November 2024, Criterion Channel is set to deliver an exceptional lineup of films that will excite cinephiles and casual viewers alike. The month promises a rich exploration of genres, featuring a strong selection of Coen Brothers classics such as Blood Simple (1984) and The Big Lebowski (1998), along with their more recent works like A Serious Man (2009) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Noir and crime enthusiasts will revel in an array of titles, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Gilda (1946), and The Big Heat (1953), showcasing the genre’s iconic narratives and stylistic depth. International cinema also shines through with compelling French dramas like Fat Girl (2001) and Dheepan (2015), highlighting diverse storytelling from around the globe.
The lineup doesn’t shy away from classic drama, featuring timeless films like On the Waterfront (1954) and Seven Samurai (1954), which continue to resonate with contemporary audiences. Additionally, viewers can look forward to a variety of documentary and experimental films, including Wild Wheels...
The lineup doesn’t shy away from classic drama, featuring timeless films like On the Waterfront (1954) and Seven Samurai (1954), which continue to resonate with contemporary audiences. Additionally, viewers can look forward to a variety of documentary and experimental films, including Wild Wheels...
- 10/23/2024
- by Deepshikha Deb
- High on Films
With Janus possessing the much-needed restorations, Catherine Breillat is getting her biggest-ever spotlight in November’s Criterion Channel series spanning 1976’s A Real Young Girl to 2004’s Anatomy of Hell––just one of numerous retrospectives arriving next month. They’re also spotlighting Ida Lupino, directorial efforts of John Turturro (who also gets an “Adventures In Moviegoing”), the Coen brothers, and Jacques Audiard.
In a slightly more macroscopic view, Columbia Noir and a new edition of “Queersighting” ring in Noirvember. Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse trilogy and Miller’s Crossing get Criterion Editions, while restorations of David Bowie-starrer The Linguini Incident, Med Hondo’s West Indies, and Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue make streaming debuts; and Kevin Jerome Everson’s Tonsler Park arrives just in time for another grim election day.
See the full list of titles arriving in November below:
36 fillette, Catherine Breillat, 1988
Anatomy of Hell, Catherine Breillat,...
In a slightly more macroscopic view, Columbia Noir and a new edition of “Queersighting” ring in Noirvember. Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse trilogy and Miller’s Crossing get Criterion Editions, while restorations of David Bowie-starrer The Linguini Incident, Med Hondo’s West Indies, and Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue make streaming debuts; and Kevin Jerome Everson’s Tonsler Park arrives just in time for another grim election day.
See the full list of titles arriving in November below:
36 fillette, Catherine Breillat, 1988
Anatomy of Hell, Catherine Breillat,...
- 10/16/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
San Sebastian – “Bound in Heaven,” the directorial debut of experienced screenwriter Xin Huo, best known for “Kung Fu Hustle,” is the sole Chinese production in the Official Selection at San Sebastián, following its world premiere in Toronto’s Centrepiece section. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Li Xiuwen, a Huading Award winner as part of the writing team for “Medal of the Republic.”
The story turns on Xia You (NiNi), a successful but emotionally drained woman trapped in a violently abusive relationship with her fiancé, played by Liao Fan, who won a Berlin Silver Bear for “Black Coal, Thin Ice.” In a harrowing early scene, Xia You defies her abuser, uttering the chilling and foreboding line, “Don’t smudge my makeup, the guests are still here,” a reflection of the fragile facade she is forced to uphold.
“The theme of domestic violence against women,...
The story turns on Xia You (NiNi), a successful but emotionally drained woman trapped in a violently abusive relationship with her fiancé, played by Liao Fan, who won a Berlin Silver Bear for “Black Coal, Thin Ice.” In a harrowing early scene, Xia You defies her abuser, uttering the chilling and foreboding line, “Don’t smudge my makeup, the guests are still here,” a reflection of the fragile facade she is forced to uphold.
“The theme of domestic violence against women,...
- 9/27/2024
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Busan Dean Appointment
Zhang Lu, the Chinese Korean director, has been appointed as dean of the Chanel x Biff Asian Film Academy, part of the Busan International Film Festival.
