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Welcomed by international film festivals but opposed by Prc’s censors, “Summer Palace” is arguably the most artistically accomplished work by Sixth Generation’s master Lou Ye. Stylistically defiant, and with an unprecedentedly explicit depiction of 1980s China’s youth, “Summer Palace” is one of those rare instances where a personal story translates to national history, becoming a catalyst for collective memory.

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Upon receiving notice of admission to the prestigious Beiqing University, Yu Hong (Hao Lei) is set to leave her hometown in Tumen, on the North Korean border, for the capital. Here she befriends Lin Ti (Hu Ling), who introduces her to the student movement. Among them is also Zhou Wei (Guo Xiaodong), whom Yu Hong quickly falls in love with, initiating a stormy relationship that will be terminated abruptly, together with her decision to quit her studies. However, after ten years,...

“Dog Bite Dog” emerged as a standout winner at the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival’s Siff Project market, securing both the Recommended Projects award and Happy Mahua’s “Joyful Laughter” Special Attention recognition.

Directed by Cai Kunyu and written by Lin Xiao and Wang Hanmo, the Chinese genre project was among several titles selected across multiple categories at this year’s project market.

“Heading South,” directed by Yuan Yuan and co-written with Bolor Huang, secured the Specially Recommended Projects designation. Producer Wang Jing is shepherding the pre-production title.

In the emerging talent category, Guo Xiaodong’s “A Perfect Life” claimed the Young Director Recommended Projects award. The new talent project features a screenplay by Xi Longfei.

The Creative Recommended Projects honor went to “Wintertime in a Small Town,” helmed by co-directors Wu Chu and Gao Xiangyu, who also wrote the script. The pre-production project represents a collaboration between the directing duo.

Among Lou Ye‘s illustrious filmography, “Blind Massage” stands out as a peculiarly soulful, touching – if disturbing – account of the kind of marginalized characters the Chinese director likes to depict. Although the disempowered men and women here happen to be totally or partially blind, they otherwise have a lot in common with the characters who inhabit the fringes of society in his films. Once more, the sixth-generation filmmaker offers a humanist, impressionistic, but unsentimental account of life on the margins, one which was rewarded with the Golden Horse for Best Picture in 2014.

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Situated in a massage center in Nanjing, the movie is an ensemble drama that looks at the lives of its characters for the brief period of time they work and live together there. You quickly feel these are real-life men and women, with realistic behavior and believable reactions to...

Exclusive: Visit Films has acquired worldwide sales rights to Sundance premiere, Luz, starring French cinema icon Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher), alongside Sandrine Pinna (Dead Talents Society) and Guo Xiao Dong (The Warlords).

The film follows an ex-con searching for his estranged daughter in China and a gallerist seeking connection with her stepmother in France where they cross paths in the VR world ‘Luz’.

The contemporary drama, written and directed by Hong-Kong born Chinese auteur Flora Lau (Bends), was on sale for Visit at the recent EFM. Pic is produced by Sinn Gi Joseph Chan (Wine Wars), Stephen Lam (Cold War), Flora Lau, and executive-produced by Yvette Tang. Visit is co-repping N. America with 2Am.

Lockjaw, Sabrina Greco’s first feature, screened at the EFM market ahead of its premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival.

The dark comedy follows a woman six weeks after a drunk-driving accident...

With an evocative opening-credits sequence as the camera swirls through a virtual landscape of neon signs and lights, one might think they are witnessing the beginning of the next Gaspar Noé film. Thankfully what follows in Flora Lau’s second feature Luz is less puerile and exasperating than the work of that enfant terrible, but it could use an inkling more bite. A mood piece above all else, the emotionally detached drama follows two disparate, vaguely connected stories of alienated individuals adrift in a world consumed by technology that may in fact be the only path toward healing.

We’re first introduced to Wei (Xiao Dong Guo), an ex-convict working as the heavy for a nightclub owner in the bustling, neon-soaked city of Chongqing, his only real connection seemingly with cam girl Fa (En Xi Deng), with whom he just wants to have a conversation. When he reveals that she’s his estranged daughter,...

Unbothered, Isabelle Huppert vapes while wearing a chic dress after a night out in Paris. The actress’ requisite ferocious grace this time is lent to Sabine, an ailing French artist who refuses to waste her final days bedridden. But she is only one of the four pieces that conform “Luz,” Flora Lau’s alluring narrative diptych on familial disconnection that moves between the French capital, the Chinese city of Chongqing and an interstitial realm of virtual reality, where her characters are meant to find common ground. The geographical divide between the two distinct storylines is bridged via the implementation of this space.

