Exclusive: New York-based arthouse distributor KimStim has acquired all North American rights to Wei Shujun’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title, Only The River Flows. Paris-based MK2 Films is handling international sales on the film.
The Chinese noir thriller has recently been a big hit at the Chinese box office, grossing $43M (RMB309.5M), an exceptional number for an independent film in that market.
Following its Cannes premiere, the film has screened in 33 international film festivals, including London (BFI), Busan, Chicago and Vancouver. It received its China premiere at Pingyo International Film Festival, where it won best film in the festival’s Fei Mu Awards.
Based on Yu Hua’s popular short novel Mistakes By The River, the film is set in a small town in 1990s China where the chief of police is heading an investigation after a woman’s body washes up in the local river.
Zhu Yilong,...
The Chinese noir thriller has recently been a big hit at the Chinese box office, grossing $43M (RMB309.5M), an exceptional number for an independent film in that market.
Following its Cannes premiere, the film has screened in 33 international film festivals, including London (BFI), Busan, Chicago and Vancouver. It received its China premiere at Pingyo International Film Festival, where it won best film in the festival’s Fei Mu Awards.
Based on Yu Hua’s popular short novel Mistakes By The River, the film is set in a small town in 1990s China where the chief of police is heading an investigation after a woman’s body washes up in the local river.
Zhu Yilong,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
As we have mentioned in the past, Chinese cinema has a knack of producing crime films that unfold in a distinct art house style, with titles like “Black Coal, Thin Ice”, “Mr Six”, and “Long Day's Journey into the Night” being among the first that come to mind. Cannes-favorite (all four of his movies have screened there) Wei Shujun returned in 2023 in the festival with, “Only the River Flows”, a movie that follows a similar approach.
“Only the River Flows” screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Adapted from the novella “Mistakes by the River” by the famous Chinese novelist Yu Hua, the almost entirely shot on 16mm film takes place in the small city of Banpo in China during the 90s. It is there that police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with finding the culprit of the murder of Granny Four,...
“Only the River Flows” screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Adapted from the novella “Mistakes by the River” by the famous Chinese novelist Yu Hua, the almost entirely shot on 16mm film takes place in the small city of Banpo in China during the 90s. It is there that police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with finding the culprit of the murder of Granny Four,...
- 7/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
They say that third is a charm, but in the case of Wei Shujun, all four of his movies were blessed with the honor of being shown in different segments of Cannes' competition programs. In 2018, his short “On The Border” won the Special Jury Award, his feature debut “Striding Into The Wind” entered the Official Selection in 2020 followed by the sophomore drama “Ripples of Life” screened in Directors' Fortnight in 2021. At this year's 76th edition of Cannes Film Festival the audience had the opportunity to see his beautifully accomplished noir “Only The River Flows” in the Un Certain regard competition.
Each of Wei Shujun works differs in topics and style, and it was intriguing to follow his artistic development over the years. In “Only The River Flows”, an intricate story about a detective who investigates a series of murders in times of significant political changes in China, viewers get challenged,...
Each of Wei Shujun works differs in topics and style, and it was intriguing to follow his artistic development over the years. In “Only The River Flows”, an intricate story about a detective who investigates a series of murders in times of significant political changes in China, viewers get challenged,...
- 6/10/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
It is the third feature from Chinese filmmaker Wei Shujun, and the sixth title Picturehouse has picked up from this year’s Cannes.
Picturehouse Entertainment has taken UK and Ireland rights for Wei Shujun’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title Only The River Flows, from Paris-based sales outfit mk2 films.
Set in 1990s, Banpo Town in rural China, a woman’s body is found by a river. The murderer’s identity seems obvious, but the chief of the criminal police, played by Zhu Yilong, starts to suspect otherwise.
It is based on Yu Hua’s short novel Mistakes By The River.
Picturehouse Entertainment has taken UK and Ireland rights for Wei Shujun’s Cannes Un Certain Regard title Only The River Flows, from Paris-based sales outfit mk2 films.
Set in 1990s, Banpo Town in rural China, a woman’s body is found by a river. The murderer’s identity seems obvious, but the chief of the criminal police, played by Zhu Yilong, starts to suspect otherwise.
It is based on Yu Hua’s short novel Mistakes By The River.