Zhang has been making feature films since 2004, when his “Tang Poetry” won acclaim at the Locarno and Vancouver festivals. He has since made titles including “Grain in Ear” (2005), which won the New Currents Award at Busan, “Desert Dream” and the recent “The Shadowless Tower.” He was also a professor at Yonsei University for eight years.
Indonesia’s Kamila Andini was announced as the Academy’s directing mentor, while Urata Hideho is set as cinematography mentor.
The Academy’s 20-day curriculum runs Sept. 22nd to Oct. 11th. The main festival runs Oct. 2-11 and the Asian Film Market (Oct. 5-8).
Old Fox Keeps Winning
“Old Fox,” directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, won five of the top prizes at the Taipei Film Awards. Its haul included best feature,...
Zhang Lu, the Chinese Korean director, has been appointed as dean of the Chanel x Biff Asian Film Academy, part of the Busan International Film Festival.
Zhang has been making feature films since 2004, when his “Tang Poetry” won acclaim at the Locarno and Vancouver festivals. He has since made titles including “Grain in Ear” (2005), which won the New Currents Award at Busan, “Desert Dream” and the recent “The Shadowless Tower.” He was also a professor at Yonsei University for eight years.
Indonesia’s Kamila Andini was announced as the Academy’s directing mentor, while Urata Hideho is set as cinematography mentor.
The Academy’s 20-day curriculum runs Sept. 22nd to Oct. 11th. The main festival runs Oct. 2-11 and the Asian Film Market (Oct. 5-8).
Old Fox Keeps Winning
“Old Fox,” directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, won five of the top prizes at the Taipei Film Awards. Its haul included best feature,...
- 7/11/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired the North American rights to Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which world premiered at this year’s Berlinale and won the Teddy Prize for best film. The movie played last week as the opening film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
“All Shall Be Well” chronicles the lives of two women, Angie and Pat, a couple living in Hong Kong who have been together for over four decades. After Pat’s unexpected death, Angie finds herself at the mercy of her extended family as she struggles to retain both her dignity and the home that they shared for over 30 years.
A universal tale, the movie also explores the limitations of Hong Kong’s laws, which don’t allow same-sex marriage. Patra Au Ga Man and Maggie Li Lin Lin star in the lead roles of Angie and Pat, respectively.
The deal was done...
“All Shall Be Well” chronicles the lives of two women, Angie and Pat, a couple living in Hong Kong who have been together for over four decades. After Pat’s unexpected death, Angie finds herself at the mercy of her extended family as she struggles to retain both her dignity and the home that they shared for over 30 years.
A universal tale, the movie also explores the limitations of Hong Kong’s laws, which don’t allow same-sex marriage. Patra Au Ga Man and Maggie Li Lin Lin star in the lead roles of Angie and Pat, respectively.
The deal was done...
- 4/10/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
A trio of moderate releases – One Life, The American Society Of Magical Negroes and Knox Goes Away join Janus Films’ celebration of master musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, and César award winning The Animal Kingdom as the next wave of 2024 indie films rolls out post-Oscars.
Focus Features’ American Society Of Magical Negroes, the feature directorial debut of Kobi Libii opens at 1,146 theaters across the North America. Premiered at Sundance, see Deadline review. A satirical comedy about a young man, Aren (Justice Smith) who is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making sure white people never feel bad about themselves or get stressed out — because bad things happen when they do. Also stars Rupert Friend, Michaela Watkins, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver and Nicole Byer. Libii originally developed the project as an alumnus of both the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs.
Focus Features’ American Society Of Magical Negroes, the feature directorial debut of Kobi Libii opens at 1,146 theaters across the North America. Premiered at Sundance, see Deadline review. A satirical comedy about a young man, Aren (Justice Smith) who is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making sure white people never feel bad about themselves or get stressed out — because bad things happen when they do. Also stars Rupert Friend, Michaela Watkins, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver and Nicole Byer. Libii originally developed the project as an alumnus of both the Sundance Writers and Directors Labs.
- 3/15/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The Polite Stuff: Lu Searches for Redemption Through the Walking & Talking Cure
In the strangely alluring The Shadowless Tower, (Bai Ta Zhi Guang) the fourteenth feature from Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lü, a handful of characters search for a more authentic way of living, even if they can’t quite articulate this struggle to themselves or others. A middle-aged divorcee with a somewhat irregular living situation suddenly finds himself on the precipice of redefining his role in life as a father, a son, an ex-husband and, if he’s lucky, a new boyfriend to a much younger woman.
