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A scene from the Chinese action movie Hunt The Wicked. Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

Hunt The Wicked is a Chinese action flick in a contemporary crime setting that packs considerable punch in its considerable amount of punches, knifings, shootings and ‘splosions. The premise is rather standard, with more complications and twists than usual in the plot.

Miao Xie stars as Huang, a super-tough supercop pitted against huge drug manufacturing and importing ring that has long defied the efforts of the authorities. That’s partly due to the corruption among certain cops and politicians obscuring their activities and derailing most of the legit efforts. The film opens with Huang making the biggest bust to date of the meth-like pills the gang is making called Spider. It can be fatal for those who use it, and even more so for those who get hooked. In the course of Huang’s...

The beloved annual Provincetown International Film Festival (Piff) is having a big moment with its buzzy 2025 lineup. IndieWire can announce that leading horror auteur Ari Aster will be honored with the Filmmaker on the Edge title at the festival, which will take place from June 11 to 15 in Provincetown, Ma.

Aster will be in Provincetown to receive the award and participate in conversation with resident artist John Waters on Saturday, June 14, ahead of the nationwide release of his new film “Eddington” on July 18. The secretive 2020-set dark comedy “Eddington” will debut at Cannes; the feature reunites Aster with his “Beau Is Afraid” star Joaquin Phoenix, as well as Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Clifton Collins Jr., and more.

“Ari Aster’s films weave grief, beauty and dread into unforgettable cinematic experiences,” Anne Hubbell, Piff’s Executive Director, said in a press statement. “We’re excited to welcome Ari...

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has announced a first raft of deals on Jun Li’s sexy Hong Kong-set Drama “Queerpanorama” following its world premiere at this year’s Berlin Film Festival where it bowed in the Panorama section.

The black-and-white film has been sold in North America (Dark Star Pictures), France (Dulac Distribution), Germany, Austria & Switzerland (Salzgeber) and Portugal & Spain (Filmin). Best Friend Forever are also in advanced discussions to close other key territories.

“Queerpanorama” marks Li’s follow up to “Drifting” which premiered in competition at Rotterdam in 2021 and won best adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards. The film was also nominated for best picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

The plot revolves around a gay man who “impersonates men he has had sex with and brings this new persona with him to his next date. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself,...

Despite the challenges currently faced by the Hong Kong film industry, a wave of new filmmakers has emerged in recent years. Backed by government funding and the mentoring of experienced local producers and directors, these talents have seen encouraging box office results at home as well as festival play and some commercial success overseas.

Unlike Hong Kong’s previous generation of filmmakers, which specialized in crime thrillers and martial arts action movies, these younger directors tend to work with much smaller budgets and focus on realistic characters and social issues relevant to their hometown of Hong Kong. Few of these filmmakers are aiming for mainland Chinese audiences, due to the high costs, cultural differences and censorship issues that complicate releasing films in that market.

For nearly two decades now, the Hong Kong Film Development Council (Hkfdc) has provided a range of funding programmes to support local filmmakers, including the Film Production Financing Scheme,...

As Germany prepares for a general election, Berlin International Film Festival director Tricia Tuttle has raised concerns about the growing influence of the far-right AfD party. Speaking ahead of the vote, she addressed the potential impact on the festival’s direction.

“I don’t know anyone that has an interest in a pluralistic society that values difference, that isn’t worried about what’s happening with the rise of the far-right,” she said. “It’s about closing down and fearing difference. I’m as worried as a lot of other people are here.”

Asked whether a shift in government would affect her role, she explained that it would depend on whether she could continue shaping the event as intended. “I’m here at the Berlinale to build a dynamic, international film festival that shows off German cinema on an international stage and also energizes local audiences,” she said. “But if...

Hong Kong director Jun Li has prompted a small political storm at the Berlin Film Festival, reportedly sparking a police probe after making a pro-Palestinian speech during the presentation of his film “Queerpanorama.”

