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Thailand has some of the most comfortable cinemas in the world, but a film release slate that rarely strays far from the mainstream – mostly Hollywood tentpoles and Thai commercial titles – leaving art-house and documentaries short shrift.

So, the Thursday arrival in Thai cinemas of a documentary feature is a welcome exception to the rule. The politically-charged “Breaking the Cycle,” by Aekaphong Saransate and Thankrit Duangmaneeporn, then is aptly named.

Having had its premiere at Hot Docs in Canada, it now opens on 150 screens across Thailand, in movie houses controlled by the Major Cineplex and Sf Cinemas duopoly.

The film is pitched as “capturing the political awakening among Thais after the rise and fall of Thanathorn, a young politician who calls to end the cycle of coups d’etat in the 2019 election.”

More than that, it is a portrait of the generational, social and aspirational divide between a social media-savvy younger...

Joe Piscatella’s 2017 “Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower” offered a fairly exhilarating view of youth activism, as it charted one Hong Kong student’s spearheading public opposition to mainland China’s increasingly heavy-handed takeover. The can-do optimism that documentary left viewers with is on life support in the director’s follow-up, which shifts nominal focus to one of Joshua Wong’s fellow protest leaders. But mostly “Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?” observes the gradual crushing of a pro-democracy movement that not long ago had promised to engage Beijing in genuine dialogue. This equally skillful if much more downbeat sequel should follow its predecessor to wide travel on the festival circuit, then broadcast and streaming exposure.

Law was a college freshman when he first met then-high school students Wong and so-called “princess of democracy” Agnes Chow. The trio became perhaps the most identifiable faces in a largely youth-driven cause that rose up...

"It's not safe here. They'll find us." Sony Pictures has unveiled a new trailer for The Calm Beyond, a Hong Kong sci-fi thriller survival movie that is now out to watch in the US. This premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in 2020, and has quietly dropped in the US already, even though this is the first time we're posting this trailer. A young woman lives on, hidden in plain sight in a ruined Hong Kong building after a tsunami destroyed the city. A castaway on a concrete island. Her concealed existence is changed forever when a small child literally floats into her life. In an interview: "The idea for a film, The Calm Beyond, came to [director Joshua Wong] during an Mri scan. It's about surviving a storm and 'how you live after.'" Unfortunately the director passed away after finishing and premiering this in 2020. The film stars Kara Wang as Asha,...

I truly enjoyed talking to Kara Wang, star of the new dystopian survivalist thriller “The Calm Beyond.” It was the feature film debut of the award-winning commercials and shorts director Joshua Wong who tragically lost his battle with cancer in December 2020. But his legacy lives on with “The Calm Beyond.” Here’s the official

The post Kara Wang on Working with Late, Great Director Joshua Wong for “The Calm Beyond” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.

To celebrate the release of The Calm Beyond, we spoke with lead actress Kara Wang.

Directed by Joshua Wong, The Calm Beyond sees a woman, Asha, struggling alone to survive in a flooded, dystopian world. Her perilous life is upended when a young girl floats into her life and Asha must protect them both.

We spoke with lead actress Kara Wang about working with the water and eight-year-old actress Sarinna Boggs.

The Calm Beyond is available on Digital now

Plot:

After a world-destroying typhoon has completely flooded Hong Kong, a young woman lives hidden in silence, a castaway on a concrete island. Her concealed existence is changed forever when a small child literally floats into her life.

The post Kara Wang on the post apocalyptic drama The Calm Beyond appeared first on HeyUGuys.

The dystopian/post apocalyptic theme has been one of the most dominant during the latest years in world genre cinema, essentially mirroring a pessimism that seems to lurk all over humanity. Joshua Wong tries his hand on the category, by also including another audience-favorite element, the presence of a little girl.

on Amazon

After a world-destroying typhoon has completely flooded Hong Kong, a young woman, Asha lives hidden in silence, trying to survive while also avoiding a group of pirates, who have been infesting what remains of Hong Kong, having previously secured guns and boats. Despite the fact that death lurks in every corner, Asha’s great survival skill has allowed her to live a relatively calm life, considering the circumstances. That all changes when Hei Hei, a little girl, literally floats in her life, awakening the trauma that has been tormenting her regarding the fate of her actual half-sister,...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide distribution rights to The Calm Beyond, a survivalist thriller that premiered in competition at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival. This is the feature directorial debut of the late Joshua Wong, the award-winning commercials and shorts director, who tragically lost his battle with cancer in December 2020.

From a story by Wong and Heather Gornall, and a script penned by Gornall, The Calm Beyond stars Kara Wang as Asha, one of the few survivors living in Hong Kong after climate change has devastated the city and left it a dark and dangerous place.

Before his passing, Wong said of The Calm Beyond, “while being a survival film at its core, it’s really about living with trauma and picking up the pieces of a broken life. How do you live after the storms of your life have hit?”

Wong added that...

Survivalist drama was directed by Joshua Wong, who died in December 2020.

Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide rights to survivalist thriller The Calm Beyond, the feature directorial debut of the late Joshua Wong.

Kara Wang from the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, and Goliath, stars as Asha, one of the few survivors living in Hong Kong after climate change has devastated the city.