Traumas from the past and familial estrangement suggest an inherent invisibility to both themselves and maybe others, weaved together into the metaphorical subtexts of the film regarding shadows as the kind of baggage we carry but also as conduits of substance, objects taking up space while moving about the world.…
Continue reading.
In the strangely alluring The Shadowless Tower, (Bai Ta Zhi Guang) the fourteenth feature from Korean-Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lü, a handful of characters search for a more authentic way of living, even if they can’t quite articulate this struggle to themselves or others. A middle-aged divorcee with a somewhat irregular living situation suddenly finds himself on the precipice of redefining his role in life as a father, a son, an ex-husband and, if he’s lucky, a new boyfriend to a much younger woman.
Traumas from the past and familial estrangement suggest an inherent invisibility to both themselves and maybe others, weaved together into the metaphorical subtexts of the film regarding shadows as the kind of baggage we carry but also as conduits of substance, objects taking up space while moving about the world.…
Continue reading.
- 3/12/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
One of the most acclaimed films on the festival circuit last year, premiering at Berlinale and stopping by Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and New York film festivals, Zhang Lu’s meditative drama The Shadowless Tower will now get a U.S. theatrical release next month. Ahead of a March 15 release at NYC’s Metrograph, Strand Releasing have now debuted the new trailer and poster.
Here’s the synopsis: “Gu Wentong, a food critic facing a mid-life crisis, drifts through the local eateries of a vibrant Beijing with his young, female photographer Oyang whom he harbors an unspoken attraction. With his divorcé at hand and handling a 6-year-old daughter, he’s being pressured to correct an estranged relationship with his father who he hasn’t spoken to in decades. Looking for a new perspective on life while reconsidering his failings as a father, a son, and a lover, he’s forced...
Here’s the synopsis: “Gu Wentong, a food critic facing a mid-life crisis, drifts through the local eateries of a vibrant Beijing with his young, female photographer Oyang whom he harbors an unspoken attraction. With his divorcé at hand and handling a 6-year-old daughter, he’s being pressured to correct an estranged relationship with his father who he hasn’t spoken to in decades. Looking for a new perspective on life while reconsidering his failings as a father, a son, and a lover, he’s forced...
- 2/14/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (Hkiffs) has unveiled 26 in-development projects for the 22nd Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf), which will become part of the newly expanded Hkiff Industry Project Market.
The lineup features both veteran and rising filmmakers including Koji Fukada, Hong Khaou, Jang Kun-jae, Qiu Jiongjiong, Patiparn Boontarig, Wang Xiaoshuai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, and Zhang Lu. The projects cover comedy, horror, action, romance and family drama, including seven first features, two animations and a string of cross-country collaborations.
Scroll down for full list of projects
“The selection is a testament to the resurgence of diversity and the revitalisation of international collaborations,...
The lineup features both veteran and rising filmmakers including Koji Fukada, Hong Khaou, Jang Kun-jae, Qiu Jiongjiong, Patiparn Boontarig, Wang Xiaoshuai, Teruhisa Yamamoto, and Zhang Lu. The projects cover comedy, horror, action, romance and family drama, including seven first features, two animations and a string of cross-country collaborations.
Scroll down for full list of projects
“The selection is a testament to the resurgence of diversity and the revitalisation of international collaborations,...
- 1/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Leading Asian film directors including Josh Kim, Fukada Koji and Patiparn Boontarig line up to pitch their in-development projects at the March edition of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (Haf).
Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at Haf, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J. Werner.
The 22nd edition of the Haf project market will run March 11-13 and sit alongside the four-day FilMart (March 11-14) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Haf is operated by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and this year will showcase 26 in-development projects. This year it will also be accompanied by the first edition of the Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which aims to support the development of Chinese language genre films.
Among the highlights: Wang Xiaoshuai will produce Zhang Yushan...
Leading directors Wang Xiaoshuai and Zhang Lu will also be on the ground at Haf, operating as producers. So too will established producers Yamamoto Teruhisa (“Drive My Car”) and Michael J. Werner.