While presenting “Queerpanorama,” which premiered in Berlin’s Panorama section on Saturday, the director made a speech on behalf of the film’s protagonist Erfan Shekarriz, whom he said boycotted the festival this year in protest against the perception that the event is not supportive of Palestinians. That perception was prompted by the backlash regarding pro-Palestine statements during last year’s closing ceremony.

Berlinale’s new artistic director Tricia Tuttle told Variety in a statement that the festival “understands that an individual with no connection to the Berlinale has filed a complaint” after the speech. As such, “Berlin police are required to investigate any potential accusations. To our knowledge, at the moment no criminal proceedings have been opened,...

The Berlin Film Festival is mired in fresh Israel-Gaza War controversy following a pro-Palestinian speech by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li over the weekend, which has prompted a police investigation and calls from one prominent politician for the festival to be defunded.

Speaking at the premiere of his film Queerpanorama in the Panorama section on Saturday, Jun Li read out a speech on behalf of its star actor Erfan Shekarriz, who has boycotted the festival this year in protest at his perception that it is not supportive of Palestinians.

In the speech read by Jun Li, the actor referred to Israel as “a brutal colonial settler state funded by the West” and accused the German administration and its cultural institutions, including the Berlinale, of being complicit in “apartheid, genocide, brutal killing and erasure of the Palestinian people.”

He was heckled from the floor from some members of the audience who shouted out: “No genocide.

Best Friend Forever has inked distribution deals for Kateryna Gornostai’s Timestamp with Dulac Distribution in France and Cherry Pickers for Belgium and the Netherlands ahead of the film’s world premiere in competition at Berlin Film Festival on Thursday (February 20).

The film focuses on a school in Ukraine whose students and teachers are doing their best to continue their daily lives under the constant threat of war.

The only documentary selected for this year’s competition, it is also the first Ukrainian-directed film to compete for the festival’s Golden Bear since Kira Muratova’s Three Stories in 1997. It...

Best Friend Forever has inked distribution deals for Kateryna Gornostai’s Timestamp with Dulac Distribution in France and Cherry Pickers for Belgium and the Netherlands ahead of the film’s world premiere in competition at Berlin Film Festival on Thursday (February 20).

The film focuses on a school in Ukraine whose students and teachers are doing their best to continue their daily lives under the constant threat of war.

The only documentary selected for this year’s competition, it is also the first Ukrainian-directed film to compete for the festival’s Golden Bear since Kira Muratova’s Three Stories in 1997. It...

Best Friend Forever has unveiled the steamy trailer for “Queerpanorama,” the latest feature by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li, which world premieres at the Berlin Film Festival.

Set in Hong Kong, “Queerpanorama” revolves around a gay man who “impersonates men he has had sex with and brings this new persona with him to his next sex date. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself,” the synopsis reads.

Here’s the trailer:

The movie, which is slated to bow in the Panorama section, marks Li’s follow up to “Drifting,” which premiered in competition at Rotterdam in 2021 and won best adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards.

Li said he wrote the movie “at a very dark time of my life and in the face of drastic change in our world.”

“I recalled every little kindness and comfort I received from these strangers I met, and...

Dark Star Pictures has swooped in to acquire North American rights to “Heads or Fails,” the sophomore feature from Belgian directing duo Harpo and Lenny Guit. The deal marks a continued partnership between the indie distributor and the Guit brothers, whose midnight sensation “Mother Schmuckers” made waves at Sundance 2021.

The acquisition was finalized between Dark Star Pictures president Michael Repsch and Best Friend Forever co-founder Charles Bin.

Fresh off its world premiere at last year’s Fantastic Fest, where it earned critical acclaim, “Heads or Fails” follows Armande Pigeon, Brussels’ reigning queen of misfortune. Unable to resist a bet, she finds herself perpetually on the wrong side of Lady Luck – until a fateful night when she joins forces with Ronnie, leading to an unprecedented winning streak that tests their judgment.

