Exclusive: American Born Chinese star Daniel Wu is set to join Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose in 87North’s With Love for Universal Pictures. The film is Quan’s first starring role since winning the Supporting Actor Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
87North’s Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, who also produced Atomic Blonde, Nobody and the upcoming summer pic The Fall Guy, will produce. Universal has set a release date of February 7, 2025.
With Love is written by Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore and Matthew Murray. Guy Danella is also producing for 87North. Making his feature film directing debut is veteran stunt coordinator and fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Universal’s EVP Production Development Jay Polidoro and Director of Production Development Tony Ducret will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Wu is a renowned Hong Kong-American actor, director and producer...
87North’s Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, who also produced Atomic Blonde, Nobody and the upcoming summer pic The Fall Guy, will produce. Universal has set a release date of February 7, 2025.
With Love is written by Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore and Matthew Murray. Guy Danella is also producing for 87North. Making his feature film directing debut is veteran stunt coordinator and fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Universal’s EVP Production Development Jay Polidoro and Director of Production Development Tony Ducret will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Wu is a renowned Hong Kong-American actor, director and producer...
- 4/1/2024
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
A prize ceremony attended by Hamaguchi Ryusuke (“Drive My Car”), Vinod Vidhu Chopra (“3 Idiots”), Amir Naderi and Yonfan on Thursday wrapped up the final event of the debut edition of the Festival of Young Cinema in Macau.
Following a week (Jan. 6-11) of industry-only screenings and presentations of 17 partly-completed films by emerging directors and producers from the region, the prizes went to four work-in-progress films from mainland China and one from Macau.
A jury consisting of producer Jeremy Chua, the Jio Mami Mumbai festival’s artistic director Deepti DCunha, Chinese producer Wang Yang, Chinese screenwriter Wang Yixin and Hong Kong-based executive Esther Yeung determined the in-kind prizes according to the needs of the productions.
“Macau is a very small place, but people here have a big heart,” said Weng Tingting, director of “Revisit,” the tale of a reluctant care-giver which earned a special mention. “I used all the money...
Following a week (Jan. 6-11) of industry-only screenings and presentations of 17 partly-completed films by emerging directors and producers from the region, the prizes went to four work-in-progress films from mainland China and one from Macau.
A jury consisting of producer Jeremy Chua, the Jio Mami Mumbai festival’s artistic director Deepti DCunha, Chinese producer Wang Yang, Chinese screenwriter Wang Yixin and Hong Kong-based executive Esther Yeung determined the in-kind prizes according to the needs of the productions.
“Macau is a very small place, but people here have a big heart,” said Weng Tingting, director of “Revisit,” the tale of a reluctant care-giver which earned a special mention. “I used all the money...
- 1/11/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“I don’t find the definition of Chinese filmmakers by generation to be a useful tool,” said Marco Mueller, introducing dark satire “The Movie Emperor” as the opening film of the first edition of his Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau on Friday. “Much more interesting is the concept of exchange between new and old and between East and West.”
“The new forces of Chinese cinema are present and participating. More than 100 young filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet and interact with names including Amir Naderi, Aleksei German Jr and Yonfan,” Mueller continued. While Macau is these days best known for its high-tech casinos, the former Portuguese colony has long been a venue for international cultural exchange and retains ambitions to restore some of that diversity.
Along with screenings of 27 films and 17 works in progress, masterclasses and on-stage dialogs are a key educational tool on offer at the...
“The new forces of Chinese cinema are present and participating. More than 100 young filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet and interact with names including Amir Naderi, Aleksei German Jr and Yonfan,” Mueller continued. While Macau is these days best known for its high-tech casinos, the former Portuguese colony has long been a venue for international cultural exchange and retains ambitions to restore some of that diversity.
Along with screenings of 27 films and 17 works in progress, masterclasses and on-stage dialogs are a key educational tool on offer at the...
- 1/5/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Some 15 projects will be featured at the festival’s first works in progress lab.
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor will screen as the opening film of Macau’s Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival, which is holding its inaugural edition from January 5-11. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, recently a hit in India, will screen as the closing film.
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
- 1/4/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Set against the stock market crash and the Sino-British Joint Declaration in the 80's, “Last Romance” is an amalgam of a film, where, actually, the titular aspect is probably the least central one.
So-so and Nancy meet at high school when the former arrives there, and immediately become best friends, with the latter's family essentially functioning as one for the newcomer also, who is living in Hong Kong with her aunt and cousin, who lusts for her in the most annoying fashion. Eventually, they meet a half-Japanese classmate, Jiang-Jia, who both like immediately, to the point that they decide to take turns of who “stumbles” upon him after school. In the end, they manage to both go on a date with him in a theme park, but also manage to lose his phone number as the two girls leave in a taxi. Years pass, and So-so and Nancy take completely different paths in life,...
So-so and Nancy meet at high school when the former arrives there, and immediately become best friends, with the latter's family essentially functioning as one for the newcomer also, who is living in Hong Kong with her aunt and cousin, who lusts for her in the most annoying fashion. Eventually, they meet a half-Japanese classmate, Jiang-Jia, who both like immediately, to the point that they decide to take turns of who “stumbles” upon him after school. In the end, they manage to both go on a date with him in a theme park, but also manage to lose his phone number as the two girls leave in a taxi. Years pass, and So-so and Nancy take completely different paths in life,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Singapore's Bugis Street was renown in the 1950s-1980s for its night gathering of transgender persons, making it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period.In the mid 1980's, Bugis Street went under major urban redevelopment into a modern shopping complex, as well as the construction of a subway station, which ended the area's prior nightlife for transgender persons. Yonfan came up with a movie that celebrated this bygone era and colorful aspect of Singapore, which became a minor hit at the box office, despite the sexually explicit R(A)Rating due to male full frontal nudity. In 2015, the restored version of the film was presented at the 26th Singapore International Film Festival as Bugis Street Redux at 103 minutes while a new restoration is screening this year in Venice at 4K and at 98 minutes.
“Bugis Street” is screening in Venice International Film Festival
The movie sets the tone from the beginning,...
“Bugis Street” is screening in Venice International Film Festival
The movie sets the tone from the beginning,...
- 9/5/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...
- 7/29/2023
- MUBI
At a certain point you care less about world premieres and fixate mostly on a festival’s repertory slate. And even by the high standards set with Cannes Classics or NYFF Revivals is this year’s Venice Classics in a class of its own. We could start at the new cuts for three of the greatest directors ever: One from the Heart is the latest film to be given a revision by Francis Ford Coppola, following recuts of Apocalypse Now, Twixt, and Dementia 13––to say nothing of restorations like The Rain People, of which we’re hosting the New York premiere next weekend––while Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev will debut in “the reconstruction of the complete original version, which was censored before its release and has never been seen until now.” Meanwhile one of Yasujiro Ozu’s greatest films, There Was a Father, has been amended by “recent rediscovery...
