Parasite” also claimed prizes for Yang Yinmo’s editing and for Lee Ha-jun’s production design.
“Every member of ‘Parasite,’ no matter how big or small the role is, deserves to make a speech here with me because we made it together. I strongly believe that we will meet in person next year at the Asian Film Awards, shake hands, and enjoy talking with one another without masks.
The Afa event this year shifted from its previous base in Hong Kong and Macau to Busan. And it moved its dates from March to October to coincide with the Busan International Film Festival. But the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing travel restrictions meant that the 14th Afa ceremony was an online one.
“Parasite” also claimed prizes for Yang Yinmo’s editing and for Lee Ha-jun’s production design.
“Every member of ‘Parasite,’ no matter how big or small the role is, deserves to make a speech here with me because we made it together. I strongly believe that we will meet in person next year at the Asian Film Awards, shake hands, and enjoy talking with one another without masks.
- 10/28/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Korean series “Kingdom,” and “The World of the Married” and China’s “The Bad Kids” were the most rewarded shows on Sunday at Busan’s Asian Contents Awards.
The event in its second year was live-streamed from the Busan International Film Festival where hosts and performers were the only ones physically present. Presenters and prize-winners joined remotely via video conference.
Singapore’s “Last Madame” was named as best Asian drama, jointly with Taiwan’s “When The Camelia Blooms.”
A Netflix original series, made with AStory, “Kingdom” earned three awards. Actor Ju Ji-hoon won the Korean actor award, while Kim Eunhee won the best writer award, one of the prize categories that was not divided by nationality. The show also won the technical achievement award for its special effects provided by Madman Post.
Romantic espionage drama, “The World of the Married,” produced and broadcast by Korea’s Jtbc, and also shown outside Korea by Netflix,...
The event in its second year was live-streamed from the Busan International Film Festival where hosts and performers were the only ones physically present. Presenters and prize-winners joined remotely via video conference.
Singapore’s “Last Madame” was named as best Asian drama, jointly with Taiwan’s “When The Camelia Blooms.”
A Netflix original series, made with AStory, “Kingdom” earned three awards. Actor Ju Ji-hoon won the Korean actor award, while Kim Eunhee won the best writer award, one of the prize categories that was not divided by nationality. The show also won the technical achievement award for its special effects provided by Madman Post.
Romantic espionage drama, “The World of the Married,” produced and broadcast by Korea’s Jtbc, and also shown outside Korea by Netflix,...
- 10/26/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Iqiyi’s drama series “The Bad Kids” has landed a slot on Japanese pay-tv platform Wowow, a first for a contemporary, mainland Chinese show. It is expected to play out from early 2021.
Where many Chinese dramas run for between 40 and 80 episodes, “The Bad Kids” comprises 12 50-minute episodes, structred as a suspense series that tells the story of three youngsters in a small coastal town. They accidentally witness a murder and then become involved in blackmail plot. Its starry cast includes Qin Hao and Wang Jingchun.
The series is presented by iQIYI and co-produced by Eternity Pictures, with Han Sanping, former head of China Film Group, as the lead producer. It was directed by Xin Shuang.
“The Bad Kids” played on iQIYI from June under its Mist Theater label and has earned a strong critical reception. On Chinese entertainment review site Douban, it attracted some 800,000 reviews, with an average score of 9.2 out of ten.
Where many Chinese dramas run for between 40 and 80 episodes, “The Bad Kids” comprises 12 50-minute episodes, structred as a suspense series that tells the story of three youngsters in a small coastal town. They accidentally witness a murder and then become involved in blackmail plot. Its starry cast includes Qin Hao and Wang Jingchun.
The series is presented by iQIYI and co-produced by Eternity Pictures, with Han Sanping, former head of China Film Group, as the lead producer. It was directed by Xin Shuang.
“The Bad Kids” played on iQIYI from June under its Mist Theater label and has earned a strong critical reception. On Chinese entertainment review site Douban, it attracted some 800,000 reviews, with an average score of 9.2 out of ten.
- 10/12/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese sci-fi blockbuster “The Wandering Earth” was named film of the year by the China Film Directors Guild at its annual awards ceremony on Saturday night in Beijing, local media reported.
The award ceremony, which took place coincided with the further re-opening of cinemas in China as the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, also presented director of the year award (Hong Kong and Taiwan) to Derek Tsang for his 2019 youth drama “Better Days.” It was the second time that Tsang won the award. He previously won for his 2016 drama “Soul Mate.”
“Better Days” star Zhou Dongyu was named actress of the year, also her second win for this award. In 2018 she won with her performance in “This Is Not What I Expected.”
The actor of the year award went to Wang Jingchun for his portrayal of a father who adopted a boy after losing his son in “So Long, My Son.” The...