The 22nd edition of the Haf project market will run March 11-13 and sit alongside the four-day FilMart (March 11-14) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Haf is operated by The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society and this year will showcase 26 in-development projects. This year it will also be accompanied by the first edition of the Hkiff Industry – CAA China Genre Initiative (Hcg), which aims to support the development of Chinese language genre films.
Among the highlights: Wang Xiaoshuai will produce Zhang Yushan...
- 1/18/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
2023 was a weird year for Asian cinema. Although the “usual” Japanese masters were here once more, the Korean movie industry seems to have taken a significant step back in the absence of any work from their own big names, while the creative powers that have been boiling for some time in Asean countries and South-West Asia in general seem to be erupting at the moment, in, perhaps, a sign that the epicenter of Asian cinema might be changing soon. Apart from this, Iran, Taiwan and mainland China continued on the same path of quality, Hong Kong seems to find a new way with social/family dramas, while the biggest surprise seems to come from Sri Lanka, with the country producing a number of truly great films this year. Lastly, the progress of the diaspora films and particularly Asian-American ones continues, with “Past Lives” being a worthy successor to “Minari”
It...
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- 12/14/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Zhang Lu has been a festival-favorite director for some time, with his somewhat European art-house approach finding much resonance throughout the West. This approach finds one of its zeniths in his latest work, “The Shadowless Tower” a film that functions as an unusual road movie, inspired by the concept of the White Pagoda, a 13th-century Buddhist temple in Beijing, whose construction makes it rather hard to see its shadow.
Shadowless Tower is screening at Singapore International Film Festival
Gu Wentong is a relatively successful film critic, whose life, however, is not in its higher point. His daughter Smiley, a rather smart and humorous child, is living with his sister Wenhui and her husband Li Jun after his divorce, with him more visiting than actually raising her. Gu's mother has recently died, while the reason for her own divorce with his father, due to an accusation of molestation on a...
Shadowless Tower is screening at Singapore International Film Festival
Gu Wentong is a relatively successful film critic, whose life, however, is not in its higher point. His daughter Smiley, a rather smart and humorous child, is living with his sister Wenhui and her husband Li Jun after his divorce, with him more visiting than actually raising her. Gu's mother has recently died, while the reason for her own divorce with his father, due to an accusation of molestation on a...
- 11/27/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
“Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-netpac Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.”
Jaff run Nov. 25 – Dec. 2 and include 205 films from 25 countries and territories across Asia-Pacific.
Directed by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, “13 Bombs in Jakarta” (aka “13 Bom di Jakarta”) tells of a group of terrorists who launch their attack with the threat of bombs scattered throughout the Indonesian capital. Sasongko is also the founder of local studio Visenema, which has four films at the festival.
“As the opening film for this year’s edition, we choose something light-hearted, which is ‘Autobio Pamphlet’ from India. Its coming-of-age story will be perfect to set the festival’s spirited and entertaining mood,” said Alexander Matius, Jaff program director. The film had...
Jaff run Nov. 25 – Dec. 2 and include 205 films from 25 countries and territories across Asia-Pacific.
Directed by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, “13 Bombs in Jakarta” (aka “13 Bom di Jakarta”) tells of a group of terrorists who launch their attack with the threat of bombs scattered throughout the Indonesian capital. Sasongko is also the founder of local studio Visenema, which has four films at the festival.
“As the opening film for this year’s edition, we choose something light-hearted, which is ‘Autobio Pamphlet’ from India. Its coming-of-age story will be perfect to set the festival’s spirited and entertaining mood,” said Alexander Matius, Jaff program director. The film had...
- 11/11/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
A high-powered panel at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents and Film Market pondered the condition of the theatrical market for arthouse films in Asia and Europe post-pandemic.
The two themes that emerged from the discussion were the necessity for films to have an X factor that can be marketed and, second, that restored classics are finding new audiences.
June Lee, content business team lead at Korea’s Watcha said that the company’s acquisition strategy for this year and the next is to either pick up a Hollywood blockbuster or “really arthouse films with elements that could go viral.”
The panel, which was moderated by Katarzyna Siniarska, head of sales at Poland’s New Europe Film Sales, also included Valeska Neu, international sales agent at Germany’s Films Boutique, Kini Kim of France’s The Jokers Films, Felix Tsang, sales and acquisitions manager at Hong Kong’s...