- 7/21/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.
The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.
“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.
“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...
The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday.
“The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.
“One From the Heart” and Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson” are “not just restored, but also revised by the filmmakers themselves in what are genuine Director’s Cuts,” Barbera and Gironi said, while Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece “Andrei Rublev” will be presented in the reconstruction of the original version,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Billed as a Korean production, but essentially a Chinese film, considering that Mandarin is the main language here, the cast and crew are Chinese and the story takes place in Yanjiao, Ma Xue’s feature debut tries to reinvigorate the erotic film by implementing a surrealistic, abstract approach.
White River is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
Yang Fan lives in Yanjiao, which is separated from Beijing by the White River, during the quarantine. Her routine is pretty simple, cooking, cleaning and trying to abide by the rules. Her husband on the other hand, seems to be entangled in a voyeuristic/masturbatory web, where a classic painting of a woman hanging on the wall of her bedroom plays a crucial role. The two of them have sex, but things become more complicated when Yang Fan also starts sleeping with the enigmatic waiter of a restaurant she frequents, who has the...
White River is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
Yang Fan lives in Yanjiao, which is separated from Beijing by the White River, during the quarantine. Her routine is pretty simple, cooking, cleaning and trying to abide by the rules. Her husband on the other hand, seems to be entangled in a voyeuristic/masturbatory web, where a classic painting of a woman hanging on the wall of her bedroom plays a crucial role. The two of them have sex, but things become more complicated when Yang Fan also starts sleeping with the enigmatic waiter of a restaurant she frequents, who has the...
- 1/28/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
An erotic pipe dream, a nostalgic nodding to a bygone era, a love triangle against the backdrop of politically turbulent times, a hyper-aesthetic foray into adult animation… there’s no easy way to sum up “No 7 Cherry Lane.” Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Yonfan returns from his semi-retirement to feature filmmaking after a decade with a venture he has never handled before, an animation. Though you won’t find any sign of debutante’s restraint or insecurity. He perfectly knows what tools he needs and how to utilize them to achieve the desired effect.
“No.7 Cherry Lane” Screened at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Yonfan blends animations styles and techniques with ease, meticulously crafting each frame. The production process involved the conversion of 3D models of characters into 2D hand drawings and panting backgrounds on rice paper. Esthetical tropes range from art deco, Japanese animation, woodcut printing, scroll paintings to pencil sketches,...
“No.7 Cherry Lane” Screened at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Yonfan blends animations styles and techniques with ease, meticulously crafting each frame. The production process involved the conversion of 3D models of characters into 2D hand drawings and panting backgrounds on rice paper. Esthetical tropes range from art deco, Japanese animation, woodcut printing, scroll paintings to pencil sketches,...
- 11/25/2021
- by Joanna Kończak
- AsianMoviePulse
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The animated film awards race this year once again features stellar family film offerings from the big studios as well as boutique powerhouses such as Cartoon Saloon and distributor GKids, but there are a handful of films found freedom in animation to tell adult-skewing, even personal stories, and even push the form to the limit.
Mariusz Wilczynski’s “Kill It and Leave This Town” explores despair and other dark parts of the human heart with animation that equals the edgy, gritty story, with cold blues, grays, muted reds — enhancing the black-ink-like animated characters and cityscapes that are confrontational and even ugly.
On the other style end of the spectrum is Yonfan’s “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” his memories of Hong Kong in 1967 during protests. It’s romantic, and beautiful.
“We did thousands of those realistic drawings of Hong Kong in pencil and charcoal on rice paper, but I would not call it photorealism,...
Mariusz Wilczynski’s “Kill It and Leave This Town” explores despair and other dark parts of the human heart with animation that equals the edgy, gritty story, with cold blues, grays, muted reds — enhancing the black-ink-like animated characters and cityscapes that are confrontational and even ugly.
On the other style end of the spectrum is Yonfan’s “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” his memories of Hong Kong in 1967 during protests. It’s romantic, and beautiful.
“We did thousands of those realistic drawings of Hong Kong in pencil and charcoal on rice paper, but I would not call it photorealism,...
- 3/3/2021
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
“No. 7 Cherry Lane” is the sort of animated film that can completely knock you for a loop if you don’t know what’s coming, and director Yonfan is totally fine with that. The film sports a pair of erotic fantasy sequences that got walkouts at some press screenings at the Venice Film Festival, but Yonfan told TheWrap that he had a blast making those scenes because…it was just fun!
“Art should not be so serious. You should have fun and have a wild imagination and sometimes let it run away a little bit to get yourself loose,” Yonfan said in an interview for TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. “A lot of people have called my movie ‘kitsch’ and I don’t mind it because ‘kitsch’ is only a word.”
Yonfan has directed 14 films over his decades-long career, but “No. 7 Cherry Lane” is his first venture into animation. The...
“Art should not be so serious. You should have fun and have a wild imagination and sometimes let it run away a little bit to get yourself loose,” Yonfan said in an interview for TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. “A lot of people have called my movie ‘kitsch’ and I don’t mind it because ‘kitsch’ is only a word.”
Yonfan has directed 14 films over his decades-long career, but “No. 7 Cherry Lane” is his first venture into animation. The...
- 2/19/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
The looks in animated films combine lots of research, wild imagination and thought. For Pixar’s “Soul,” the artists had to construct the real world of New York City as well as the abstract world Great Before, where protagonist Joe ends up after he plunges down a manhole and hovers between life and death — that presented a whole new challenge: making the intangible concrete.
“One thing on this film, when we’re working with something that you can’t see or imagine, is you have to take it very seriously,” says production designer Steve Pilcher. They decided against going for “quick gags, like a soul world with soul cars,” but “you don’t go for gags, you go for, what would it really be like? And not in terms of reality, but how does it work contextually, visually, with the rest of the film?”
For the Great Before, Pilcher was...
“One thing on this film, when we’re working with something that you can’t see or imagine, is you have to take it very seriously,” says production designer Steve Pilcher. They decided against going for “quick gags, like a soul world with soul cars,” but “you don’t go for gags, you go for, what would it really be like? And not in terms of reality, but how does it work contextually, visually, with the rest of the film?”
For the Great Before, Pilcher was...