The award ceremony, which took place coincided with the further re-opening of cinemas in China as the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, also presented director of the year award (Hong Kong and Taiwan) to Derek Tsang for his 2019 youth drama “Better Days.” It was the second time that Tsang won the award. He previously won for his 2016 drama “Soul Mate.”
“Better Days” star Zhou Dongyu was named actress of the year, also her second win for this award. In 2018 she won with her performance in “This Is Not What I Expected.”
The actor of the year award went to Wang Jingchun for his portrayal of a father who adopted a boy after losing his son in “So Long, My Son.” The...
- 9/19/2020
- by Vivienne Chow
- Variety Film + TV
What few conversations there are in Song Fang’s chronically meditative “The Calming” tend to revolve around someone who never appears onscreen: Our heroine’s recent ex-boyfriend, a man with whom she may have at one point expected to spend the rest of her life. Or so we sense by the way that Lin winces at the news that a friend is getting married, observes her aging parents with an awe that seems rooted in absence, and spends long stretches of the movie — perhaps even the majority of its runtime — framed against the windows of various buses, trains, and hotel rooms as if she’s watching a world to which she once belonged.
Sensing is all that Song asks or allows us to do, as concrete details are hard to come by in her ultra-elliptical breakup movie about a woman emerging from the protective (if inhibiting) cocoon of her own heartache.
Sensing is all that Song asks or allows us to do, as concrete details are hard to come by in her ultra-elliptical breakup movie about a woman emerging from the protective (if inhibiting) cocoon of her own heartache.
- 9/19/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning “Parasite” leads the race of this year’s Asian Film Awards, which will be hosted in his home country South Korea for the first time since the prize ceremony’s inception in 2007. The acclaimed drama picked up 10 nominations, including best film, best director and best screenplay.
“Parasite” was closely followed by Wang Xiaoshuai’s drama “So Long, My Son” from mainland China, and Taiwan drama “A Sun” by Chung Mong-hong. They each scored seven nominations including best film and best director, organizers of the 14th Asian Film Awards announced on Wednesday. A total of 39 films from 11 countries and regions are competing for the awards.
Founded by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, the AFAs have been staged in Hong Kong and Macau since their launch. In 2013, three major film festivals in Asia — Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo — joined hands to launch the non-profit Afa Academy,...
“Parasite” was closely followed by Wang Xiaoshuai’s drama “So Long, My Son” from mainland China, and Taiwan drama “A Sun” by Chung Mong-hong. They each scored seven nominations including best film and best director, organizers of the 14th Asian Film Awards announced on Wednesday. A total of 39 films from 11 countries and regions are competing for the awards.
Founded by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society, the AFAs have been staged in Hong Kong and Macau since their launch. In 2013, three major film festivals in Asia — Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo — joined hands to launch the non-profit Afa Academy,...
- 9/9/2020
- by Vivienne Chow
- Variety Film + TV
The Asian Film Awards Academy has decided to announce the winners online on October 14.
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite leads the nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards (Afa) – hosted by Busan International Film Festival and the first to be held outside of Hong Kong and Macau – with ten nominations including best film and best director.
The Asian Film Awards Academy (Afaa), comprising the Hong Kong, Tokyo and Busan international film festivals, announced during last year’s Busan that the 14th Afa ceremony would be held in the South Korean city this year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers...
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite leads the nominations for this year’s Asian Film Awards (Afa) – hosted by Busan International Film Festival and the first to be held outside of Hong Kong and Macau – with ten nominations including best film and best director.
The Asian Film Awards Academy (Afaa), comprising the Hong Kong, Tokyo and Busan international film festivals, announced during last year’s Busan that the 14th Afa ceremony would be held in the South Korean city this year. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers...
- 9/9/2020
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
Belgium director Olivier Meys chooses a tale of social realism for his feature debut “Bitter Flowers”, 9 years after the documentary “A Disappearance Foretold” and the short film “Première nuit à Beijing”. Co-written with Maarten Loix, “Bitter Flowers” is an independent Belgium-Switzerland-France-China co-production exposing the very real phenomenon – which has been increasing exponentially since the early 2000s – of Chinese women being lured into fake promises of easy earning in European countries.
“Bitter Flowers” is screening at CineCina iFest
The story is narrated from the perspective of a mid-thirty woman and starts in Yeling, in the cold province of Dongbei, North East China. Lina (Qi Xi) and her little family, an affectionate husband and a son, live modestly in an urban apartment. Their life is not unpleasant, but it could be better; more money would allow them to start a little business and provide a better future for their son. This mirage...
“Bitter Flowers” is screening at CineCina iFest
The story is narrated from the perspective of a mid-thirty woman and starts in Yeling, in the cold province of Dongbei, North East China. Lina (Qi Xi) and her little family, an affectionate husband and a son, live modestly in an urban apartment. Their life is not unpleasant, but it could be better; more money would allow them to start a little business and provide a better future for their son. This mirage...