The two themes that emerged from the discussion were the necessity for films to have an X factor that can be marketed and, second, that restored classics are finding new audiences.
June Lee, content business team lead at Korea’s Watcha said that the company’s acquisition strategy for this year and the next is to either pick up a Hollywood blockbuster or “really arthouse films with elements that could go viral.”
The panel, which was moderated by Katarzyna Siniarska, head of sales at Poland’s New Europe Film Sales, also included Valeska Neu, international sales agent at Germany’s Films Boutique, Kini Kim of France’s The Jokers Films, Felix Tsang, sales and acquisitions manager at Hong Kong’s...
- 10/10/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The title of writer-director Zhang Lu’s The Shadowless Tower refers to the Miaoying Temple, whose pagoda, built in Beijing in 1279, offers little to no shade thanks to its unique design. Throughout the film, the pagoda looms large over characters but is often placed far enough in the background to feel almost invisible, a paradox reflected in Gu Wentong (Xin Balqing), a divorced father whose life has settled into a dispassionate existence.
Having just lost his mother, Wentong is goaded out of his dull routine of work and care for his young daughter when his brother-in-law, Li Jun (Wang Hongwei), informs him of the whereabouts of the man’s long-estranged father, Yunlai. Jun’s nervous plea to not tell Wentong’s sister (Li Qinqin) about his contact with the man hints at a dark family history that nonetheless doesn’t stop Wentong from attempting to re-establish ties with his father.
Having just lost his mother, Wentong is goaded out of his dull routine of work and care for his young daughter when his brother-in-law, Li Jun (Wang Hongwei), informs him of the whereabouts of the man’s long-estranged father, Yunlai. Jun’s nervous plea to not tell Wentong’s sister (Li Qinqin) about his contact with the man hints at a dark family history that nonetheless doesn’t stop Wentong from attempting to re-establish ties with his father.
- 9/22/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
After a one-year hiatus, the much-missed El Gouna Film Festival (Oct. 13 – 20) is back and poised to make an increased impact. Joining beloved festival director Intishal Al-Timimi this time around is esteemed Egyptian producer-director Marianne Khoury in the artistic director position.
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
- 8/24/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) has unveiled a first wave of international titles due to play at its upcoming comeback sixth edition, unfolding from October 13 to 20 after a one-year hiatus.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
- 8/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Filmmaker Lu Chuan, perhaps the most prominent Chinese commercial filmmaker visiting Cannes this year, will touch down on the Côte d’Azur Saturday to shop three new projects — one finished documentary, one nearly complete sci-fi thriller in need of a global distributor, and an all-new drama feature seeking a U.S. co-production partner.
Lu is best known to the industry for his acclaimed early features Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2004) and City of Life and Death (2009), as well as adventure blockbuster Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015) and the big-budget documentary he made for Disney and China Film Group, Born in China (2016).
He’ll arrive in Cannes with an early cut of Beijing 2022, the official documentary of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games that he directed with Chinese industry titan Zhang Yimou as executive producer. For the film, Lu was given unprecedented access to Beijing officials as they deliberated how to hold the Games...
Lu is best known to the industry for his acclaimed early features Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2004) and City of Life and Death (2009), as well as adventure blockbuster Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015) and the big-budget documentary he made for Disney and China Film Group, Born in China (2016).
He’ll arrive in Cannes with an early cut of Beijing 2022, the official documentary of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games that he directed with Chinese industry titan Zhang Yimou as executive producer. For the film, Lu was given unprecedented access to Beijing officials as they deliberated how to hold the Games...
- 5/20/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” has been set as the opening title of next month’s Sydney Film Festival, which will celebrate its 70th edition, June 7-18. The film, a tale of sprituality and survival in 1940s Australia, starring Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid, will also play in the festival’s competition section.
Other titles in competition include: the world premiere of Australian documentary feature “The Dark Emu Story,” directed by Allan Clarke; Christian Petzold’s previously announced “Afire”; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Scrapper”; Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster”; Aki Kaurismäki’s compassionate comedy “Fallen Leaves”; Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb”; Asmae El Moudir’s “The Mother of All Lies”; Alice Englert’s directorial debut “Bad Behaviour”; Celine Song’s Sundance and Berlinale 2023 selected romance “Past Lives”; Liu Jian’s 2023 Berlinale-selected animation “Art College 1994”; Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” a thriller about an...
