News

Canadian distributor Chime has picked up international sales rights to Fresh Off Markham as it ventures into international sales.

Set in the multi-ethnic Canadian town of Markham, the black comedy comprises interlocking stories that satirise the diasporic experience in a foreign land. The protagonists are a new immigrant and a small-time crook who are stuck in an Uber with an unsuspecting carpooler after a simple restaurant heist goes wrong. It leads to a sinister predicament much bigger than their language barriers.

The Canada-Hong Kong production marks the first feature by Kurt Yuen, Cyrus Lo and Trevor Choi, who are all...

Michael Fetter Nathansky’s Every You Every Me scooped three prizes including best film at the 7th Malaysia International Film Festival (Miffest) while Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda and renowned Indonesian actress Christine Hakim received lifetime achievement awards.

German director Nathansky came on stage to receive the awards for best film and best screenplay and his leading lady Aenne Schwarz was in attendance to collect the best actress award. The romantic social drama, which premiered in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlinale, follows a single mother and factory worker as she falls in and out of love.

Scroll down...

75 films from 12 countries, 228 guests of honour and 65 thousand spectators. These are all the numbers of Udine Far East Film Festival 2024. There was an increase of accredited visitors (of 24% over 2023) and the screenings at Udine's 1,200-seat Teatro Nuovo venue were always full, from 9 in the morning to midnight. This says a lot about the growing interest in Asian Cinema.

China and South Korea were the protagonists of the opening Night of Wednesday the 24th of April, with two international premieres: Yolo and Citizen of a Kind, followed by some more South Korean box office sensations, The Roundup: Punishment, 12.12: The Day and horror movie Exhuma. Some very welcome returns of festival friends were Jun Lana, with LGBT comedy of errors Becky & Badette, Norris Wong with the musical The Lyricist Wanna Be, Nick Cheung, in the director's chair, with Peg O'My Heart and Herman Yau with three actioners: Moscow Mission, Raid of...

Trinity CineAsia has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, the Hong Kong period action drama that will screen at Cannes next month, in a deal with Media Asia.

Directed by Soi Cheang, the highly anticipated feature is set to be released in Hong Kong and China on May 1 before it plays in the Midnight Screenings section of Cannes. An opening date in the UK and Ireland has yet to be announced but Trinity CineAsia said it is “scheduled for release across cinemas nationwide soon after” the festival, which runs May 14-25.

Distribution deals were...

Norris Wong is a multifaceted Hong Kong artist known for her roles as a director, screenwriter, novelist, and lyricist. Her debut feature film, “My Prince Edward” (2019) – crafted with support from the First Feature Film Initiative (Fffi) scheme – has garnered acclaim, securing various awards such as the 4th First Feature Film Initiative (Higher Education Institution Group), Best New Director at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, and Best Screenplay at the 26th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. If “My Prince Edward” can be described as the story of a failing relationship, her second feature “The Lyricist Wannabe” is yet another tale of a failed dream, surprisingly inspired by Wong's own life.

The Lyricist Wannabe is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival 2024

Law Wing-sze (Chung Suet Ying) is a high-school student and aspiring lyricist who firmly believes songwriting is her innate talent and her future career. She is totally serious about it,...

Zhang Yimou is set to receive the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Far East Film Festival (Feff).

The auteur, a key figure in China’s Fifth Generation of filmmakers, is best known for his films ‎Raise the Red Lantern, ‎Red Sorghum, To Live, Hero and House of the Flying Daggers, and was also directed the memorable opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Also receiving the coveted Golden Mulberry at the 26th edition of Feff is Taiwanese producer Chiu Fu-sheng. Chiu, a legendary figure in the Asian film industry, is known for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers including Hou Hsiao-hsien, producing A City of Sadness (1989) and The Puppetmaster (1993) and Zhang, producing both Raise the Red Lantern and To Live (1994). Zhang’s 2023 film Under the Light will also compete in the main competition at Feff.

Feff, the respected Italian festival that takes place in the northern city of Udine,...

The Far East Film Festival (Feff) in Italy’s Udine has unveiled the full line-up for its 26th edition, which will honour Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou with an honorary award and world premiere restored versions of his Raise The Red Lantern and To Live.

Running April 24 to May 2, the festival will open with a double bill: Chinese box office hit Yolo and South Korean action-comedy Citizen Of A Kind.