The comedy features a stellar ensemble including Maria Cavalier-Bazan in the lead, alongside “Mother Schmuckers” alums Axel Perin and Maxi Delmelle.

Hong Kong International Film Festival Society’s (Hkiff)’s Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf) has announced a slate of 15 work-in-progress features, showcasing a mix of established auteurs and emerging talent from across Asia.

The projects will be presented at the expanded Hkiff Industry Project Market, running March 17-19 alongside Hong Kong’s FilMart. They join a slate of previously announced 25 in-development projects.

Leading the pack are new works from acclaimed filmmakers, including Golden Horse winner Huang Ji’s “A Woman Builds,” co-directed with Otsuka Ryuji, which explores a Chinese woman’s quest to build a house while separated from her Japanese family during Covid-19. Qiu Jiongjiong, whose “A New Old Play” nabbed Locarno’s Special Jury Prize, returns with “Fuxi: Joy in Four Chapters,” a dark comedy about Sichuan cuisine featuring “Stranger Eyes” star Lee Kang-sheng.

Other notable projects include Chong Keat Aun’s “Mother Bhumi,” headlined by Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing,...

Upcoming projects from award-winning directors Huang Ji, Qiu Jiongjiong, and Chong Keat Aun are among the 15 works-in-progress (Wip) titles selected for the 23rd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF23).

The upcoming features will be showcased during the Hkiff Industry Project Market, set to take place from March 17-19 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre during the 29th Hong Kong Filmart.

After winning best film at the 60th Golden Horse Awards for Stonewalling, Huang Ji and her regular collaborator Ryuji Otsuka will present A Woman Builds, about a Chinese woman who commits herself to building a house in her hometown while living a pseudo-single life,...

New projects from Golden Horse Award winner Huang Ji, Indonesian actor-turned-director Reza Rahadian and US-Philippines actor and director Isabel Sandoval are among the 15 Works-in-Progress selected for this year’s Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).

A Woman Builds is the latest feature from Huang Ji and her regular collaborator, Otsuka Ryuji, after winning best film at the Golden Horse Awards for Stonewalling. The new film follows a Chinese woman who builds a house in her hometown while living a pseudo-single life during the pandemic.

Rahadian’s directorial debut Pangku, starring Christine Hakim, explores a tradition in a rural part of Indonesia in which coffee shops provide women to sit in men’s laps whilst drinking their coffee.

Sandoval both stars in and directs Moonglow, a neo-noir about an ex-cop assigned with her ex-lover to investigate a break-in at the mansion of a corrupt police chief. Arjo Atayde also stars.

“Queerpanorama,” the latest feature by Hong Kong filmmaker Jun Li, has been boarded by Brussels-based sales company Best Friend Forever (“Universal Language”) ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Slated to bow in the Panorama section, the movie marks Li’s follow up to “Drifting” which premiered in competition at Rotterdam in 2021 and won best adapted screenplay at the Golden Horse Awards. The film was also nominated for best picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Set in Hong Kong, “Queerpanorama” revolves around a gay man who “impersonates men he has had sex with and brings this new persona with him to his next sex date. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself,” the synopsis reads.

Best Friend Forever will launch international sales on “Queerpanorama” at the Berlin Film Festival’s EFM.

Li said he wrote the movie “at a very dark...

The Berlin Film Festival’s 2025 Panorama section will launch with Welcome Home Baby, a psychological horror film from Austrian director Andreas Prochaska, leading a lineup of 34 films from 28 countries. The section head Michael Stütz unveiled the full program that addresses societal fractures, health systems, and democratic instability on Thursday.

Prochaska’s film reimagines the homeland horror genre as a response to 1950s German-language cinema. The selection continues its genre focus with the Norwegian body horror The Ugly Stepsister, Turkish political thriller Confidante, and Taiwanese gangster narrative Silent Sparks.

German productions hold a significant presence this year with six films. Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay presents the conspiracy thriller Hysteria, while five female directors bring new works. Debut features come from Nele Mueller-Stöfen with Delicious and Sarah Miro Fischer with The Good Sister. Ina Weisse reunites with Nina Hoss for Cicadas.