- 7/28/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Belgium director Olivier Meys chooses a tale of social realism for his feature debut “Bitter Flowers”, 9 years after the documentary “A Disappearance Foretold” and the short film “Première nuit à Beijing”. Co-written with Maarten Loix, “Bitter Flowers” is an independent Belgium-Switzerland-France-China co-production exposing the very real phenomenon – which has been increasing exponentially since the early 2000s – of Chinese women being lured into fake promises of easy earning in European countries.
“Bitter Flowers” is screening at CineCina iFest
The story is narrated from the perspective of a mid-thirty woman and starts in Yeling, in the cold province of Dongbei, North East China. Lina (Qi Xi) and her little family, an affectionate husband and a son, live modestly in an urban apartment. Their life is not unpleasant, but it could be better; more money would allow them to start a little business and provide a better future for their son. This mirage...
“Bitter Flowers” is screening at CineCina iFest
The story is narrated from the perspective of a mid-thirty woman and starts in Yeling, in the cold province of Dongbei, North East China. Lina (Qi Xi) and her little family, an affectionate husband and a son, live modestly in an urban apartment. Their life is not unpleasant, but it could be better; more money would allow them to start a little business and provide a better future for their son. This mirage...
- 7/28/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The impact of the almost 40 years (1979 to 2015) the one-child policy was implemented in China was humongous as much as multi-leveled, particularly when combined with the traditional local notion of considering female children a problem. A number of filmmakers have been tackling the issue lately, with “So Long, My Son” and “One Child Nation” being two of the most recent. Meng Han and Vincent Du implement a different approach to their documentary on the topic, by following a woman, Fengxia Cai, who is in search of her actual parents, despite the fact that ones who raised her, did a fairly good job.
“China’s Forgotten Daughters” is screening at CineCina iFest
Fengxia is 30 years old, married, and with children of her own, but the gap the abandonment by her biological has left is not yet filled, and has led her to a decade long search for them, along with her husband...
“China’s Forgotten Daughters” is screening at CineCina iFest
Fengxia is 30 years old, married, and with children of her own, but the gap the abandonment by her biological has left is not yet filled, and has led her to a decade long search for them, along with her husband...
- 7/28/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Leading arthouse film sales company The Match Factory has boarded Wang Xiaoshuai’s drama “Above the Dust,” the follow-up to the director’s “So Long, My Son,” which won Silver Bears for best actor and actress at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, and was distributed in more than 30 territories.
Wang’s screenplay is an adaptation of Li Shijiang’s novel “Ye Ye De Gui.” The film, the second installment in Wang’s homeland trilogy, follows 10-year-old Chuan Zai and his family. It portrays the life of rural Chinese folks, and the effects on them of rapid changes in agriculture. The film looks at the connections between three generations of the family, and their deep affection for their land, during a time when modernization is transforming agriculture from traditional to industrial.
The film, which is expected to start shooting in China’s northwest in August, is being produced by Liu...
Wang’s screenplay is an adaptation of Li Shijiang’s novel “Ye Ye De Gui.” The film, the second installment in Wang’s homeland trilogy, follows 10-year-old Chuan Zai and his family. It portrays the life of rural Chinese folks, and the effects on them of rapid changes in agriculture. The film looks at the connections between three generations of the family, and their deep affection for their land, during a time when modernization is transforming agriculture from traditional to industrial.
The film, which is expected to start shooting in China’s northwest in August, is being produced by Liu...
- 2/20/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company is also stepping into Asian TV series sales with Horizon Tower.
Fortissimo Films is launching sales at the Efm on two Chinese titles – fantasy action film The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity and arthouse drama Hot Soup, directed by Zhang Ming, whose 2018 The Pluto Moment premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight.
The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company is also stepping into Asian TV series sales with Horizon Tower, produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. All three titles are currently in post-production and scheduled for delivery later in 2020.
Directed by Guo Jingming (Tiny Times franchise), The Yin-Yang Master:...
Fortissimo Films is launching sales at the Efm on two Chinese titles – fantasy action film The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity and arthouse drama Hot Soup, directed by Zhang Ming, whose 2018 The Pluto Moment premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight.
The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company is also stepping into Asian TV series sales with Horizon Tower, produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. All three titles are currently in post-production and scheduled for delivery later in 2020.
Directed by Guo Jingming (Tiny Times franchise), The Yin-Yang Master:...
- 2/18/2020
- by 89¦Liz Shackleton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
‘Knives Out’, ‘Last Christmas’ held well.