From the opening credits (the names of those involved appear as spinning neon signs floating) propelled by Mimi Xu’s propulsive score, Lau announces the visual originality she’s after, mining Chongqing’s fluorescent architecture to create dazzling, otherworldly frames. And there’s mesmerizing imagery galore in “Luz...

The Sundance Film Festival, held annually in Park City, Utah, is the perfect way to kick off the new cinematic year. The festival helps elevate the platform of some of the most exciting and fresh voices of independent cinema, such as Flora Lau, the writer-director behind the bold sci-fi drama Luz, a bifurcated story about a man's search for his daughter in Chongqing and a woman's relationship with her stepmother in Paris, as their lives collide in a virtual reality world. Along the way, a mystical deer reveals hidden truths, sparking a journey of discovery and connection. The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Pinna, and Xiaodong Guo.

The risk of an ambitious experiment like Luz, which is part continent-hopping thriller, part Fortnite-style video game, is that the latter eventually becomes more captivating than the former. And while this doesn’t totally happen in writer-director Flora Lau’s intriguing second feature, the real-life part of the movie never quite convinces, making us further appreciate the artistry of everything occurring online.

Premiering at Sundance, the film constantly shifts between reality and virtual reality, as well as between China and France, as it follows a handful of characters looking for connection in a world that increasingly alienates them. If the multiplayer plot doesn’t exactly catch fire, the mesmerizing images foster an immersive experience — one that, ironically enough, would probably play best on the big screen.

Set partly in the LED-lit nightscapes of Chongquing, partly in a gray and neutral Paris and partly in the titular VR game, Luz...

In “Luz,” writer-director Flora Lau immerses viewers in the mystical world of a simulated reality game of the same name. Set in Chongqing, one of China’s largest cities, the film follows Ren (Sandrine Pinna), a gallerist who travels to Paris to visit her stepmother, Sabine (Isabelle Huppert). Sabine, long divorced from Ren’s father — a successful painter — has recently experienced fainting spells that have landed her in the hospital. Despite her serious health issues, she takes a laissez-faire approach, focusing instead on launching her new gallery. At the same time there is a parallel intervention happening as Wei (played by Xiao Dong Guo), a conman who does dirty work for a wealthy businessman, spends his off-hours watching his estranged daughter, Fa (En Xi Deng), livestream her home life on a social networking app where followers like him shower her with attention and cash. For much of the movie, the...

The characters in Flora Lau’s Luz fabricate their reality in different ways: Wei (Xiao Dong Guo) maintains an illusion of connection to his daughter, Fa (En Xi Deng), by watching her live streams, while Sabine (Isabelle Huppert) grapples with her terminal health condition by living as if unaffected by it and the arrival of her worried stepdaughter, Ren (Sandrine Pinna), in Paris. The film’s characters are united by their search for familial intimacy, and the idea that intimacy and connection may not take shape in the way that you want it to.

The film runs on dual narrative tracks, augmented with the soft sci-fi aesthetics that one associates with virtual reality and its focus on how humans engage with technology. It jumps between a bustling, nocturnal Chongqing and a quieter, residential setting in Paris to craft parallel vignettes whose themes mirror each other thematically. But whereas Luz is visually and conceptually compelling,...

A visual marvel, Flora Lau’s “Luz” is likely to send you out of the theater in search of palpable reality: some grass to touch, maybe, or a hand to hold.

Nearly all of her characters are shatteringly isolated, divided even in their faltering attempts at connection. But they are bound, at minimum, through a mystical deer created by a celebrated Chinese artist before he died. The deer sits at the center of a giant painting in a seedy Chongqing club, where strangers escape into virtual reality alone and together.

The club’s most popular VR world — called Luz, which means both “Light” and “Separation” — also involves the deer, who has to evade participants hunting it. Among the players is young camgirl Fa (En Xi Deng), whose livestreams are persistently interrupted by Wei (Xiao Dong Guo), a middle-aged man claiming to be her lost father. Since she won’t agree...

Luz

Stuck in what feels like a Terrence Malick post-production purgatory abyss, Hong Kong filmmaker Flora Lau‘s Luz has been a yearly no-show since 2019 and we still have zero clue as to the status of this project. Having preemed her debut film Bends in 2013 in the Un Certain Regard section, we are now at the decade between projects point here. A France-Chinese co-production, the highly anticipated sophomore project has Isabelle Huppert toplining with Sandrine Pinna and Xiaodong Guo as supporting players. Benjamín Echazarreta was the cinematographer on the project here – he has since worked on Memory House and Blanquita.…...