Other titles in competition include: the world premiere of Australian documentary feature “The Dark Emu Story,” directed by Allan Clarke; Christian Petzold’s previously announced “Afire”; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Scrapper”; Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster”; Aki Kaurismäki’s compassionate comedy “Fallen Leaves”; Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb”; Asmae El Moudir’s “The Mother of All Lies”; Alice Englert’s directorial debut “Bad Behaviour”; Celine Song’s Sundance and Berlinale 2023 selected romance “Past Lives”; Liu Jian’s 2023 Berlinale-selected animation “Art College 1994”; Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” a thriller about an...
- 5/10/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Beijing Basks In Festival Return
The Argentina-Chile coproduction “The Punishment,” directed by Matias Bize, was named best feature over the weekend at the close of the Beijing International Film Festival.
Mexico’s Lila Avilés won the Tiantan Award for best director for her film “Totem.” Antonia Zegers and Line Renaud shared the best actress award for “The Punishment” and “Driving Madeleine,” respectively.
The best actor award went to Xin Baiqing for Chinese movie “The Shadowless Tower.” The film, which premiered in February in Berlin, was the numerical winner. With the best screenplay, music, cinematography and artistic contribution awards, it won a total of five prizes.
Chinese actor and director Tian Zhuangzhuang collected the best supporting actor award. Mexican, Montserrat Maranon earned the best supporting actress prize.
The ceremony wrapped up a festival at which organizers claimed to have played 1,488 films. International guests included Israel’s Nadav Lapid, Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck...
The Argentina-Chile coproduction “The Punishment,” directed by Matias Bize, was named best feature over the weekend at the close of the Beijing International Film Festival.
Mexico’s Lila Avilés won the Tiantan Award for best director for her film “Totem.” Antonia Zegers and Line Renaud shared the best actress award for “The Punishment” and “Driving Madeleine,” respectively.
The best actor award went to Xin Baiqing for Chinese movie “The Shadowless Tower.” The film, which premiered in February in Berlin, was the numerical winner. With the best screenplay, music, cinematography and artistic contribution awards, it won a total of five prizes.
Chinese actor and director Tian Zhuangzhuang collected the best supporting actor award. Mexican, Montserrat Maranon earned the best supporting actress prize.
The ceremony wrapped up a festival at which organizers claimed to have played 1,488 films. International guests included Israel’s Nadav Lapid, Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck...
- 5/1/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
- 4/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique are close to further deals in China and Italy.
Animated sci-fi film White Plastic Sky has scores sales in Europe and Asia by Films Boutique following its world premiere at last month’s Berlinale.
The Berlin-based sales agent has sold the Hungarian feature to Kmbo for France and Flash Forward Entertainment for Taiwan. Films Boutique is in talks for the feature at Hong Kong Filmart and deals in China and Italy are expected to close shortly.
Directed by Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, the film is set in 2123 and follows one man’s risky attempts to save his...
Animated sci-fi film White Plastic Sky has scores sales in Europe and Asia by Films Boutique following its world premiere at last month’s Berlinale.
The Berlin-based sales agent has sold the Hungarian feature to Kmbo for France and Flash Forward Entertainment for Taiwan. Films Boutique is in talks for the feature at Hong Kong Filmart and deals in China and Italy are expected to close shortly.
Directed by Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, the film is set in 2123 and follows one man’s risky attempts to save his...
- 3/15/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The 2023 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival has come and gone (we got plenty more to insert here), but here are some of the reviews and future interviews for a huge swath of films from the prestigious film fest.
20,000 Species of Bees (read review)
Afire (Roter Himmel) (read review)
Bad Living (read review)
The Beast in the Jungle (read review)
BlackBerry (read review)
Disco Boy (read review)
Le grand chariot (The Plough) (read review)
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert (read review)
Limbo (read review)
Living Bad (Viver Mal) (read review)
Manodrome (read review)
Music (read review)
Past Lives (read review)
The Shadowless Tower (read review)
She Came to Me (read review)
Silver Haze (read review)
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything (read review)
The Survival of Kindness (read review)
The Teachers’ Lounge (read review)
Till the End of the Night (read review)
Tótem (read review)…
Continue reading.