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 6-Dec 8) Total gross to date Week 1 Frozen II (Disney) £4.4m £33.6m 3 2 Knives Out (Lionsgate) £1.6m £6m 2 3 Last Christmas (Universal) £1.3m £12.5m 4 4 Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (Universal) £942,107 £3.2m 1 5 Blue Story (Paramount) £385,000 £3.7m 3 Disney
Frozen II held the number one spot at the UK box office for a third successive week, falling 50% on its previous session with £4.4m.
This takes the film to £33.6m total, making it the eighth-highest-grossing title of 2019 so far.
The first film grossed £43.1m in 2013; with the school holidays still to come, Frozen II has...
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 6-Dec 8) Total gross to date Week 1 Frozen II (Disney) £4.4m £33.6m 3 2 Knives Out (Lionsgate) £1.6m £6m 2 3 Last Christmas (Universal) £1.3m £12.5m 4 4 Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (Universal) £942,107 £3.2m 1 5 Blue Story (Paramount) £385,000 £3.7m 3 Disney
Frozen II held the number one spot at the UK box office for a third successive week, falling 50% on its previous session with £4.4m.
This takes the film to £33.6m total, making it the eighth-highest-grossing title of 2019 so far.
The first film grossed £43.1m in 2013; with the school holidays still to come, Frozen II has...
- 12/9/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Shanghai-born Canadian filmmaker Johnny Ma says he’d planned to make three films in China before moving on to other things, but the current state of the Chinese industry has “forced his hand” and convinced him to move on early after two.
Currently living in Mexico, his next project is actually in TV: a pilot for a series of Asian-American stories for Amazon, in collaboration with the creators of “Westworld” that he says could be a “game-changer” for Asian-American representation.
“I first came here five years ago because I felt my story wasn’t being taken seriously in North America, where I was categorized as a minority filmmaker. I thought I could have more impact in China. But now it’s different,” he told Variety on the sidelines of the International Film Festival and Awards Macao, where his second feature “To Live To Sing” is competing in the new Chinese cinema section.
Currently living in Mexico, his next project is actually in TV: a pilot for a series of Asian-American stories for Amazon, in collaboration with the creators of “Westworld” that he says could be a “game-changer” for Asian-American representation.
“I first came here five years ago because I felt my story wasn’t being taken seriously in North America, where I was categorized as a minority filmmaker. I thought I could have more impact in China. But now it’s different,” he told Variety on the sidelines of the International Film Festival and Awards Macao, where his second feature “To Live To Sing” is competing in the new Chinese cinema section.
- 12/9/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Marking the 12th feature film by Wang Xiaoshuai, Golden Bear nominee So Long, My Son follows two families who become estranged over three decades. Set in China, two boys, Xingxing (Wang Yuan) and Haohao (Du Jiang), are born on the same day and become close friends. Their shared birthday and friendship also form bonds between their respective families, who work in the same factory. But when Xingxing tragically dies, the families grow apart with the mystery of his death looming over them.
Considering it is a somewhat historical piece, So Long, My Son is not one for fancy de-ageing technology, special effects or expansive production sets. Instead, the film offers an in-depth look into China’s controversial history. Wang’s slow-drawn narrative highlights cultural aspects such as communism, its one-child policy and its stance towards censorship to provide friction among the characters. It also provides a window to China’s...
Considering it is a somewhat historical piece, So Long, My Son is not one for fancy de-ageing technology, special effects or expansive production sets. Instead, the film offers an in-depth look into China’s controversial history. Wang’s slow-drawn narrative highlights cultural aspects such as communism, its one-child policy and its stance towards censorship to provide friction among the characters. It also provides a window to China’s...
- 12/6/2019
- by Katie Smith-Wong
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
‘Frozen II’ will look for a third session at number one.
Shia Labeouf’s autobiographical Honey Boy and Edward Norton’s directorial debut Motherless Brooklyn are among the titles opening in a quiet weekend at the UK box office, which should see Frozen II hold the number one spot for a third week running.
Released through Sony, Honey Boy is directed by Alma Har’el, from a screenplay by Labeouf based on his childhood and relationship with his father.
The film debuted at Sundance 2019, where it won the special jury prize in the Us Dramatic section, and followed that up with...
Shia Labeouf’s autobiographical Honey Boy and Edward Norton’s directorial debut Motherless Brooklyn are among the titles opening in a quiet weekend at the UK box office, which should see Frozen II hold the number one spot for a third week running.
Released through Sony, Honey Boy is directed by Alma Har’el, from a screenplay by Labeouf based on his childhood and relationship with his father.
The film debuted at Sundance 2019, where it won the special jury prize in the Us Dramatic section, and followed that up with...