- 1/28/2021
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
Yonfan, the LGBT pioneer of Hong Kong art cinema, embraces animation for the first time with “No. 7 Cherry Lane” (currently streaming on Moma’s Virtual Cinema through February 4). It’s a love letter to a bygone Hong Kong from 1967, when he was a 20-year-old photographer and aspiring director caught up in the political turbulence and cinematic excitement of the era.
“‘No. 7 Cherry Lane’ is very different from all the other animations that I know of,” said Yonfan, who is not a fan of animation but was intrigued with the imaginative possibilities of the medium for his adult drama. The film represents his remembrance of the Hong Kong riots against the background of the Cultural Revolution in China.
“This is when people started denouncing the Vietnam War and there were many movies like ‘The Graduate’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ that came out and they were very revolutionary. It seems timely with the [recent] protests in Hong Kong,...
“‘No. 7 Cherry Lane’ is very different from all the other animations that I know of,” said Yonfan, who is not a fan of animation but was intrigued with the imaginative possibilities of the medium for his adult drama. The film represents his remembrance of the Hong Kong riots against the background of the Cultural Revolution in China.
“This is when people started denouncing the Vietnam War and there were many movies like ‘The Graduate’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ that came out and they were very revolutionary. It seems timely with the [recent] protests in Hong Kong,...
- 1/25/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The London East Asia Film Festival (Festival Director Hyejung Jeon) closed its 5th edition with acclaimed director Yonfan’s first film in a decade, an exquisite hand-painted portrait of late 1960s Hong Kong, No.7 Cherry Lane.
As a part of the Closing Gala, Leaff held the Award Ceremony for the Competition strand. This year, eight films were considered in competition including Beasts Clawing At Straws and I Weirdo as well as many other submissions.
Leaff’s Competition seeks out East Asia’s most talented emerging directors. The stellar jury included: Sabrina Baracetti of Udine Far East Film Festival, Paolo Bertolin of Venice International Film Festival and Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, Kiki Fung of Hong Kong International Film Festival and Ellen Y. D. Kim of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
Leaff announced the Taiwanese iPhone-shot romance, I Weirdo (Dir. Ming-Yi Liao) as the best film in Competition this year. Dir.
As a part of the Closing Gala, Leaff held the Award Ceremony for the Competition strand. This year, eight films were considered in competition including Beasts Clawing At Straws and I Weirdo as well as many other submissions.
Leaff’s Competition seeks out East Asia’s most talented emerging directors. The stellar jury included: Sabrina Baracetti of Udine Far East Film Festival, Paolo Bertolin of Venice International Film Festival and Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, Kiki Fung of Hong Kong International Film Festival and Ellen Y. D. Kim of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
Leaff announced the Taiwanese iPhone-shot romance, I Weirdo (Dir. Ming-Yi Liao) as the best film in Competition this year. Dir.
- 12/16/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The London East Asia Film Festival (Leaff) celebrates its fifth edition in 2020. In keeping with the times, Leaff presents a unique approach to our programme between 10th and 13th December. Leaff 2020 opens with the gripping Korean box office hit, Beasts Clawing At Straws, directed by Kim Yong-hoon which was awarded the Special Jury Prize at Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year. The Festival closes the Official Selection with acclaimed director Yonfan’s first film in a decade, No.7 Cherry Lane, an exquisite animation painting the portrait of late 1960s Hong Kong.
The five titles in Official Selection are cinematic offerings from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. From Japan, Director Naomi Kawase’s latest feature True Mothers was selected at Cannes Film Festival, and will be screened as a UK premiere. From China, Director Derek Tsang’s powerful adaptation of Jiu Yuexi’s novel In His Youth, In Her Beauty,...
The five titles in Official Selection are cinematic offerings from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. From Japan, Director Naomi Kawase’s latest feature True Mothers was selected at Cannes Film Festival, and will be screened as a UK premiere. From China, Director Derek Tsang’s powerful adaptation of Jiu Yuexi’s novel In His Youth, In Her Beauty,...
- 12/3/2020
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
More than half of the programme of this year’s cancelled Hkiff is screening at K11 Art House in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) usually takes place over the Easter holidays in March-April, but this year was first postponed to late August, then eventually cancelled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
While many festivals in Asia have managed to take place with physical screenings, albeit without international guests, Hkiff fell victim to unfortunate timing. A third wave of Covid-19 emerged in the city in July, just weeks before the festival was scheduled to take place, forcing Hong Kong...
Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) usually takes place over the Easter holidays in March-April, but this year was first postponed to late August, then eventually cancelled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
While many festivals in Asia have managed to take place with physical screenings, albeit without international guests, Hkiff fell victim to unfortunate timing. A third wave of Covid-19 emerged in the city in July, just weeks before the festival was scheduled to take place, forcing Hong Kong...
- 11/2/2020
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought moviemaking to a screeching halt all around the world. For Daniel Wu, who works in both Hollywood and Chinese productions, it’s been about watching and waiting to see which side of the Pacific reopens their studios first.
“For me, it actually just feels like what it feels like between jobs,” says Wu. “It’s just been really long.”
Most Americans know Daniel Wu from his groundbreaking AMC series Into the Badlands. Some might recognize him from his more recent roles in Tomb Raider and Geostorm, and a few may even remember him from Jackie Chan’s Around the World in 80 Days or RZA’s The Man with the Iron Fists. But Daniel Wu’s filmography is far more extensive than his Hollywood roles. In Asia, he is an A-list actor with over 70 films under his belt. He amassed numerous nominations from Asia’s...
“For me, it actually just feels like what it feels like between jobs,” says Wu. “It’s just been really long.”
Most Americans know Daniel Wu from his groundbreaking AMC series Into the Badlands. Some might recognize him from his more recent roles in Tomb Raider and Geostorm, and a few may even remember him from Jackie Chan’s Around the World in 80 Days or RZA’s The Man with the Iron Fists. But Daniel Wu’s filmography is far more extensive than his Hollywood roles. In Asia, he is an A-list actor with over 70 films under his belt. He amassed numerous nominations from Asia’s...
- 9/9/2020
- by Chris Longo
- Den of Geek
The Hong Kong International Film Festival has taken the unusual decision of revealing the pictures it selected for its now canceled 44th edition. It also plans to award prizes in its competition sections, though there will be neither in-person or online screenings for the public.
The festival had previously rescheduled its 44th edition from its usual slot in March, due to the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. And then set Aug 18-31 Aug. dates instead. But, with the city now facing a third wave of the virus, organizers last Friday bowed to the inevitable and announced the cancellation of HKIFF44 and the smaller Cine Fan activities in September and October.
Now it says that this year’s Firebird Awards and Fipresci prize competitions will proceed with online judging. Winners will be announced on Aug. 20.