Yolo dominated this year’s Lunar New Year releases, grossing $484m in China, and is directed by Jia Ling, who stars as an unemployed woman in her 30s whose life is...

With the focus on mid and short films increasing significantly this year, Osaka Asian Film Festival presented another quite intriguing edition, with the choices from both within Japan and the rest of Asia highlighting the quality of the programming once more. At the same time though, the fact that both Japanese and Korean cinema, which make up for a large part of the program, are not on their best years, does take a toll. Particularly regarding the former, the repetition of the same tropes, and more importantly, the almost complete lack of tension most Japanese movies seem to exhibit nowadays, does border on the annoying. There were still some films that stood out, with “Snowdrop”, “Swimming in a Sand Pool” , “Inch Forward”, and “Girls and Boys” exhibiting some fresh ideas, but the aforementioned fact remains. At the same time, it is also a fact that is quite difficult to find...

Ethan Coen’s action-comedy Drive-Away Dolls leads a quiet weekend at the UK and Ireland box office, opening in 533 cinemas for Universal, as Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two continues to dominate with over £20m taken after two weeks on release.

The first solo narrative feature from one half of the Coen Brothers follows two lesbian roommates whose road trip quickly escalates to a crime caper when they find a valuable suitcase in the trunk. A notable ensemble cast, led by Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, features appearances from Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal and Matt Damon.

The last time Ethan Coen...

Trinity CineAsia has acquired UK and Ireland rights to We 12, the upcoming action comedy starring all 12 members of Cantopop boy band Mirror, in a deal with Hong Kong’s Makerville.

The film will open in UK and Ireland cinemas on March 29, the day after its release in Hong Kong through Edko Films, and coincides with the Easter holiday weekend.

Directed by Berry Ho and written by Lai Sze Cheung, the story follows 12 members of an underground organisation who secretly maintain peace in the world using a range of extraordinary skills. After long being separated, they must reunite to steal an...

On March 15th, 2024, one week after the domestic release in Hong Kong, Trinity CineAsia brings The Lyricist Wannabe to UK cinemas, nominated for two 2023 Golden Horse Awards (Best Actress & Best Adapted Screenplay) and for three upcoming 2024 Hong Kong Film Awards. It was also selected as the Closing Film at the 2023 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival and it has just participated in Competition at the 2024 Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Director Norris Wong

As Norris Wong's second feature-length film following her award-winning debut My Prince Edward (2019), this refreshing and lively Hong Kong teenage comedy draws inspiration from Wong's own life. Starring the up-and-coming actress Chung Suet-ying, who is also a real-life Cantopop lyricist, and featuring lyrics of the film's soundtrack composed by Wong herself, The Lyricist Wannabe is about finding where your dream lies …and then having the courage to pursue it.

Synopsis

Uniquely talented high-school student Law Wing-sze (Chung Suet...

As Filmart gets underway, Hong Kong’s major production companies, including Edko Films, Emperor Motion Pictures (Emp), Media Asia, One Cool Group and Universe Entertainment, will be unveiling their new titles in enormous booths at the front of the trade show floor, some of which will be as elaborate as film sets.

Many of the films they are launching are big-budget Hong Kong-China co-productions, featuring top Hong Kong stars and directors, and aimed at audiences in both China and Hong Kong. Emp has Derek Kwok’s Raging Havoc, starring Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse; Mandarin Motion Pictures has The Prosecutor, starring and directed by Donnie Yen; and Media Asia is launching four new titles headed by Behind The Scene, produced by Infernal Affairs director Andrew Lau. One Cool’s slate includes a trio of action films starring Louis Koo and produced by Soi Cheang.

But behind all the glamour, stars and action,...

Norris Wong is a multifaceted Hong Kong artist known for her roles as a director, screenwriter, novelist, and lyricist. Her debut feature film, “My Prince Edward” (2019) – crafted with support from the First Feature Film Initiative (Fffi) scheme – has garnered acclaim, securing various awards such as the 4th First Feature Film Initiative (Higher Education Institution Group), Best New Director at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, and Best Screenplay at the 26th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards. If “My Prince Edward” can be described as the story of a failing relationship, her second feature “The Lyricist Wannabe” is yet another tale of a failed dream, surprisingly inspired by Wong's own life.

The Lyricist Wannabe is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Law Wing-sze (Chung Suet Ying) is a high-school student and aspiring lyricist who firmly believes songwriting is her innate talent and her future career. She is totally serious about it,...