Luz

Produced by Sinn Gi Joseph Chan, Stephen Lam, Flora Lau

Directed by Flora Lau

Written by Flora Lau

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Pinna, Xiaodong Guo

Cinematographer: Benjamín Echazarreta

Release Date/Prediction: Luz has been delayed for so long that it could play just about anywhere. We think this might be a Berlinale comp title or Locarno if it’s a Cannes no-show.

…...

The biggest movie in Chinese history is getting ready to invade the United States, with the first trailer and poster for Monster Hunt. Variety reported earlier this week that Monster Hunt will get a North American theatrical release, with domestic distributor FilmRise setting a January 22 release date. The 3D action fantasy movie will be going up against The 5th Wave, The Boy and Dirty Grandpa.

The story centers on a baby monster named Huba, the child of a human man and a monster queen. This newborn creature is threatened by both monster-hating humans and monsters attempting to capture the new-born in an ancient world based on medieval China. The cast includes Wei Tang, Baihe Bai, Eric Tsang, Wu Jiang, Wallace Chung, Boran Jing, Chen Yao, Elaine Jin, Xiaodong Guo and Ni Yan. Here's what FilmRise CEO Danny Fisher had to say in a statement.

"We have carefully edited the English...

Kate Plays ChristineThe lineup for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 21 -31, has been announced.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA): As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation. Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson. World Premiere The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, USA): Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Jr. World PremiereChristine (Antonio Campos,...

The Sundance Film institute has released the line-up of film for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Going to Sundance is one of my favorite events of the year. I love going because you never know what kind of movies you're going to see. Sometimes they are great films that amaze and entertain, other times they completely suck ass, but that's all part of the fun of going to the festival. It's an awesome experience for any hardcore movie geek, and if you ever get a chance to go, you need to.

The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.

Some of...

In last year’s section which included Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan and Anne Sewitsky’s Homesick, it was John Maclean’s debut Slow West claimed the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, Alanté Kavaïté’s The Summer of Sangailé landed the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Umrika was the audience’s won the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic. In this year’s dozen offerings we have names we normally associate with Cannes in The Misfortunates‘ Felix van Groeningen (Belgica), The Other Side of Sleep‘s Rebecca Daly (Mammal – see pic above) and A Stray Girlfriend‘s Ana Katz (Mi Amiga del Parque). Here are the selections.

Belgica / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director: Felix van Groeningen, Screenwriters: Felix van Groeningen, Arne Sierens) — In the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene, two brothers start a bar and get swept up in its success.Cast: Stef Aerts, Tom Vermeir, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Hélène De Vos. World Premiere.

Titles include Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney, and Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America (pictured); Next strand also announced.Scroll down for full list

Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.

Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.

Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...

Stars: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Shawn Yue, Xiaodong Guo, Barbie Hsu, Josie Ho | Written by Joey O’Bryan, Kam-Yuen Szeto | Directed by Pou-Soi Cheang

I don’t know what it is about cars in movies but they can be very entertaining. Be it The Fast and The Furious in its various forms, Driver or even The Italian Job the non-stop action of high-speed racing and chases has always been popular. Motorway (aka Che Sau) is a film that taps into this popularity and comfortably sites between Fast and Furious and Driver as a understatedly cool “cops and robbers” film that brings some brains to the car chase sub-genre.

When an overconfident rookie is confronted by a getaway driver who appears to be able to do impossible turns through the use of a unique drifting technique he seems to have found his match. Taking him under his wing his veteran partner teaches...

Joining the titles already announced—including films by Alain Resnais and Dominik Graf—the following films complete the lineup for the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival's Competition section.

Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)

People’s Republic of China

By Yinan Diao (Night Train, Uniform)

With Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang

World premiere

Boyhood

USA

By Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Me & Orson Welles)

With Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater

International premiere

Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)

Japan

By Yoji Yamada (Tokyo Family, About Her Brother)

With Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho

International premiere

Historia del miedo (History of Fear)

Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France

By Benjamin Naishtat - feature debut

With Jonathan Da Rosa, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual, Cesar Bordon, Tatiana Gimenez

World premiere

Jack

Germany

By Edward Berger

With Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz,...

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood to compete for the Golden Bear; Beauty and the Beast, starring Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux, to play out of competition.

The 64th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has added 15 titles to its Competition programme, completing the line-up of 23 films - of which 20 will vye for the Golden Bear and Silver Bears.