- 12/6/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Wang Xiaoshaui's So Long, My Son is Mubi Go's Film of the Week of December 6, 2019.Coming to international attention in 2001 with his social drama Beijing Bicycle, Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai has been on the rise ever since. His latest film, So Long, My Son (2019), premiered at the Berlinale in an edition marked by a couple of films pulled out at the last-minute films by China. Surprisingly, So Long, My Son was granted the “dragon seal”—the Chinese mark of censorship approval—and started scooping prizes for its leading couple’s staggering performances. A graciously elaborated, time-leaping tale of loss and friendship, So Long, My Son attempts to catalogue all the political and cultural changes China went through in over the last three decades. Opening on the dramatic apparent death by drowning of Yaojun (Wang Jingchun) and Liyun’s (Yong Mei) son Xingxing while playing at a reservoir with his best friend Haohao,...
- 12/6/2019
- MUBI
The epic story of two married couples enduring personal tragedy and state-imposed suffering is an almost unbearably poignant, profound masterpiece
Wang Xiaoshuai navigates an ocean of sadness in this film. It can finally be watched only through a blur of tears and with a terrible, futile need to reach into the screen and hug the two ageing lead characters. So Long, My Son is an epic generational drama of two families in China, from the 1980s to the present day; directed and shot with clarity and calm, audaciously structured in terms of flashback and flashforward – and acted superbly.
There is also touch of melodrama in it, if such a thing can be said to exist in the unshowy walking pace of Wang’s storytelling style, with some influences from classic Japanese family drama perhaps, and gestures of soap-operatic melancholy, largely in the repeated (and unexpected) use of the plaintive tune Auld Lang Syne.
Wang Xiaoshuai navigates an ocean of sadness in this film. It can finally be watched only through a blur of tears and with a terrible, futile need to reach into the screen and hug the two ageing lead characters. So Long, My Son is an epic generational drama of two families in China, from the 1980s to the present day; directed and shot with clarity and calm, audaciously structured in terms of flashback and flashforward – and acted superbly.
There is also touch of melodrama in it, if such a thing can be said to exist in the unshowy walking pace of Wang’s storytelling style, with some influences from classic Japanese family drama perhaps, and gestures of soap-operatic melancholy, largely in the repeated (and unexpected) use of the plaintive tune Auld Lang Syne.
- 12/4/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Tobias Pausinger, Caitlin Smith join as part of a restructure of its development and acquisition department.
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has hired Tobias Pausinger as head of acquisition and development and Caitlin Smith as acquisition manager, as part of a restructure of its development and acquisition department.
Pausinger, effective immediately, will lead development and acquisitions for the company’s sales business, as well as Match Factory Productions and Berlin-based Pola Pandora (both also headed by The Match Factory CEO Michael Weber).
He returns to the company after ten years, when he was an acquisitions manager following its...
Leading German sales company The Match Factory has hired Tobias Pausinger as head of acquisition and development and Caitlin Smith as acquisition manager, as part of a restructure of its development and acquisition department.
Pausinger, effective immediately, will lead development and acquisitions for the company’s sales business, as well as Match Factory Productions and Berlin-based Pola Pandora (both also headed by The Match Factory CEO Michael Weber).
He returns to the company after ten years, when he was an acquisitions manager following its...
- 12/3/2019
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Taiwanese films “A Sun” and “Detention” were the big winners of Taipei’s Golden Horse Awards on Saturday. Wang Xiaoshuai’s “So Long, My Son” was the standout title at mainland China’s rival Golden Rooster Awards, held the same evening.
The two events collided because of a pro-Taiwanese independence acceptance speech at last year’s Golden Horse Awards, which are usually considered the most prestigious film prizes in Chinese-language film. That prompted Beijing to ban mainland industry players from attending this year’s ceremony in Taiwan, threaten to cut off access to China’s enormous movie market for any others who chose to participate, and schedule its Golden Rooster ceremony for the same evening.
The rival events offered a revealing contrast both in their choice of winners and the comments by some of the winners, who at the Golden Horse ceremony felt free to make politically oriented statements that...
The two events collided because of a pro-Taiwanese independence acceptance speech at last year’s Golden Horse Awards, which are usually considered the most prestigious film prizes in Chinese-language film. That prompted Beijing to ban mainland industry players from attending this year’s ceremony in Taiwan, threaten to cut off access to China’s enormous movie market for any others who chose to participate, and schedule its Golden Rooster ceremony for the same evening.
The rival events offered a revealing contrast both in their choice of winners and the comments by some of the winners, who at the Golden Horse ceremony felt free to make politically oriented statements that...
- 11/24/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Big budget Chinese sci-fi The Wandering Earth took home the best picture prize at this year’s Golden Rooster Awards. Scroll down for the full list of winners.
The ceremony, which was held today in Xiamen, in China’s southeastern Fujian province, was preceded by an announcement earlier this week that the state-backed awards would begin to be held annually after this year, rather than the biennial slot it has had since 2005.
The move has been viewed as part of an effort to establish the Roosters as the primary awards ceremony of the Chinese-speaking movie world, ahead of Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, which have routinely been referred to as the ‘Chinese Oscars’ and were also held today, though there were no nominees from mainland China due to a government boycott.