“The decision to announce the original program is intended to pay tribute to filmmakers whose...
The festival had previously rescheduled its 44th edition from its usual slot in March, due to the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak. And then set Aug 18-31 Aug. dates instead. But, with the city now facing a third wave of the virus, organizers last Friday bowed to the inevitable and announced the cancellation of HKIFF44 and the smaller Cine Fan activities in September and October.
Now it says that this year’s Firebird Awards and Fipresci prize competitions will proceed with online judging. Winners will be announced on Aug. 20.
“The decision to announce the original program is intended to pay tribute to filmmakers whose...
- 7/30/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Goteborg Film Festival, the biggest showcase of local and international movies in the Nordics, will kick off its 43rd edition with Maria Bäck’s “”Psychosis,” and will close with actor-turned-director Mårten Klingberg’s “My Father Mary Anne.”
Both timely Swedish dramas dealing with trauma post-sexual abuse, and the experience of a transgender priest, respectively, “Psychosis” and “My Father Mary Anne” will have their world premiere at Goteborg.
Stellan Skarsgård, who just won a Golden Globe for his performance in the hit HBO series “Tchernobyl,” will receive the prestigious Nordic Honorary Dragon Award and will be honored with a retrospective of some of the greatest films of his career. As part of the tribute, the estival will also host the Nordic premiere of “The Painted Bird” which was recently shortlisted for the international feature film category at the Oscars. During the festival, Skarsgård will also having a masterclass.
In addition to opening the festival,...
Both timely Swedish dramas dealing with trauma post-sexual abuse, and the experience of a transgender priest, respectively, “Psychosis” and “My Father Mary Anne” will have their world premiere at Goteborg.
Stellan Skarsgård, who just won a Golden Globe for his performance in the hit HBO series “Tchernobyl,” will receive the prestigious Nordic Honorary Dragon Award and will be honored with a retrospective of some of the greatest films of his career. As part of the tribute, the estival will also host the Nordic premiere of “The Painted Bird” which was recently shortlisted for the international feature film category at the Oscars. During the festival, Skarsgård will also having a masterclass.
In addition to opening the festival,...
- 1/7/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Largely overshadowed by the similarly named movie by Yonfan, “The Peony Pavilion” by Taiwanese film critic-turned-director/filmmaker is an intriguing film, albeit a bit too mysterious for well-rounded comprehension.
The film follows three main characters: Du Li-Li, Liu Yu-mei and Mi-mi. The first half of the movie follows Li-li and Mi-mi, both students of a private all-girls high school. Between the two, Li-li is the more troubled one, and the film opens up with her sitting on the floor in a seemingly dazed state. Her head is slightly tilted, while her legs remain docile and unmoving on the floor as if she is entirely sapped of energy by an unknowing force. The film then cuts to scenes of students walking about, with a voice over by Mi-mi, who is Li-li’s friend. From the outset, the film seems to highlight the main relationship that audiences should focus on,...
The film follows three main characters: Du Li-Li, Liu Yu-mei and Mi-mi. The first half of the movie follows Li-li and Mi-mi, both students of a private all-girls high school. Between the two, Li-li is the more troubled one, and the film opens up with her sitting on the floor in a seemingly dazed state. Her head is slightly tilted, while her legs remain docile and unmoving on the floor as if she is entirely sapped of energy by an unknowing force. The film then cuts to scenes of students walking about, with a voice over by Mi-mi, who is Li-li’s friend. From the outset, the film seems to highlight the main relationship that audiences should focus on,...
- 1/2/2020
- by Cheong Eldrick
- AsianMoviePulse
“I Lost My Body,” the curious story of a disembodied hand searching to reunite with its body, won the grand prize at the Animation is Film Festival, held Oct. 18-20 in Los Angeles. The audience prize was split between two films, Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You” and “The Swallows of Kabul” by Zabou Breitman and Elea Gobbe-Mevellec.
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
- 10/22/2019
- by LaTesha Harris
- Variety Film + TV
After a typhoon wiped out Wednesday evening events in Busan and brought back memories of last year’s drenching, organizers of the Busan International Film Festival must be mighty pleased to have got proceedings under way Thursday largely as planned.
Indeed, by the time the opening ceremony got under way around sunset on Thursday the problem was heat and humidity. A slight evening breeze was most welcome as local and international celebrities wafted along the red carpet in the city’s landmark Busan Cinema Center.
The ceremony kicked off with a choir of children that provoked delighted cooing from the audience.
While Korean and Japanese politicians at national level have engaged in one of the most bitter diplomatic rows in years, the Busan festival, no stranger to political intrigues, has deliberately kept its doors open. Not only is the opening film “The Horse Thieves” a Japanese-Kazakh co-production, the festival’s...
Indeed, by the time the opening ceremony got under way around sunset on Thursday the problem was heat and humidity. A slight evening breeze was most welcome as local and international celebrities wafted along the red carpet in the city’s landmark Busan Cinema Center.
The ceremony kicked off with a choir of children that provoked delighted cooing from the audience.
While Korean and Japanese politicians at national level have engaged in one of the most bitter diplomatic rows in years, the Busan festival, no stranger to political intrigues, has deliberately kept its doors open. Not only is the opening film “The Horse Thieves” a Japanese-Kazakh co-production, the festival’s...
- 10/3/2019
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
The Notebook is covering Tiff with an on-going correspondence between critics Fernando F. Croce Kelley Dong, and editor Daniel Kasman.The Wild Goose LakeDear Kelley and Danny,When this dispatch reaches you, I shall be back in my Californian abode, exhausted and slightly under the weather and elated to have been able to have spent the last ten days immersed in movies and friends. I’ll keep the sentiment short so we can get more quickly to my final viewings, but do know that I wait all year to be at Tiff with you, and that I happily carry your kindness and cinephiliac knowledge and passion with me home.I absolutely get what you mean about that much-needed jolt during the festival, Danny. For me, that came in the form of Diao Yinan's The Wild Goose Lake, an invigorating dive into the Chinese underworld that at times plays like Carol Reed...
- 9/16/2019
- MUBI
The third Animation Is Film Festival has set “Weathering With You” as its opening film on Oct. 18 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
“Weathering With You” is set in Japan during exceptionally rainy weather and tells the story of a high school boy who befriends an orphan girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather. It’s been chosen as Japan’s entry for best international feature film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura are expected to be in attendance.
Closing the festival on Oct. 20 will be France’s “I Lost My Body,” with director Jeremy Clapin and producer Marc du Pontavice in attendance. The film screened at the International Critics Week section at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Nespresso Grand Prize.