The documentary selections include Martina Priessner’s The Moelln Letters, examining the 1993 racist arson attacks in Mölln,...

As Prime Video's live-action Spider-Man Noir (now titled Spider-Noir) series continues to cast its supporting players, we have a late addition in the form of Karen Rodriguez.

Variety is reporting that the Swarm actress - who has also appeared in the likes of Acapulco, Shining Girls, Power Book IV: Force and The Big Leap - has joined the production in a series regular role, but details on her character are being kept under wraps.

Rodriguez joins Nicolas Cage as the titular hero (believed to be a new take on Ben Reilly), along with Lamorne Morris, Brendan Gleeson, Abraham Popoola, Li Jun Li, and Jack Huston.

An official synopsis was released, but according to a more detailed breakdown (via Daniel Richtman), Ben Reilly (Cage) will be up against Silvio Manfredi, aka Silvermane, and Yuri Watanabe, aka Wraith.

"We follow Ben Reilly, a Pi, as he stumbles down a rabbit hole of corruption in 1933 New York City,...

The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market (Tgfm) has revealed the 20 projects selected for financing and development at Tiffcom, the content market of Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

The 5th edition of Tgfm is set to take place from October 30 to November 1 and includes five more projects than last year due to a special focus on Italy. This follows the signing of a co-production agreement between Italy and Japan in 2023, which came into effect last month.

Scroll down for full list of titles

Several international projects hail from successful producers who have teamed with young directors.

They include family drama 9 Temples To Heaven,...

The First International Film Festival, held annually high up on the plains of Tibet, prides itself as a discovery festival and has been described as a Chinese equivalent of Sundance.

But noted Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu dealt First organizers a blow on Sunday, when as head of the main competition jury, he refused to announce a best film winner.

“It is not that we didn’t see any good films, but the selection overall was not bold enough,” Guan said from the stage. In other comments, Guan suggested that the festival, aged 18 years old, should by now have reached the age of maturity, but in fact still needs to grow up.

Fortunately, the jury did decide on a slew of other prizes. These included “Sailing Song of June” as the Grand Jury prize winner and “Chengzi 1” as winner of the Spirit of Innovation award.

In recent editions, First has selected...

Adapted from a homonymous short story by director Sasha Chuk, produced by Stanley Kwan and Jun Li with funding from the Hong Kong Film Development Council's First Feature Film Initiative. “Fly me to the Moon” is one of the ambitious titles coming out this year from Hk, and is now starting its festival run, premiering in Tokyo.

Fly me to the Moon is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2024

In 1997, 8-year-old Yuan moves to Hong Kong from Hunan with her mother in order to reunite with her father. However, their life is full of problems from the get go. The language barrier is quite difficult to overcome for Yuan, who is being bullied at school, while her father turns out to be a drug-addict and a thief, who frequently ends up in prison. Her mother is enraged with his behavior, and even more so when she finds out that Yuan is also stealing.

Organised by the Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo International Film Festivals, and supported by Create HongKong and the Film Development Fund, the Asian Film Awards Academy (Academy or Afaa) has spearheaded efforts to promote Asian cinema around the world year-round. As part of the Asian Film Awards (Afa), its flagship event and the largest celebration of Asian cinema in the world, the Academy appoints an emerging Asian star every year as Youth Ambassador to act as the face of the awards and to take part in outreach activities. For the first time in its history, the Academy has appointed not one, but four celebrated Asian stars as the Youth Ambassadors of the 17th Afa: (in alphabetical order) Liu Kuan-Ting, Mario Maurer, Miyazawa Hio and Will Or.

Embodying numerous countries and cultures, Asia is a region that is rich in diversity, and that diversity has always been reflected in its films,...