- 6/1/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Chinese author Yu Hua is no stranger to Cannes. The famed postmodernist writer’s work first graced the silver screens of the Palais back in 1994 with director Zhang Yimou’s masterclass adaptation of his seminal novel, “To Live.” A searing portrait of a single family’s struggle through China’s mid-century upheaval and the Cultural Revolution, “To Live” would go on to win the festival’s coveted Grand Prix award, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and the Best Actor Award.
Continue reading ‘Only The River Flows’ Review: Wei Shujun Adapts A Bleak, Inscrutable Noir [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Only The River Flows’ Review: Wei Shujun Adapts A Bleak, Inscrutable Noir [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/27/2023
- by Jeffrey Zhang
- The Playlist
‘Only The River Flows’ Review: A Witty, Convoluted China-Noir That is Less Whodunnit Than Whodidntit
Imagine the gleaming surfaces of Park Chan-wook’s terrific “Decision to Leave” stripped of romance, all scuzzed-up and grimy. Imagine drilling down through Diao Yinan’s Berlin-winning “Black Coal, Thin Ice” and finding unexpected seams of absurdist dark comedy. You are now somewhere in the seamy offbeat world of “Only the River Flows,” director Wei Shujun’s inventive riff on Asian-noir that gives the expanding subgenre something its Chinese contributions often lack: a pitch-black sense of humor.
Wei has been laying claim to the title of laid-back joker in China’s new-gen pack since debuting with affable slacker comedy “Striding into the Wind” in 2020 (a selection in 2020’s canceled Cannes festival) and following it up with autoreflexive filmmaking satire “Ripples of Life.” Now he brings his wry sensibilities to bear on this murdery mindbender, which he adapts, with a healthy disdain for boring stuff like “linear plotting” and “resolution,” alongside Kang Chunlei,...
Wei has been laying claim to the title of laid-back joker in China’s new-gen pack since debuting with affable slacker comedy “Striding into the Wind” in 2020 (a selection in 2020’s canceled Cannes festival) and following it up with autoreflexive filmmaking satire “Ripples of Life.” Now he brings his wry sensibilities to bear on this murdery mindbender, which he adapts, with a healthy disdain for boring stuff like “linear plotting” and “resolution,” alongside Kang Chunlei,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese director Wei Shujun has just premiered his third film, neo-noir thriller Only The River Flows, in Cannes Un Certain Regard to positive reviews.
While he’s now had three features selected for the festival, this is the first time he’s been able to walk the red carpet in person, at least with a full-length film.
His debut, semi-autobiographical drama Striding Into The Wind, was selected in 2020, the year that Cannes didn’t take place but still presented an Official Selection. His sophomore work, Ripples Of Life, premiered in Directors Fortnight in 2021, but he was unable to fly to Cannes due to Covid travel restrictions.
However, he’s been to Cannes in person before, with his 2018 short film On the Border, which won a Special Jury Award. He says that watching the Dardenne Brothers’ Palme d’Or winner Rosetta in 2016 (a few decades after it was made in 1999) was...
While he’s now had three features selected for the festival, this is the first time he’s been able to walk the red carpet in person, at least with a full-length film.
His debut, semi-autobiographical drama Striding Into The Wind, was selected in 2020, the year that Cannes didn’t take place but still presented an Official Selection. His sophomore work, Ripples Of Life, premiered in Directors Fortnight in 2021, but he was unable to fly to Cannes due to Covid travel restrictions.
However, he’s been to Cannes in person before, with his 2018 short film On the Border, which won a Special Jury Award. He says that watching the Dardenne Brothers’ Palme d’Or winner Rosetta in 2016 (a few decades after it was made in 1999) was...
- 5/23/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
New film from Wei Shujun was a late addition to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Selection.
Paris-based mk2 films has boarded Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows following the film’s late addition to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Selection.
The film, based on Yu Hua’s short novel Mistakes By The River, follows a chief of police as he investigates a series of murders in a riverside town in rural China in the 1990s. Though an arrest is made quickly, clues push the policeman to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of the locals and piece together the truth. The...
Paris-based mk2 films has boarded Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows following the film’s late addition to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Selection.
The film, based on Yu Hua’s short novel Mistakes By The River, follows a chief of police as he investigates a series of murders in a riverside town in rural China in the 1990s. Though an arrest is made quickly, clues push the policeman to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of the locals and piece together the truth. The...
- 4/25/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
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