The Wandering Earth has been a box office smash in its domestic market, grossing $691m. It has also taken $5.9m from its U.
The ceremony, which was held today in Xiamen, in China’s southeastern Fujian province, was preceded by an announcement earlier this week that the state-backed awards would begin to be held annually after this year, rather than the biennial slot it has had since 2005.
The move has been viewed as part of an effort to establish the Roosters as the primary awards ceremony of the Chinese-speaking movie world, ahead of Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, which have routinely been referred to as the ‘Chinese Oscars’ and were also held today, though there were no nominees from mainland China due to a government boycott.
The Wandering Earth has been a box office smash in its domestic market, grossing $691m. It has also taken $5.9m from its U.
- 11/23/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which earlier this year won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, on Thursday added the Asia Pacific Screen Award for best film to its burgeoning trophy cabinet. “Parasite” producer Jang Young-hwan was on hand to accept the award at the end of a ritzy ceremony in Brisbane, Australia.
The APSAs, now in their 13th edition, like to celebrate the diversity and artistic expression of the 70 countries in its remit, and they usually spread around the awards to avoid clustering around a single winner. So it proved again this year.
While “Parasite” predictably took the top award, Russia’s “Beanpole” was the numerical winner and the only film to claim two of the APSAs stunning glass vessel prizes. Directed by Kantemir Balagov, “Beanpole” was rewarded for best screenplay and achievement in cinematography (Ksenia Sereda).
At the nominations stage, Chinese drama “So Long, My Son...
The APSAs, now in their 13th edition, like to celebrate the diversity and artistic expression of the 70 countries in its remit, and they usually spread around the awards to avoid clustering around a single winner. So it proved again this year.
While “Parasite” predictably took the top award, Russia’s “Beanpole” was the numerical winner and the only film to claim two of the APSAs stunning glass vessel prizes. Directed by Kantemir Balagov, “Beanpole” was rewarded for best screenplay and achievement in cinematography (Ksenia Sereda).
At the nominations stage, Chinese drama “So Long, My Son...
- 11/21/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“Is this the present China, the old China, or the future China?,” director Wang Xiaoshuai asks in the new trailer for his expansive yet personal documentary Chinese Portrait. Shot over the course of ten years on multiple formats, this new film from the director of So Long, My Son takes a look at a changing nation through the filmmaker’s own eyes as we see life and work distinctly captured in a series of tableaus. Ahead of a U.S. opening on December 13 at NYC’s Museum of the Moving Image, we’re pleased to premiere the new trailer, courtesy of Cinema Guild.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Clarence Tsui said in their review, “A ceaseless stream of tableaux showing how people study, work, pray and worry in cities and villages across China in the last 10 years, Chinese Portrait makes an offbeat addition to acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai’s filmography and...
The Hollywood Reporter’s Clarence Tsui said in their review, “A ceaseless stream of tableaux showing how people study, work, pray and worry in cities and villages across China in the last 10 years, Chinese Portrait makes an offbeat addition to acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai’s filmography and...
- 11/4/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Films are getting longer and longer, and this year’s awards season is no exception.
Alfred Hitchcock once said: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.” By that measure, viewers of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will have to dash out of the theatre at least once during its 209-minute runtime.
This is becoming a familiar feeling to cinemagoers who have seen run-times rise in recent years. The top 10 films of 2008 at the UK and Ireland box office had an average duration of 112 minutes while the top 10 of 2018 averaged out at 126 minutes,...
Alfred Hitchcock once said: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.” By that measure, viewers of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will have to dash out of the theatre at least once during its 209-minute runtime.
This is becoming a familiar feeling to cinemagoers who have seen run-times rise in recent years. The top 10 films of 2008 at the UK and Ireland box office had an average duration of 112 minutes while the top 10 of 2018 averaged out at 126 minutes,...
- 10/31/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The long list for the coveted best international picture prize at the British Independent Film Awards includes Cannes Palme d’Or and London Film Festival winners, as well as pictures from Pedro Almodovar, Robert Eggers and Noah Baumbach. Multiple titles that have been submitted to compete for the Oscar for best international feature film are also in the mix.
The long list for the Best International Independent Film at the BIFAs, shared exclusively with Variety, includes Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or-winning “Parasite,” and Alejandro Landes’ child soldier saga “Monos,” which was named best picture at the London Film Festival.
Other titles that launched at Cannes and on the Bifa long list include Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” which are Germany’s and Spain’s Oscar entries, respectively. Other national entries to the Oscars that are also on the Bifa long list include...
The long list for the Best International Independent Film at the BIFAs, shared exclusively with Variety, includes Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or-winning “Parasite,” and Alejandro Landes’ child soldier saga “Monos,” which was named best picture at the London Film Festival.