The festival will present 10 feature films in competition, vying for grand prize, special jury prize, and audiences award.
“Weathering With You” is set in Japan during exceptionally rainy weather and tells the story of a high school boy who befriends an orphan girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather. It’s been chosen as Japan’s entry for best international feature film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Director Makoto Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura are expected to be in attendance.
Closing the festival on Oct. 20 will be France’s “I Lost My Body,” with director Jeremy Clapin and producer Marc du Pontavice in attendance. The film screened at the International Critics Week section at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Nespresso Grand Prize.
The festival will present 10 feature films in competition, vying for grand prize, special jury prize, and audiences award.
- 9/13/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
The Hong Kong- Taiwanese director Yonfan was awarded the Best Script Award for his first animation feature-length film “N°7 Cherry Lane” at the 76th edition of the Venice International Film Festival, a complex love triangle story set at the backdrop of the Hong Kong protests in 1967. Highly erotic and brave in exploring the mechanisms of love relationships, the film is loaded with film-, literature and art references and never short of surprises.
We spoke to Yonfan after the first press screening of his film at the Venice International Film Festival in an emotionally laden interview that hid a surprise or two.
“N°7 Cherry Lane” screened at Venice Film Festival 2019
Was making a feature-length animation your dream come true?
Yes, because doing an animation is completely different from the real-life film where you have an entourage with the stars and the crew. The animation making process is very quiet. Everybody is...
We spoke to Yonfan after the first press screening of his film at the Venice International Film Festival in an emotionally laden interview that hid a surprise or two.
“N°7 Cherry Lane” screened at Venice Film Festival 2019
Was making a feature-length animation your dream come true?
Yes, because doing an animation is completely different from the real-life film where you have an entourage with the stars and the crew. The animation making process is very quiet. Everybody is...
- 9/9/2019
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Toby Wallace.
Toby Wallace’s turn as a small-time drug dealer in Shannon Murphy’s debut feature Babyteeth has won him the Venice Film Festival’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor.
It is the second year in a row that the prize has been won by an Australian, with last year’s gong going to Baykali Ganambarr for his debut performance in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale.
In Babyteeth, Wallace stars as Moses, the love interest of Eliza Scanlen’s Milla, a terminally ill teenager. Their relationship is a nightmare for Milla’s parents, played by Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, but Milla teaches those in her orbit how to live like there is nothing to lose.
Produced by Alex White and based on Rita Kalnejais’ Belvoir Theatre play of the same name, the film was critically lauded after its debut in competition at Venice last week.
Variety...
Toby Wallace’s turn as a small-time drug dealer in Shannon Murphy’s debut feature Babyteeth has won him the Venice Film Festival’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor.
It is the second year in a row that the prize has been won by an Australian, with last year’s gong going to Baykali Ganambarr for his debut performance in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale.
In Babyteeth, Wallace stars as Moses, the love interest of Eliza Scanlen’s Milla, a terminally ill teenager. Their relationship is a nightmare for Milla’s parents, played by Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis, but Milla teaches those in her orbit how to live like there is nothing to lose.
Produced by Alex White and based on Rita Kalnejais’ Belvoir Theatre play of the same name, the film was critically lauded after its debut in competition at Venice last week.
Variety...
- 9/9/2019
- by jkeast
- IF.com.au
Joker won over audiences in Venice Photo: Courtesy of Nyff Todd Phillips' Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, has won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
The film about the Batman villain, which has inspired a slew of debate online since its premiere, will be released in the UK on October.
Roman Polanski's An Officer And A Spy - which had already sparked controversy by being included due to the director's Us fugitive status after his conviction for statutory rape in 1978 - won the Grand Jury Prize.
Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who stars in his dramatisation of the Dreyfus affair political scandal - which also won the Fipresci award - collected the award on his behalf.
The Silver Lion went to Roy Andersson for About Endlessness, while writer/director Yonfan won the best screenplay for his Hong Kong animation No. 7 Cherry Lane.
The acting awards in the main...
The film about the Batman villain, which has inspired a slew of debate online since its premiere, will be released in the UK on October.
Roman Polanski's An Officer And A Spy - which had already sparked controversy by being included due to the director's Us fugitive status after his conviction for statutory rape in 1978 - won the Grand Jury Prize.
Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who stars in his dramatisation of the Dreyfus affair political scandal - which also won the Fipresci award - collected the award on his behalf.
The Silver Lion went to Roy Andersson for About Endlessness, while writer/director Yonfan won the best screenplay for his Hong Kong animation No. 7 Cherry Lane.
The acting awards in the main...
- 9/8/2019
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 2019 Venice International Film Festival has wrapped, and this year’s edition has announced its award winners. The Golden Lion, the festival’s top laureate, went to “Joker,” which is a strong statement from this year’s competition jury led by Lucrecia Martel. See the complete list of this year’s winners below.
In recent years, the Venice Golden Lion has gone to films that went on to have legs in the awards-season conversation stateside. Last year’s Lion went to Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” which won three Academy Awards for Netflix but lost Best Picture to “Green Book.” The year prior, the Golden Lion went to Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” which won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2018.
In a surprise upset over Joaquin Phoenix in hot competition title “Joker” (until it carried off with the Golden Lion), Best Actor went to Luca Marinelli for...
In recent years, the Venice Golden Lion has gone to films that went on to have legs in the awards-season conversation stateside. Last year’s Lion went to Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” which won three Academy Awards for Netflix but lost Best Picture to “Green Book.” The year prior, the Golden Lion went to Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” which won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2018.
In a surprise upset over Joaquin Phoenix in hot competition title “Joker” (until it carried off with the Golden Lion), Best Actor went to Luca Marinelli for...
- 9/7/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Roman Polanski wins the Silver Lion grand jury prize for An Officer And A Spy.
Todd Phillips’ Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the DC Comics villain, cemented its Oscar credentials after winning the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
At tonight’s award ceremony (September 7) the Silver Lion grand jury prize went to Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy. Despite the controversy following the director, the film also picked up the Fipresci prize yesterday.
Swedish veteran Roy Andersson won the best director award for comedy About Endlessness.
The Lucrecia Martel-led jury awarded best screenplay to Hong Kong animation No.
Todd Phillips’ Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the DC Comics villain, cemented its Oscar credentials after winning the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
At tonight’s award ceremony (September 7) the Silver Lion grand jury prize went to Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy. Despite the controversy following the director, the film also picked up the Fipresci prize yesterday.
Swedish veteran Roy Andersson won the best director award for comedy About Endlessness.
The Lucrecia Martel-led jury awarded best screenplay to Hong Kong animation No.