The programme includes 18 world premieres and three feature debuts.

The line-up includes the international premiere of Boyhood, from Before Midnight director Richard Linklater. The film, which will premiere at Sundance, was shot over short periods from 2002 to 2013 and covers 12 years in the life of a family, featuring Mason and his sister Samantha. Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater star.

World premieres include In Order of Disappearance, directed by Hans Petter Moland, which stars Stellan Skarsgård as a snow plough driver whose son’s sudden death puts him in the middle of a drug war between theNorwegian mafia and the...

The Fast, the Furious and the Motorway

You know the “first scene” formula: if it’s an action movie, make them jump out of their seats in the first scene; if it’s a comedy, make them laugh their asses off in the first scene; and if it’s a drama, then you have to stun them in the first scene. The problem is if your first scene is a lackluster one then you’ve just set the bar for your film pretty low. In “Motorway”, you will be treated to a car chase ( of sorts ) as the opening credits roll by. The cops are undercover, patrolling in a slick Audi A4 2.5, and hot on the heels of our villain, Jiang ( Xiaodong Guo ), in his pimped out BMW Z4. Even though the cars look “real” ( as in going as fast as they are pretending to be ), you’ll get an...

True Legend aka Su Qi-Er

Directed by Woo-ping Yuen

Written by Chi-long To

(2010) Hong Kong

Fantasia imdb

Beggar Su is the old man who trains Wong-Fei Hung (Jackie Chan) in the drunken fist style in the first Drunken Master, not coincidentally also directed by Woo-ping Yuen, so this film acts as a prequel to the Drunken Master films, explaining how Beggar Su came to be a drunk.

The film starts with Su Qi-Er as a successful and respected general alongside his two best friends Ma (Xiaodong Guo) and his blood-brother Yuan Lie (Andy On). After a thrilling rescue of a kidnapped Imperial prince, Yu is offered a position as governor and advised to send the erratic Yuan into exile. Instead, Yu gives his sword to Ma, retires from the army and ensures that Yuan gets the post as governor.

Yu Qi-Er’s problem is that True Legend is not just a prequel to Drunken Master,...

The True Legend Movie Trailer has premiered. Yuen Woo-ping‘s True Legend (2010) stars Vincent Zhao, Man Cheuk Chiu, Michelle Yeoh, Xiaogang Feng, and David Carradine. True Legend‘s plot synopsis: “Yuen Woo Ping (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolution, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Hero) brings you True Legend, a heart pounding epic about the timeless battle between good and evil. Su Can’s (Vincent Zhao) respectable life is obliterated when his vengeful brother, Yuan (Andy On), returns from war armed with the deadly Five Venom Fists. Weakened but not destroyed, Su Can learns a never-before-seen form of martial arts: the Drunken Fist. Armed with this new power, he returns home to honor his family through retribution by taking on his brother in a battle to become the ultimate warrior. Packed with distinct fighting styles–including Mma, knife combat and sweeping aerial...

A new trailer chock full of fights (but short on plot and dialogue, which is not necessarily a bad thing) and two short but very cool TV spots for action master Yuen Woo-ping’s return to directing in the martial arts/fantasy movie “True Legend” have shown up online. If you absolutely need a plot for this thing, you can find that below. It also looks like the film has been pushed back to 2010. Su Qi-Er, a wealthy man living during the Qing Dynasty who loses his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced out onto the streets, Su dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero known as the “King of Beggars.” Starring David Carradine, Michelle Yeoh, Cung Le, Jay Chou, Xun Zhou, Man Cheuk Chiu, Andy On, Conan Stevens, and Xiaodong Guo. Directed by Yuen Woo-ping. Trailer:...

Action superstar Donnie Yen dons his armour once again, to follow the lead of Cantonese Pop icon Kelly Chen in Tony Ching Siu Tung's Big budget epic An Empress and the Warriors. Tung who previously handled the action for Zhang Yimou's "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" manages to create a lavish old school action (with a touch of romance) pic, that is a true feast for the eyes. Yan Feier (Kelly Chen) is thrust into the role of empress when her father the King is viciously murdered by his own nephew, Wu Ba (Guo Xiao Dong). His treachery unknown to Feier, Wu Ba plots to gain control of the kingdom for himself. Meanwhile, Feier turns to legendary warrior Brother Hu (Donnie Yen) to instruct her in the ways of warfare. But Wu sends assassins after Feier, and she's poisoned by an assassin's dart before being lost in the woods.