20,000 Species of Bees (read review)
Afire (Roter Himmel) (read review)
Bad Living (read review)
The Beast in the Jungle (read review)
BlackBerry (read review)
Disco Boy (read review)
Le grand chariot (The Plough) (read review)
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert (read review)
Limbo (read review)
Living Bad (Viver Mal) (read review)
Manodrome (read review)
Music (read review)
Past Lives (read review)
The Shadowless Tower (read review)
She Came to Me (read review)
Silver Haze (read review)
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything (read review)
The Survival of Kindness (read review)
The Teachers’ Lounge (read review)
Till the End of the Night (read review)
Tótem (read review)…
Continue reading.
- 3/1/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Project marks second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Chinese sales company Parallax Films has taken the international rights (excluding Japan) to Berlinale Forum title Remembering Every Night.
It marks the second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Her latest follows three women of different generations who walk the streets of Tama New Town, a satellite city of Tokyo, over the course of one day. Each woman is burdened with her own worries and feelings of isolation as they struggle to move forward in their lives.
Chinese sales company Parallax Films has taken the international rights (excluding Japan) to Berlinale Forum title Remembering Every Night.
It marks the second feature of Japanese director Yui Kiyohara, whose debut Our House also premiered in Forum in 2018.
Her latest follows three women of different generations who walk the streets of Tama New Town, a satellite city of Tokyo, over the course of one day. Each woman is burdened with her own worries and feelings of isolation as they struggle to move forward in their lives.
- 2/21/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Watching over Beijing’s Xicheng district is an enormous white pagoda, a relic of the Kublai Khan rule, so majestic and otherworldly in looks and stature it might as well have been dropped on Earth from a far-flung planet. Legend has it the monument casts no shadow––not in its immediate vicinity, at least––though its silhouette is said to stretch as far as Tibet. No other corner of the megalopolis features as prominently as this one in Zhang Lu’s The Shadowless Tower, a film to which the 13th-century wonder lends its title as well as a metaphor for the kind of permanence its drifters fumble after. And no one among them is as drawn to it as Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing).
A middle-aged food critic, Gu’s the divorced father to a six-year-old daughter who’s been essentially adopted by his sister and her husband. His literary ambitions...
A middle-aged food critic, Gu’s the divorced father to a six-year-old daughter who’s been essentially adopted by his sister and her husband. His literary ambitions...
- 2/20/2023
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Eight films have screened with 11 more to come.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
As the Berlinale Competition nears the halfway point, Celine Song’s Past Lives is leading Screen’s Berlin 2023 jury grid with an average score of 3.6.
The romantic drama is way out in front after receiving five four-star ratings from critics – the highest mark meaning “excellent”.
Anton Dolin from Meduza and Katja Nicodemus from Die Zeit marked it lower, at three and two stars respectively.
Song’s debut feature follows two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect for a few days in New York. It had its world premiere at Sundance last month.
- 2/20/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The central characters in The Shadowless Tower are orphaned, disconnected, separated from the roots that give them an emotional and spiritual mooring. The loss of his elderly mother prompts a divorced, middle-aged food critic to seek out the father from whom he’s been estranged since childhood, shaking him out of his torpor and causing him to re-examine his relationships. Chinese writer-director Zhang Lu’s minor-key drama will be too muted and elusive to break beyond festivals, but its melancholy spell stays with you.
The structure that gives the film its oblique title is the Yuan Dynasty White Pagoda, soaring high above Beijing’s Xicheng district but believed to cast a shadow only on the faraway Tibetan planes. Perhaps because he feels simultaneously stuck and adrift in a life going nowhere since his divorce two years earlier, former poet Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing) regards this prominent architectural feature of the...
The structure that gives the film its oblique title is the Yuan Dynasty White Pagoda, soaring high above Beijing’s Xicheng district but believed to cast a shadow only on the faraway Tibetan planes. Perhaps because he feels simultaneously stuck and adrift in a life going nowhere since his divorce two years earlier, former poet Gu Wentong (Xin Baiqing) regards this prominent architectural feature of the...
