Zihan Geng was born in Beijing in 1996 and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. Her short film “A Ray of Sunshine” was selected in competition at the 13th First International Film Festival and nominated for Best Short Story. Her short film “Green Screen” was selected by the 25th LA Shorts International Film Festival. Her current debut feature film, “A Song Sung Blue”, was selected as one of the Top Five of the 5th Cfdg Young Directors Support Program, and later premiered in Cannes, in the Directors' Fortnight Program.
A Song Sung Blue screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Fifteen year-old Xian is having the worst summer of her life. It is not just the issue of being on the verge of adulthood, but also that her mother has an affair with a fellow doctor, and is about to...
A Song Sung Blue screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Fifteen year-old Xian is having the worst summer of her life. It is not just the issue of being on the verge of adulthood, but also that her mother has an affair with a fellow doctor, and is about to...
- 7/8/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
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
by Khushi Jain
17 year old Yeon-gyu bashes open the head of a fellow student in the school playground and thus begins the Korean gangster film “Hopeless.” For his debut, Kim Chang-hoon dips his toes into a dark genre and creates something that respectfully nods to its predecessors. Premiering at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, “Hopeless” is a well-made saga of mob violence.
Hopeless screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Yeon-gyu (Hong Xa-bin) lives in a tiny, tightly packed apartment with his docile mother, abusive alcoholic stepfather and stepsister Hayan (Kim Hyoung-seo “Bibi”). He starts working for a local gangster Chi-geon (Song Joong-ki), mainly stealing bikes and occasionally helping manipulate a political election, so as to earn enough to one day leave the fictional ‘Myeongan City' for Amsterdam (where he believes everyone lives a good...
17 year old Yeon-gyu bashes open the head of a fellow student in the school playground and thus begins the Korean gangster film “Hopeless.” For his debut, Kim Chang-hoon dips his toes into a dark genre and creates something that respectfully nods to its predecessors. Premiering at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, “Hopeless” is a well-made saga of mob violence.
Hopeless screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Yeon-gyu (Hong Xa-bin) lives in a tiny, tightly packed apartment with his docile mother, abusive alcoholic stepfather and stepsister Hayan (Kim Hyoung-seo “Bibi”). He starts working for a local gangster Chi-geon (Song Joong-ki), mainly stealing bikes and occasionally helping manipulate a political election, so as to earn enough to one day leave the fictional ‘Myeongan City' for Amsterdam (where he believes everyone lives a good...
- 6/6/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
By Khushi Jain
Can the theory of art help develop the theory of being? Or perhaps the theory of art is the theory of being? The conversationalists in Hong Sang-soo's latest feature “In Our Day” immerse themselves in these questions over bowls of spicy ramyeon and the company of a fat and fluffy cat. The film's calm and observant engagement with such universal creative and existential material made it the perfect way to close the 2023 edition of Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. A dissertation on routine, “In Our Day” is a nihilistic cinematic game of rock-paper-scissors with several bottles of soju.
In Our Days screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
The film runs on two parallel strands of a threadbare narrative. Sang-won (Kim Min-hee) is an actress in her 40s, staying with her friend Jung-soo and her cat ‘Us.
Can the theory of art help develop the theory of being? Or perhaps the theory of art is the theory of being? The conversationalists in Hong Sang-soo's latest feature “In Our Day” immerse themselves in these questions over bowls of spicy ramyeon and the company of a fat and fluffy cat. The film's calm and observant engagement with such universal creative and existential material made it the perfect way to close the 2023 edition of Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. A dissertation on routine, “In Our Day” is a nihilistic cinematic game of rock-paper-scissors with several bottles of soju.
In Our Days screened at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
The film runs on two parallel strands of a threadbare narrative. Sang-won (Kim Min-hee) is an actress in her 40s, staying with her friend Jung-soo and her cat ‘Us.
- 6/6/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
By Khushi Jain
A police noir set in the black and bribable nights of Mumbai, Anurag Kashyap's 27th feature “Kennedy” is a shoddy portrait of a cop turned contract killer. Premiering at a Midnight Screening at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film is Kashyap's hasty pandemic project that would have greatly benefitted from some ruthless rewriting and nuanced acting.
Kennedy is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Uday Shetty a.k.a. ‘Kennedy' (Rahul Bhat) is an ex-cop, deceased on paper, now working as a hitman for probably the most corrupt police chief of them all, Rasheed (Mohit Takalkar), who capitalizes on this walking-dead-ness, making Kennedy clean all his messes. And thus, Kennedy wanders the roads of Mumbai at the height of the pandemic killing people left, right and center. This blunderous mixture of tragic anti-hero and...
A police noir set in the black and bribable nights of Mumbai, Anurag Kashyap's 27th feature “Kennedy” is a shoddy portrait of a cop turned contract killer. Premiering at a Midnight Screening at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film is Kashyap's hasty pandemic project that would have greatly benefitted from some ruthless rewriting and nuanced acting.