- 9/7/2019
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Todd Phillips’ dark supervillain origin story “Joker” has come up trumps at the Venice Film Festival, taking the Golden Lion from a jury headed by Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel. Controversial veteran Roman Polanski, meanwhile, took the runner-up Grand Jury Prize for his film “An Officer and a Spy,” capping a festival marked by debate over gender representation and the impact of #MeToo in the industry.
It’s a rarity for a major Hollywood studio production to take the top prize at Venice, and unprecedented for a superhero-adjacent property to take any such honor, but the Warner Bros. title established itself early on as the festival’s lightning rod: a film that sparked headlines and critical discussion to the very end of the festival, as many other competing titles came and went without a ripple.
Variety chief critic Owen Gleiberman was among its many champions, acclaiming it as “a neo-‘Taxi Driver...
It’s a rarity for a major Hollywood studio production to take the top prize at Venice, and unprecedented for a superhero-adjacent property to take any such honor, but the Warner Bros. title established itself early on as the festival’s lightning rod: a film that sparked headlines and critical discussion to the very end of the festival, as many other competing titles came and went without a ripple.
Variety chief critic Owen Gleiberman was among its many champions, acclaiming it as “a neo-‘Taxi Driver...
- 9/7/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Remembrance of Things Cats: Yonfan Sketches a Rebellious Love Letter in Animated Debut
The multifaceted Yonfan returns to feature filmmaking for the first time in a decade with an audacious departure–his animated debut, the erotic period piece No.7 Cherry Lane. After becoming a famous celebrity photographer in 1970s Hong Kong, Yonfan has charted a multifaceted filmography, his early works featuring the likes of Maggie Cheung and Chow-yun Fat, while 1998’s Bishonen was a groundbreaking Chinese depiction of an explicitly homosexual relationship. Yonfan continues mining historical narrative possibilities with his latest, which explores complex sexualities through period lens, not unlike 2001’s thirties set The Peony Pavilion and the forties/fifties placed Prince of Tears (2009).…...
The multifaceted Yonfan returns to feature filmmaking for the first time in a decade with an audacious departure–his animated debut, the erotic period piece No.7 Cherry Lane. After becoming a famous celebrity photographer in 1970s Hong Kong, Yonfan has charted a multifaceted filmography, his early works featuring the likes of Maggie Cheung and Chow-yun Fat, while 1998’s Bishonen was a groundbreaking Chinese depiction of an explicitly homosexual relationship. Yonfan continues mining historical narrative possibilities with his latest, which explores complex sexualities through period lens, not unlike 2001’s thirties set The Peony Pavilion and the forties/fifties placed Prince of Tears (2009).…...
- 9/5/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Title: Ji Yuan Tai Qi Hao (No 7 Cherry Lane) Director: Yonfan Genre: Animation This film is an utter dream of what Virginia Woolf would define as the flight of the mind, that determines our being and self-awareness. A stupendous stream of consciousness intertwines Yonfan’s beloved literature and movies (that are experienced by his characters), […]
The post Ji Yuan Tai Qi Hao (No 7 Cherry Lane) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Ji Yuan Tai Qi Hao (No 7 Cherry Lane) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/4/2019
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
Cherries aren’t the first fruit that come to mind when watching “No. 7 Cherry Lane.” In an entirely welcome way, veteran Hong Kong auteur Yonfan’s first film in a decade (as well as his first foray into feature animation) can better be described as a bowl of bright, aromatic and very, very ripe bananas. As entrancingly singular as it is steeped in pastiche, this frequently dream-distracted vision of young love against the turmoil of the 1967 Hong Kong riots practically defies critics not to resort to that hoarily overused term “valentine to cinema”: If a film containing no fewer than three lengthy cartoon reenactments of Simone Signoret classics doesn’t merit it, what does? Many will be left bewildered by the sheer, deranged obsessiveness of Yonfan’s nostalgia head-trip — indeed, there were whistles and walkouts at its first Venice press screening — but accustomed Yon-fans and patient adventurers will fall madly for its madness.
- 9/2/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Yonfan, one of Asia’s most celebrated auteurs, returns to filmmaking — and Venice competition — with “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” a sexy, three-way love story, told through animation. He talks to Variety about the process behind the feature.
What explains your absence from filmmaking for nearly 10 years?
I was quite hurt by the reception of “Prince of Tears.” I’d spent seven years making it. Building sets, casting and waiting for leading men to be free. It went to several festivals, but it was a big mistake to do something about the “White Terror” period in Taiwan. Looking back, no picture about that period has done well. I stopped. And tried to redefine myself, especially through writing, for which I’ve always been criticized. After restoring my 1988 film “Last Romance,” I wrote an article about it for the Apple Daily newspaper. Overnight I became a weekly columnist, writing 4,000 words per time. There...
What explains your absence from filmmaking for nearly 10 years?
I was quite hurt by the reception of “Prince of Tears.” I’d spent seven years making it. Building sets, casting and waiting for leading men to be free. It went to several festivals, but it was a big mistake to do something about the “White Terror” period in Taiwan. Looking back, no picture about that period has done well. I stopped. And tried to redefine myself, especially through writing, for which I’ve always been criticized. After restoring my 1988 film “Last Romance,” I wrote an article about it for the Apple Daily newspaper. Overnight I became a weekly columnist, writing 4,000 words per time. There...
- 8/31/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The 76th Venice International Film Festival is organised by La Biennale di Venezia, and will be held on the Lido di Venezia from 28 August to 7 September 2019. The Festival is officially recognised by the Fiapf (International Federation of Film Producers Association).
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. In addition to the sections mentioned in the following paragraphs, the Festival also organises retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Here are all the Asian movies we found in the line-up:
La Vérité
Venezia 76 Competition – An international competition comprising a maximum of 20 feature-length films, presented as world premieres.
La VÉRITÉ (The Truth)
Director Kore-eda Hirokazu / France, Japan / 106’
Lan Xin Da Ju Yuan (Saturday Fiction)
Director Ye Lou...
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. In addition to the sections mentioned in the following paragraphs, the Festival also organises retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Here are all the Asian movies we found in the line-up:
La Vérité
Venezia 76 Competition – An international competition comprising a maximum of 20 feature-length films, presented as world premieres.
La VÉRITÉ (The Truth)
Director Kore-eda Hirokazu / France, Japan / 106’
Lan Xin Da Ju Yuan (Saturday Fiction)
Director Ye Lou...