Other titles that launched at Cannes and on the Bifa long list include Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” which are Germany’s and Spain’s Oscar entries, respectively. Other national entries to the Oscars that are also on the Bifa long list include...
- 10/21/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Wang Xiaoshuai‘s ‘So Long, My Son‘ secures a record six nominations.
Chinese films dominate the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) which will be held in Brisbane, Australia, on Novemer 21.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Films from 22 countries will be represented at the awards but while the likes of India, Japan and Russia have picked up a handful of nods, Chinese films have more than double that of any other country with 13 nominations across seven features.
Wang Xiaoshuai‘s family drama So Long, My Son has secured a record six nominations, including best feature where...
Chinese films dominate the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) which will be held in Brisbane, Australia, on Novemer 21.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
Films from 22 countries will be represented at the awards but while the likes of India, Japan and Russia have picked up a handful of nods, Chinese films have more than double that of any other country with 13 nominations across seven features.
Wang Xiaoshuai‘s family drama So Long, My Son has secured a record six nominations, including best feature where...
- 10/16/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Chinese drama “So Long, My Son” was nominated in six categories for this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards, an unprecedented haul that makes the Wang Xiaoshuai-directed film a clear favorite.
A drama about separation, secrets, a lifetime of regret, and the consequences of China’s one-child policy, “So Long, My Son” had its premiere in February at the Berlin festival. There it won Silver Bear prizes for both lead actor Wang Jingchun and actress Yong Mei. Both received Apsa nominations, most of which were announced Wednesday.
Those unveiled encompass 11 categories, and cover 37 films from 22 countries and territories.
China emerged as the dominant contender. Seven mainland Chinese films together earned 13 nominations, more than double the six nods for films from Iran and four for pictures from India.
Surprisingly, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is considered a hot favorite for an Oscar nomination,...
A drama about separation, secrets, a lifetime of regret, and the consequences of China’s one-child policy, “So Long, My Son” had its premiere in February at the Berlin festival. There it won Silver Bear prizes for both lead actor Wang Jingchun and actress Yong Mei. Both received Apsa nominations, most of which were announced Wednesday.
Those unveiled encompass 11 categories, and cover 37 films from 22 countries and territories.
China emerged as the dominant contender. Seven mainland Chinese films together earned 13 nominations, more than double the six nods for films from Iran and four for pictures from India.
Surprisingly, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is considered a hot favorite for an Oscar nomination,...
- 10/16/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
‘Buoyancy’.
Two Australian films – Rodd Rathjen’s debut feature Buoyancy and Daniel Gordon’s feature documentary The Australian Dream – are nominated for Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa).
Some 37 films for 22 countries are nominated for the 13th iteration of the awards, which will be presented in Brisbane in November. Overall, films from China received the most nominations; 13 in total across seven films – the country is represented in all but one category.
Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang) leads the tally with nominations across six categories: actor (Wang Jingchun), actress (Yong Mei), screenplay, cinematography (Kim Hyunseok), directing (Wang Xiaoshuai) and Best Feature Film.
Fellow nominees for Best Feature Film are Pema Tseden’s Balloon; Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole, Ridham Janve’s The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain and Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or winning Parasite.
Announced today alongside the nominations was the Asia Pacific Screen Forum,...
Two Australian films – Rodd Rathjen’s debut feature Buoyancy and Daniel Gordon’s feature documentary The Australian Dream – are nominated for Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa).
Some 37 films for 22 countries are nominated for the 13th iteration of the awards, which will be presented in Brisbane in November. Overall, films from China received the most nominations; 13 in total across seven films – the country is represented in all but one category.
Wang Xiaoshuai’s So Long, My Son (Di Jiu Tian Chang) leads the tally with nominations across six categories: actor (Wang Jingchun), actress (Yong Mei), screenplay, cinematography (Kim Hyunseok), directing (Wang Xiaoshuai) and Best Feature Film.
Fellow nominees for Best Feature Film are Pema Tseden’s Balloon; Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole, Ridham Janve’s The Gold-Laden Sheep and The Sacred Mountain and Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or winning Parasite.
Announced today alongside the nominations was the Asia Pacific Screen Forum,...
- 10/16/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
It’s hard to think of anything that’s as inherently ridiculous and quite literally vital as condoms. Nothing more than a little piece of latex, but what moral, social, religious implications it carries. These very human complications of birth control lie at the heart of Tibetan director Pema Tseden’s delicate, thoughtful drama Balloon.
Set in the mythically pristine highlands of Tibet, the film revolves around a sheep-rearing household carrying on a simple, earthbound lifestyle you can imagine has existed for centuries. Man of the house Dargye (played by Pema Tseden regular Jinpa) is a rustic, steak-eating farmhand with a deep, unspoken love for his family, consisting of unassertive hausfrau wife Drolkar (Sonam Wangmo), non-stop scripture-chanting old dad, and three sons – a limit under the family planning policy enforced by China since the 80’s. One day, the two youngest boys are playing with their balloons and get chastised by...
