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We’ve always loved setting trends at The Film Stage and are accordingly chuffed that, nine months after we screened a 35mm print at the Roxy, Roman Polanski’s late-career triumph The Ghost Writer comes to the Criterion Channel in next month’s Coastal Thrillers, a series that does what it says on the tin: The Lady from Shanghai, Key Largo, The Long Goodbye, The Fog, and the other best film of 2010, Scorsese’s Shutter Island. It pairs well with Noir and the Blacklist featuring films by Joseph Losey, Fritz Lang, Jules Dassin, and so on. Retrospectives are held for Terry Southern, Kathryn Bigelow, Jem Cohen, and (just in time for Caught By the Tides) Jia Zhangke, while Spike Lee gets his own Adventures In Moviegoing.

For recent restorations, Antonioni’s Il Grido and Anthony Harvey’s Dutchman appear. Criterion Editions include The Runner, Touchez pas au grisbi, Godzilla vs.

“Sacrificed Youth” (originally “Qing chun ji”) was the second feature film by Zhang Nuanxin, an important representative of the so-called fourth generation of Chinese filmmakers. She was born in Inner Mongolia in 1940. In 1943, the family moved to Beijing. In 1958 Zhang began studying at the university, which had just been renamed the Beijing Film Academy, and graduated in 1962. This makes her a pioneer in Chinese filmmaking, in which women are notoriously not very well represented in the director’s chair. It was not until a few years later that other important female directors appeared, with Li Shaohong and Ning Ying, both of them much younger.

Zhang Nuanxin also made a name for herself as a film theorist and taught for some time at the film academy before deciding to start her own film career in 1974. After several assistant director roles and a screenplay, she made her first film, “The Drive to Win,...

The Fifth Generation, started by the graduates of the Beijing Film Academy in 1982, is considered one of the most important movements in Chinese cinema. Paradoxically, Zhang Junzhao, the director of “One and Eight”, the movie that is associated with the beginning of this movement, is one of the lesser known creators of this group. While other members of the Fifth Generation, such as Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige and Li Shaohong, have been awarded numerous times at international festivals, Junzhao managed to gather only two nominations – “One and Eight” (1984) was nominated for Prize of the City of Torino at the 6th Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, and “Arc Light” (1989) for Golden St. George at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival.

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Based on an epic poem by Guo Xiaochuan, the story focuses on Communist Party member Wang Jin (Tao Zeru) who is suspected of being...

Special mention went to Chinese feature ‘Flaming Cloud’.

Malaysian drama Abang Adik scooped the top prize at the New York Asian Film Festival, which closed last night with a screening of Netflix animation The Monkey King.

Abang Adik received the Uncaged Award for best feature film, beating eight other titles from across Asia in Nyaff’s competition strand. It marks the directorial debut feature of Jin Ong and follows two orphaned brothers whose bond is tested after a brutal accident.

Director Ong was in New York to present the North American premiere of the film at the festival. Accepting the award,...

Japanese filmmaker Junji Sakamoto to receive the Screen International Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award.

The New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) has revealed the features that will compete for its Uncaged Award and announced that Japanese filmmaker Junji Sakamoto will receive the Screen International Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award.

The nine-strong competition for best feature film at the festival, running July 14-30, will include the world premieres of Hong Kong horror Back Home and Chinese films Flaming Cloud and Redemption With Life.

Back Home is a suspense horror that marks the feature directorial debut of Nate Ki and stars Anson...

Further sales titles include Kong Dashan’s ’Journey To The West’ and Zhang Chi’s ’In Search Of Echo’.

Chinese sales agent Parallax Films has closed deals on four titles including The Cord Of Life and Berlinale title Remembering Every Night with buyers in Japan and the US

Japanese distributor Pandora has picked up The Cord Of Life, which marks the feature directorial debut of Qiao Sixue and is among China’s New Talents Going Global programme at the Cannes market. The director is in Cannes with executive producer Yao Chen from Chinese production company Bad Rabbit Pictures.

Set in Inner Mongolia,...

Welcoming In 2023: The Year Of The Rabbit

New Chinese Family Movies Stream For Free In The U.S. & Canada

January 22- February 5, 2023

Chicago, Il – In honor of the Lunar Calendar’s Chinese New Year Celebration of 2023, Asian Pop-Up Cinema continues to present an excellent free streaming movie series for U.S. and Canadian viewers to enjoy.

Focused on family films, this series begins on the first day of the new year and end on the 15th day, the first full moon between January 22 and February 5, 2023. Sponsored by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago, and in partnership with China Lion Films Distributions, and Smart Cinema USA the online program brings some popular Chinese films to audiences in North America.

Films include two North American premieres So Long Summer Vacation, an only child’s perspective about being left alone at home while both parents work, and...

NEW YORK -- Li Shaohong's Stolen Life (Sheng Si Jie) landed top honors at the Tribeca Film Festival Saturday night in New York with a win for best narrative feature. Peter Forgacs' El Perro Negro: Stories From the Spanish Civil War brought home the award for best documentary. Pietro Reggiani's My Brother's Summer (L'Estate di mio fratello) was given a narrative feature special mention. Street Fight, a documentary about a 2002 mayoral race in New Jersey, took home the audience award. Felicity Huffman won honors for best actress for her portrayal of a transsexual woman in Transamerica, and Cees Geel was named best actor for the Dutch entry Simon.

HONG KONG -- The 28th Hong Kong International Film Festival opened on a positive note Tuesday with a modest 8% rise in ticket sales and the introduction of a number of new commercial initiatives to supplement its funding. The festival opened with two Chinese-language productions: Shaohong Li's Baober in Love, from China, and Ann Hui's Jade Goddess of Mercy, from Hong Kong. Hui, Li and Baober in Love stars Xun Zhou and Huang Jue were guests at the opening. By the end of last month, more than 40% of tickets had been sold, with 27 sellout screenings. Festival organizers also have released a compilation CD of movie soundtrack hits from previous festivals as well as T-shirts and souvenir books.