Heather Gornall wrote the screenplay from a story by Wong. Speaking before his death from cancer last December, Wong said, “While being a survival film at its core, it’s really about living with trauma and picking...

Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong for his participation in a protest last October and for wearing a mask at the time. He was released the same day on bail.

Wong, 23, has been an outspoken supporter of the global call to boycott Disney’s new live-action “Mulan,” tweeting on its Sept. 4 release date, “I urge everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan.” The protest that sparked his arrest is a continuation of the same pro-democracy movement condemned last summer by Disney’s leading lady Liu Yifei and her fellow “Mulan” co-star Donnie Yen.

In controversial social media posts, both actors expressed support for the Hong Kong police, which had been condemned just days before by the Un Human Rights Office for “employing less-lethal weapons in ways that are prohibited by international norms and standards.”

Speaking to the South China Morning Post days after the...

The remake of Mulan certainly has its fans, but it's faced some significant backlash, too. Why are people boycotting Mulan? The most public reason has to do with its leading lady's controversial comments about democracy protests in Hong Kong, but as it turns out, that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to frustrations and controversies around the project.

Liu Yifei's Comments

The biggest source of controversy surrounding Mulan has to do with its star, Liu Yifei, and her 2019 comments supporting Hong Kong police against pro-democracy protestors. "I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong," she reportedly wrote on Chinese social media site Weibo, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her remarks earned intense ire from the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, as well as in other countries in the region and among people of Asian descent abroad.

Over the movie's release weekend,...

Disney’s live-action “Mulan” adaptation has been at the center of backlash for a year after lead actress Liu Yifei showed support on social media for Hong Kong’s police, who have been accused of violence towards pro-democracy protesters, but a new controversy is erupting now that the film has been made available on Disney+. According to reports from THR and Bloomberg, Disney filmed “Mulan” in China’s Xinjiang province and included a “special thanks” in the film’s credit sequence to the “publicity department of Cpc Xinjiang Uighur Autonomy Region Committee.” Xinjiang is a province where human rights abuses have been reported, including the detainment of over one million Uighur Muslims.

The “Mulan” credits also offer a thank you to the public security bureau in the city of Turpan, which is where the detainment centers are reportedly in operation. China refers to the facilities as “voluntary education centers,” designed...

Disney’s “Mulan” is one of the first major releases since the coronavirus pandemic shut down movie theaters around the world. Originally scheduled for wide theatrical release in March 2020, it was delayed multiple times as Disney continued to assess when theaters might be open again. The studio ultimately premiered the film on September 4 on Disney+ for a premium fee in countries where the service had launched, and is starting to hit theaters abroad, although certainly not without controversy.

Despite anticipation for the live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animated film of the same name, “Mulan” has been plagued by calls to boycott the film, which began in August 2019, when star Liu Yifei appeared to show support for Hong Kong’s police, who have been accused of violence towards pro-democracy protesters. The actress reshared an image posted by Chinese newspaper People’s Daily, which included a quote from Chinese reporter Fu Guohao...

As Disney’s mega-budget live-action remake of Mulan prepares to roll out in theaters in select markets across Asia, pro-democracy activists in several countries in the region are calling on audiences to steer clear of the movie via the growing #BoycottMulan movement.

A wave of coordinated social media activity in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand over the weekend urged for filmgoers to skip the movie because of past comments made by its star, actress Liu Yifei, supporting Hong Kong’s police force.

Among the most prominent voices calling for the boycott is Hong Kong activist leader Joshua Wong. “Because Disney ...

As Disney’s mega-budget live-action remake of Mulan prepares to roll out in theaters in select markets across Asia, pro-democracy activists in several countries in the region are calling on audiences to steer clear of the movie via the growing #BoycottMulan movement.

A wave of coordinated social media activity in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand over the weekend urged for filmgoers to skip the movie because of past comments made by its star, actress Liu Yifei, supporting Hong Kong’s police force.

Among the most prominent voices calling for the boycott is Hong Kong activist leader Joshua Wong. “Because Disney ...

Why is she running? Back that up: why has that drone descended upon a busy street in Hong Kong at night, stopping everyone in their tracks, motionless? Sharply shot and edited, the short film Invasian is only a teaser for a sci-fi series, now in development, from filmmaker Joshua Wong. According to official verbiage, "the series will be the follow up to Wong's feature directorial debut The Calm Beyond, starring Kara Wang (Top Gun: Maverick), which is currently in post-production." To quote the official release further, "Invasian takes place in Hong Kong after a mysterious signal is transmitted through cellular devices across the city, subduing and immobilizing the population, leaving only a group of ragtag kids (whose phones were confiscated) and a bunch of technophobic...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: La-based Endless Media and Hong Kong’s The Laundromatte are prepping sci-fi series Invasian, based on the short film from writer/director Joshua Wong. The English-language project’s development has been fast-tracked and plans are to shoot in Hong Kong when coronavirus stoppages have eased. Producers are Endless’ Najeeb Khuda and Gavin Lurie with Joshua Wong and Sofaye Wong of The Laundromatte. Check out the short film’s teaser below.

Invasian kicks off after a mysterious signal is transmitted through cellular devices across Hong Kong, subduing and immobilizing the population, and leaving only a group of ragtag kids — with no phones — and a bunch of technophobic senior citizens to rally together against the robot invasion.

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