- 8/14/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Marriage StoryA selection of films from the 2019 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has been unveiled, with new films by Pablo Larraín, Lou Ye, Noah Baumbach, the Safdie Brothers, and Marielle Heller.Special Presentationsa Herdade (Tiago Guedes): Portuguese filmmaker Tiago Guedes looks at the political, economic, and social history of Portugal from the vantage point of a family line of wealthy homesteaders on a Tagus River estate.Bad Education (Cory Finley): Based on screenwriter Mike Makowsky’s high school experience.Coming Home Again (Wayne Wang): A Korean American man cares for his ailing mother while trying to master her traditional cooking.Dolemite Is My Name (Craig Brewer): The story of performer Rudy Ray Moore, who assumed the role of an iconic pimp named Dolemite during the 1970sEma (Pablo Larraín): A couple deals with the aftermath of an adoption that goes awry as their household falls apart.
- 8/1/2019
- MUBI
Martin EdenThe programme for the 2019 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Olivier Assayas, Robert Guédiguian, Pietro Marcello, and many more.COMPETITIONThe Truth (Hirokazu Kore-eda): About a stormy reunion between a daughter and her actress mother, Catherine, against the backdrop of Catherine’s latest role in a sci-fi picture as a mother who never grows old.The Perfect Candidate (Haifaa Al-Mansour)About Endlessness (Roy Andersson): The film contains a mix of scenes that takes place in the past and present and we meet several historical people, including Prince Ivan the Terrible and Adolf Hitler.Wasp Network (Olivier Assayas): The story of five Cuban political prisoners who had been imprisoned by the United States since the late 1990s on charges of espionage and murder.Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach): A stage director and his actor wife struggle through a gruelling, coast-to-coast...
- 7/25/2019
- MUBI
Update: Much of the Venice Film Festival’s 2019 competition field, which was announced this morning in Rome, lines up as expected with Warner Bros/DC origns story Joker; Fox/Disney’s Brad Pitt space drama Ad Astra; Steven Soderbergh’s starry Netflix dark comedy, The Laundromat; and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story from Netflix making the cut to begin potential awards-season runs.
Kristen Stewart drama Seberg (formerly Against All Enemies) is also an official selection entry, though in something of a surprise is taking an out-of-competition slot. Other intriguing titles include Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate (she is one of just two female filmmakers in the competition); Olivier Assayas’ Wasp Network, a thriller with Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez; and Pablo Larrain’s Ema.
Fest chief Alberto Barbera is already facing criticism from European Cinema groups over the inclusion of three Netflix titles. He’s also likely to stir...
Kristen Stewart drama Seberg (formerly Against All Enemies) is also an official selection entry, though in something of a surprise is taking an out-of-competition slot. Other intriguing titles include Haifaa Al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate (she is one of just two female filmmakers in the competition); Olivier Assayas’ Wasp Network, a thriller with Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez; and Pablo Larrain’s Ema.
Fest chief Alberto Barbera is already facing criticism from European Cinema groups over the inclusion of three Netflix titles. He’s also likely to stir...
- 7/25/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Roman Polanski’s “J’Accuse,” Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” and Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” are among the films that will screen at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival, Venice organizers announced at a press conference in Rome on Thursday.
This will mark Polanski’s first appearance at a major festival since his May 2018 expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with the decision by the AMPAS Board of Governors referencing his 1978 guilty plea to a charge of statutory rape.
“J’Accuse,” which had been screening for buyers under the title “An Officer and a Spy,” is his dramatization of the Alfred Dreyfus scandal in 19th century France, and has been considered by some, sight unseen, as a comment of sorts on the #MeToo movement.
Also Read: Oscars Academy Defends Expulsion of Roman Polanski
Other films in the Venice Film Festival main competition include James Gray’s “Ad Astra,...
This will mark Polanski’s first appearance at a major festival since his May 2018 expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with the decision by the AMPAS Board of Governors referencing his 1978 guilty plea to a charge of statutory rape.
“J’Accuse,” which had been screening for buyers under the title “An Officer and a Spy,” is his dramatization of the Alfred Dreyfus scandal in 19th century France, and has been considered by some, sight unseen, as a comment of sorts on the #MeToo movement.
Also Read: Oscars Academy Defends Expulsion of Roman Polanski
Other films in the Venice Film Festival main competition include James Gray’s “Ad Astra,...
- 7/25/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
As always, the announcement of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival slate took a bite out of Venice’s thunder. That festival’s designation of “World,” “Canadian,” “International” and “North American” premieres makes it somewhat easy to figure out what films are debuting at the competing Venice and Telluride Film Festivals. That being said, the 2019 Venice International Film Festival had some surprises up its sleeve.
Read More: Nine Things We Learned From Tiff’s 2019 Slate: ‘Judy,’ ‘Marriage Story,’ Hustlers’ & More
The expected debuts in competition were James Gray’s “Ad Astra,” Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundrymart,” Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and Atom Egoyan’s “Guest of Honour.” New titles included Oliver Assayas’ “Wasp Network” with Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramierez, Cico Guerra’s “Waiting for the Barbarians” with Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, Pablo Larrain’s “Ema” with Gael Garcia Bernal, Lou Ye’s “Lan...
Read More: Nine Things We Learned From Tiff’s 2019 Slate: ‘Judy,’ ‘Marriage Story,’ Hustlers’ & More
The expected debuts in competition were James Gray’s “Ad Astra,” Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundrymart,” Todd Phillips’ “Joker” and Atom Egoyan’s “Guest of Honour.” New titles included Oliver Assayas’ “Wasp Network” with Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramierez, Cico Guerra’s “Waiting for the Barbarians” with Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, Pablo Larrain’s “Ema” with Gael Garcia Bernal, Lou Ye’s “Lan...
- 7/25/2019
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
A robust roster of awards contenders, including Brad Pitt space odyssey “Ad Astra” and Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded financial thriller “The Laundromat,” will launch from the Venice Film Festival, which features a bit less high-wattage Hollywood fare this year but no shortage of hotly anticipated world premieres and stars.
The four U.S. pics in the Lido’s 21-title competition are all high-profile entries, starting with Fox’s “Ad Astra,” directed by James Grey, which features Pitt as an astronaut on a mission to save the solar system from imminent destruction. Netflix continues its strong track record on the Lido (where “Roma” debuted last year) with Noah Baumbach’s intimate divorce drama, “Marriage Story,” with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple in conflict, and “The Laundromat,” which stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas in a tale based on the Panama Papers exposé. Warner Bros. is launching “Joker,...
The four U.S. pics in the Lido’s 21-title competition are all high-profile entries, starting with Fox’s “Ad Astra,” directed by James Grey, which features Pitt as an astronaut on a mission to save the solar system from imminent destruction. Netflix continues its strong track record on the Lido (where “Roma” debuted last year) with Noah Baumbach’s intimate divorce drama, “Marriage Story,” with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple in conflict, and “The Laundromat,” which stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas in a tale based on the Panama Papers exposé. Warner Bros. is launching “Joker,...