- 2/18/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The eccentric design of the White Pagoda, a 13th-century Buddhist temple in the Xicheng district of Beijing, makes it hard to see its shadow. This has given rise to the local legend that its shade can actually be found some two thousand miles away in Tibet, the temple’s spiritual home. The landmark is a constant presence in Chinese director Zhang Lu’s tender, brimming “The Shadowless Tower,” which fixes its setting in the very heart of the Chinese capital, a city rarely portrayed as fondly as it is here. But the pagoda can also be seen as an evocatively imperfect metaphor for a lifestage: that tipping point in the middle of one’s time when, with the past and future weighing equally on either side, you can feel disoriented and suddenly directionless, as when the sun is directly overhead and you cast no shadow.
The gently befuddled Gu Wentong...
The gently befuddled Gu Wentong...
- 2/18/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
’Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything’, ’The Survival Of Kindness’ and ’BlackBerry’ land with middling scores.
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
Emily Atef’s Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Rolf de Heer’s The Survival Of Kindness and Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry are the first titles to land on Screen’s Berlin 2023 Competition jury grid.
De Heer’s film leads with an average of 2.4, followed closely by the other two titles on 2.3.
Click top left to expand
Seven critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 19 films playing in competition.
The Survival Of Kindness received four three-star ratings...
- 2/18/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
As China’s post-pandemic reopening gathers steam, film executives in Beijing are feeling cautiously optimistic for the first time in years. Local audiences have cast off their masks and returned to the multiplex, regulators are signaling a relaxing of control, and film professionals are finally traveling freely again to re-engage with international festivals and markets.
Beijing industry players warn, however, that the current recovery is likely to benefit China’s big commercial tentpoles and Hollywood studio movies first — and that any rebound for the country’s nascent indie import business could take time.
On the international front, China’s re-engagement with the global film community at large is readily apparent at the year’s first major film festival, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where six Chinese features will premiere — including two in competition (Liu Jian’s animated film Art College 1984 and Zhang Lu’s drama The Shadowless Tower) — along...
Beijing industry players warn, however, that the current recovery is likely to benefit China’s big commercial tentpoles and Hollywood studio movies first — and that any rebound for the country’s nascent indie import business could take time.
On the international front, China’s re-engagement with the global film community at large is readily apparent at the year’s first major film festival, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, where six Chinese features will premiere — including two in competition (Liu Jian’s animated film Art College 1984 and Zhang Lu’s drama The Shadowless Tower) — along...
- 2/17/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films Boutique has closed a flurry of deals on “Subtraction,” Mani Haghighi’s Iranian noir thriller which world premiered at Toronto in the competition Platform section.
The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and Cis (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films).
The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival.
Set in downtown Tehran, the movie stars Farzaneh as a young driving instructor who spots her husband, Jalal, walking into a woman’s apartment.
The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and Cis (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films).
The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival.
Set in downtown Tehran, the movie stars Farzaneh as a young driving instructor who spots her husband, Jalal, walking into a woman’s apartment.
- 2/15/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Slate includes features in Competition, Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections
Berlin-based sales outfit Films Boutique has unveiled a six-title Berlinale slate, including Zhang Lu’s competition title The Shadowless Tower as well as features playing in the festival’s Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections.
Films Boutique is representing two films playing in Encounters: Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s The Klezmer Project and Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó’s White Plastic Sky.
It is also handling director Claire Simon’s Forum documentary Our Body and Amr Gamal’s Panorama film The Burdened.
Rounding out Films Boutique’s EFM slate is Jessica Woodworth’s Luka,...
Berlin-based sales outfit Films Boutique has unveiled a six-title Berlinale slate, including Zhang Lu’s competition title The Shadowless Tower as well as features playing in the festival’s Encounters, Forum and Panorama sections.
Films Boutique is representing two films playing in Encounters: Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s The Klezmer Project and Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó’s White Plastic Sky.
It is also handling director Claire Simon’s Forum documentary Our Body and Amr Gamal’s Panorama film The Burdened.
Rounding out Films Boutique’s EFM slate is Jessica Woodworth’s Luka,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Festival runs in Austin, Texas, from March 10-19.
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.
Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.
New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...
- 2/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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