The 17th Slovak Queer Film Festival kicks off on 22 November in Bratislava and the audience can look forward to 7 festival days, until 28 November. This edition introduces the FFi Shorts – International Competition, a competition of short films, presenting 3 Asian works: Adorable by Chung Cheng-hu, Mum, If I Were a Vampire by Deborah Devyn Chuang, and Shoot Your Shot by Mishaal Memon. In the Contemporary Cinema section, don’t miss the flamboyant comedy from the Philippines, I Love You, Beksman by Perci Intalan (2022).

A special programme Queer Hong Kong will open with a digitally restored version of Wong Kar-wai’s classic Happy Together (1997), winner of Best Director at Cannes 1997 and starring Tony Leung a Lesley Cheung, a Hong Kong queer icon. Aside from this film about lovers looking for happiness in Argentina, the section will also include the lesbian cult classic Butterfly (2004) from director Yan Yan Mak, whose brave ideas are still relevant today.

On the occasion of her film Fly me to the Moon premiering at Tokyo International Film Festival, Sasha Chuk talks about writing, directing and acting in the movie, her cooperation with Stanley Kwan and Jun Li, the casting in the movie, the whether we are destined to become like our parents, the protagonist's relationship with her father, mother and sister, the inclusion of the travel agency and Japan in the story, the cinematography and the editing, the Hong Kong movie industry, and her upcoming projects...

Adapted from a homonymous short story by director Sasha Chuk, produced by Stanley Kwan and Jun Li with funding from the Hong Kong Film Development Council’s First Feature Film Initiative. “Fly me to the Moon” is one of the ambitious titles coming out this year from Hk, and is now starting its festival run, premiering in Tokyo.

Fly me to the Moon is screening at Tokyo International Film Festival

In 1997, 8-year-old Yuan moves to Hong Kong from Hunan with her mother in order to reunite with her father. However, their life is full of problems from the get go. The language barrier is quite difficult to overcome for Yuan, who is being bullied at school, while her father turns out to be a drug-addict and a thief, who frequently ends up in prison. Her mother is enraged with his behavior, and even more so when she finds out that Yuan is also stealing.

The Hong Kong drama recently received two nominations for the Golden Horse Awards.

Hong Kong’s Golden Scene is to handle international sales of Sasha Chuk’s Fly Me To The Moon, which is set to world premiere in Tokyo International Film Festival’s Asian Future competition this month.

The drama, which marks the feature directorial debut of Chuk, has also been set as the closing film of the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival on November 12 and this week received two nominations for the Golden Horse Awards: director-writer Chuk is competing for best adapted screenplay, while Tse Wing-yan is up for best new performer.

Join Focus Hong Kong, the only UK film festival dedicated to celebra7ng the amazing cinema and filmmakers of Hong Kong, at The Garden Cinema in London on Saturday 24 June to experience two classics of contemporary Hong Kong cinema on the big screen. Going beyond the usual representations of Hong Kong productions via older genre cinema, the programme features two very different but equally fascina7ng and authentic looks at Hong Kong since the 1997 Handover, including Leung Ming-kai and Kate Reilly's Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down, an anthology mixing the personal and the political through four gently provocative stories of everyday people, and Fruit Chan's searing 1997 masterpiece Made in Hong Kong, a shocking, violent look at Handover-era Hong Kong youth.

Tickets are on sale now: https://focushongkong.uk/strand/june-2023/

Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down features four stories, which show how fiction and fact,...

Margot Robbie plays Nellie Laroy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Paramount has released the first batch of photos from Babylon, writer/director Damien Chazelle’s star-studded epic tale of Hollywood in the 1920s. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie lead the cast, reuniting after starring in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, a fairy tale take on the Manson family murder of Sharon Tate.

Babylon‘s cast also includes Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Lukas Haas, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, and Diego Calva. P.J. Byrne, Olivia Hamilton, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, and Olivia Wilde also star in what’s sure to be a 2023 Oscar contender.

Filmmaker Chazelle spoke to Vanity Fair about directing Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. “Part of what was magical about working with them in these roles is that each of them felt like...