- 7/25/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival has announced the selections for its 76th edition, which is set to take place from August 29 to September 7. The announcement marks the week’s second major film festival lineup to confirm titles following the Toronto International Film Festival. With both official selections for Venice and Tiff now revealed, the upcoming 2019-20 awards season is quickly taking shape.
As previously announced, Venice 2019 will open with the world premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “The Truth.” The family drama stars Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Ethan Hawke. “The Truth” is Kore-eda’s first directorial effort since winning the Palme d’Or in 2018 with “Shoplifters.” This year’s festival will close with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the latest feature from Giuseppe Capotondi. The movie stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, and Mick Jagger.
Venice has already announced that Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel will serve as the president of this year’s competition jury.
As previously announced, Venice 2019 will open with the world premiere of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “The Truth.” The family drama stars Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, and Ethan Hawke. “The Truth” is Kore-eda’s first directorial effort since winning the Palme d’Or in 2018 with “Shoplifters.” This year’s festival will close with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the latest feature from Giuseppe Capotondi. The movie stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, and Mick Jagger.
Venice has already announced that Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel will serve as the president of this year’s competition jury.
- 7/25/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced its first official slate, with titles in its Gala and Special Presentations program, including some of the most anticipated movies of the year. The 2019 edition will premiere much-anticipated titles like Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-starring “Joker,” Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit,” the Safdie brothers’ Adam Sandler-starring “Uncut Gems,” Rian Johnson’s “Star Wars” followup “Knives Out,” James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari,” Destin Daniel Cretton’s Michael B. Jordan vehicle “Just Mercy,” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat,” John Crowley’s “The Goldfinch,” Armando Iannucci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” and Lorene Scafaria’s true-life “Hustlers.”
The lineup is rife with still more major names jockeying for early awards season attention, including Noah Baumbach (who will show his Netflix drama “Marriage Story”), Kasi Lemmons (showing her Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet”), Rupert Goold (with his Judy Garland biopic “Judy”), and Edward Norton...
The lineup is rife with still more major names jockeying for early awards season attention, including Noah Baumbach (who will show his Netflix drama “Marriage Story”), Kasi Lemmons (showing her Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet”), Rupert Goold (with his Judy Garland biopic “Judy”), and Edward Norton...
- 7/23/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Brad Pitt space odyssey “Ad Astra,” Noah Baumbach’s untitled new project, “Joker” with Joaquin Phoenix, Tom Harper’s “The Aeronauts,” Fernando Meirelles’ “The Pope,” the new “Rambo” installment, and heist thriller “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” starring Mick Jagger as a reclusive art dealer, all look bound for the Venice Film Festival, sources tell Variety.
The fest is scheduled to unveil its initial lineup July 25. With just six weeks before the festival kicks off, director Alberto Barbera is scrambling to firm up his official selection, a process more down to the wire than usual.
At the moment, this year’s U.S. studio presence on the Lido does not look as if it will be as dominant as in recent editions, possibly because the Disney-Fox merger has slowed down the Hollywood pipeline a bit. But where the majors might be pulling back, the streamers are stepping in.
Netflix looks set...
The fest is scheduled to unveil its initial lineup July 25. With just six weeks before the festival kicks off, director Alberto Barbera is scrambling to firm up his official selection, a process more down to the wire than usual.
At the moment, this year’s U.S. studio presence on the Lido does not look as if it will be as dominant as in recent editions, possibly because the Disney-Fox merger has slowed down the Hollywood pipeline a bit. But where the majors might be pulling back, the streamers are stepping in.
Netflix looks set...
- 7/16/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Hong Kong director Yonfan says his late-life conversion to animation, with upcoming “No. 7 Cherry Lane,” brings him new artistic freedom. Including new ways to express the erotic.
“Strangely enough, I found it’s easier to deliver what I want to say in an animation. Drawings and paintings can give you more imagination than the real photos. The Mona Lisa still sits in the Louvre and can touch the heart of millions. That is what a good painting can do. In ‘No. 7 Cherry Lane,’ we have thousands of wonderful moments in images, each fully capable of conveying powerful emotion,” Yonfan told Variety. “The love scenes in ‘Cherry Lane’ can be much more evocative than any painting by Andy Warhol.”
The story is something of a time capsule of the 1960s Hong Kong, when Yonfan was moved there by his family from mainland China and Taiwan. “Hong Kong was still a British Crown Colony.
“Strangely enough, I found it’s easier to deliver what I want to say in an animation. Drawings and paintings can give you more imagination than the real photos. The Mona Lisa still sits in the Louvre and can touch the heart of millions. That is what a good painting can do. In ‘No. 7 Cherry Lane,’ we have thousands of wonderful moments in images, each fully capable of conveying powerful emotion,” Yonfan told Variety. “The love scenes in ‘Cherry Lane’ can be much more evocative than any painting by Andy Warhol.”
The story is something of a time capsule of the 1960s Hong Kong, when Yonfan was moved there by his family from mainland China and Taiwan. “Hong Kong was still a British Crown Colony.
- 2/9/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Yonfan, prince of sensuous Hong Kong cinema, will make a return to the big screen this year with his first new feature in a decade. The picture will be his first animation.
“No. 7 Cherry Lane,” is the story of a love triangle involving a university student, a single mother and her teenage daughter. It is set in 1967, a year of political turmoil in Hong Kong, which at the time was a British colony. Yonfan, who moved to the territory in 1965 as a young man, describes the film as his love letter to Hong Kong and to cinema.
Yonfan, whose movie credits include “Bishonen,” “Peony Pavilion” and “Color Blossoms,” has spent much of his time since 2009 Venice competition film “Prince of Tears” on photography, art and publishing. During that time Yonfan has also worked secretly on developing and directing “No. 7 Cherry Lane” from his own short stories. He was also on...
“No. 7 Cherry Lane,” is the story of a love triangle involving a university student, a single mother and her teenage daughter. It is set in 1967, a year of political turmoil in Hong Kong, which at the time was a British colony. Yonfan, who moved to the territory in 1965 as a young man, describes the film as his love letter to Hong Kong and to cinema.
Yonfan, whose movie credits include “Bishonen,” “Peony Pavilion” and “Color Blossoms,” has spent much of his time since 2009 Venice competition film “Prince of Tears” on photography, art and publishing. During that time Yonfan has also worked secretly on developing and directing “No. 7 Cherry Lane” from his own short stories. He was also on...
- 1/8/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
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