Set in the mythically pristine highlands of Tibet, the film revolves around a sheep-rearing household carrying on a simple, earthbound lifestyle you can imagine has existed for centuries. Man of the house Dargye (played by Pema Tseden regular Jinpa) is a rustic, steak-eating farmhand with a deep, unspoken love for his family, consisting of unassertive hausfrau wife Drolkar (Sonam Wangmo), non-stop scripture-chanting old dad, and three sons – a limit under the family planning policy enforced by China since the 80’s. One day, the two youngest boys are playing with their balloons and get chastised by...
- 10/7/2019
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
China has had a roller-coaster year so far at festivals worldwide, with high-profile wins and accolades but also more instances of highly disruptive censorship than ever before. In 2019, five international film festivals around have so far ended up tangling with China’s content overlords, who are on unusually high alert ahead of a particularly sensitive political anniversary for the ruling Communist Party in October — the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
The year kicked off with a bang in February at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival, which became a showcase of both the country’s highs and lows. China was the best-represented non-European country at the festival, with three entries in the main competition; two in the Panorama section (Lou Ye’s “The Shadow Play” and Xiang Zi’s “A Dog Barking at the Moon”); and Chinese film producer, director and screenwriter Vivian Qu on the jury for First Feature Film.
The year kicked off with a bang in February at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival, which became a showcase of both the country’s highs and lows. China was the best-represented non-European country at the festival, with three entries in the main competition; two in the Panorama section (Lou Ye’s “The Shadow Play” and Xiang Zi’s “A Dog Barking at the Moon”); and Chinese film producer, director and screenwriter Vivian Qu on the jury for First Feature Film.
- 9/12/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The 63rd BFI London Film Festival that will run from 2 to 13 October 2019, once again in partnership with American Express®, has announced the contenders for the Official Competitions and the long list of films in the other “Strands”.
The 2019 nominated films showcase an incredible range of film-making talent from across the world; 60% of the films are from a female director or co-director with 16 countries represented across the producers and co-producers.
Lff is a compelling combination of diverse films, red carpet glamour, friendly audiences and vibrant exchange. Lff provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success; promotes the careers of international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes and positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
And here is the full list of Asian entries in this rich edition of BFI London Film Festival:
Official Competition – The Best Film Award recognises inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.
The Perfect...
The 2019 nominated films showcase an incredible range of film-making talent from across the world; 60% of the films are from a female director or co-director with 16 countries represented across the producers and co-producers.
Lff is a compelling combination of diverse films, red carpet glamour, friendly audiences and vibrant exchange. Lff provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success; promotes the careers of international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes and positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
And here is the full list of Asian entries in this rich edition of BFI London Film Festival:
Official Competition – The Best Film Award recognises inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.
The Perfect...
- 8/30/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]
The post This Week In Trailers: Frankie, Midnight Traveler, Shut Up and Play the Piano, So Long, My Son, Chained for Life appeared first on /Film.
The post This Week In Trailers: Frankie, Midnight Traveler, Shut Up and Play the Piano, So Long, My Son, Chained for Life appeared first on /Film.
- 8/17/2019
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
Parasite Photo: © 2019 Cj Enm Corporation, Barunson E&a Bong Joon-ho's Cannes Palme d'Or winner Parasite is among the titles announced in San Sebastian's Pearls section for its 67th edition.
Parasite, which along with all the films in the section will compete for the Audience Award, is joined by additional titles from the French festival, including Ladj Ly's debut Les Misérables, which offers a contemporary take on the Victor Hugo classic, Ken Loach's gig economy drama Sorry We Missed You and Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano's Cannes The Specials (Hors Normes), which follows two friends who set up an association for autistic children.
Also fresh from La Croisette, will be Oliver Laxe's Fire Will Come (O Que Arde), which sees an ex-con arsonist returning to an isolated hamlet to live with his mother and Kantemir Balagov's Second World War drama Beanpole.
Other titles announced include So Long, My Son...
Parasite, which along with all the films in the section will compete for the Audience Award, is joined by additional titles from the French festival, including Ladj Ly's debut Les Misérables, which offers a contemporary take on the Victor Hugo classic, Ken Loach's gig economy drama Sorry We Missed You and Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano's Cannes The Specials (Hors Normes), which follows two friends who set up an association for autistic children.
Also fresh from La Croisette, will be Oliver Laxe's Fire Will Come (O Que Arde), which sees an ex-con arsonist returning to an isolated hamlet to live with his mother and Kantemir Balagov's Second World War drama Beanpole.
Other titles announced include So Long, My Son...
- 7/17/2019
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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