Kennedy is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Uday Shetty a.k.a. ‘Kennedy' (Rahul Bhat) is an ex-cop, deceased on paper, now working as a hitman for probably the most corrupt police chief of them all, Rasheed (Mohit Takalkar), who capitalizes on this walking-dead-ness, making Kennedy clean all his messes. And thus, Kennedy wanders the roads of Mumbai at the height of the pandemic killing people left, right and center. This blunderous mixture of tragic anti-hero and...
- 6/6/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
With his debut feature “Hopeless”, director Kim Chang-hoon tells a story about a 17-year-old highschooler Yeon-gyu (Xa Bing-hon) who seeks to escape domestic violence in a very wrong milieu, and a mid-level gang boss Chi-geon who (Joong-ki Soon), on the one hand comes to his rescue, and on the other – involuntarily drags him into a deeper abyss. This slow-pacing noir had its premiere towards the end of the festival in Un Certain Regard competition, in the presence of the jury consisting of John C. Reilly, Alice Winocour, Paula Beer, Davy Chou and Émilie Dequenne.
We met with Kim at the rooftop terrace of the festival Palais, a day after the premiere to inquire about the brutal milieu depicted in the movie, his impressions from Cannes and his methods. Since his biography is still a blank page that needs to be filled, we asked him to present himself in his own words,...
We met with Kim at the rooftop terrace of the festival Palais, a day after the premiere to inquire about the brutal milieu depicted in the movie, his impressions from Cannes and his methods. Since his biography is still a blank page that needs to be filled, we asked him to present himself in his own words,...
- 5/28/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
By Khushi Jain
Anthony Chen's “The Breaking Ice” is a story of icy personal histories and hearts waiting to be melted. The film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.
Three people, Nana (Zhou Dongyu), Xiao (Qu Chuxiao) and Haofeng (Liu Haoran) come together in the frozen landscapes of Yanji, a small town on China's North Korean border, and form such emotional, psychological, physical and existential bonds that their lives are completely changed forever. Khushi Jain met Anthony and Dongyu on Monday, May 22, a day after the premiere, to talk about the film.
The Breaking Ice is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
The film opens with a very beautiful and sombre sequence of cutting ice, and there is ice skating and chewing ice, and the title itself is quite icy. Where does...
Anthony Chen's “The Breaking Ice” is a story of icy personal histories and hearts waiting to be melted. The film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.
Three people, Nana (Zhou Dongyu), Xiao (Qu Chuxiao) and Haofeng (Liu Haoran) come together in the frozen landscapes of Yanji, a small town on China's North Korean border, and form such emotional, psychological, physical and existential bonds that their lives are completely changed forever. Khushi Jain met Anthony and Dongyu on Monday, May 22, a day after the premiere, to talk about the film.
The Breaking Ice is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
The film opens with a very beautiful and sombre sequence of cutting ice, and there is ice skating and chewing ice, and the title itself is quite icy. Where does...
- 5/27/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
by Khushi Jain
Winters have the propensity to crawl inside the skin and seep into the bones. And when there is no source of warmth, we can go as far as burning our own hands to get through the cold. Or perhaps, we hope that we could hibernate, like the beasts of the animal world. Zoljargal Puevdash's “If Only I Could Hibernate” is a wish and a promise that a young boy, Ulzii, excellently portrayed by the newcomer Batsooj Uurtsaikh, makes to his family, and more importantly to himself, that they are more than their circumstance. This debut premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and made history as the first Mongolian film to play in the official selection. It is a gentle but resilient coming of age in the biting winters of the Mongolian capital.
If Only I could Hibernate is screening at Cannes Official poster...
Winters have the propensity to crawl inside the skin and seep into the bones. And when there is no source of warmth, we can go as far as burning our own hands to get through the cold. Or perhaps, we hope that we could hibernate, like the beasts of the animal world. Zoljargal Puevdash's “If Only I Could Hibernate” is a wish and a promise that a young boy, Ulzii, excellently portrayed by the newcomer Batsooj Uurtsaikh, makes to his family, and more importantly to himself, that they are more than their circumstance. This debut premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and made history as the first Mongolian film to play in the official selection. It is a gentle but resilient coming of age in the biting winters of the Mongolian capital.
If Only I could Hibernate is screening at Cannes Official poster...
- 5/27/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
Persian helmers Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have teamed again to make a movie about what they call “one step forward”. Built in the form of 12 short, completely separated stories that bare the names of their main protagonists, “Terrestrial Verses” shows different situations of oppression, some of them completely absurd and some uncomfortable, with most of them handled with a great dose of deadpan humor.
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
- 5/26/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Meeting a down-to-earth talent in Cannes is always a bit of a shock, especially if it's a one-on-one interview in a nice setting, untimed by the publicists who handle the red carpet folks, telling you how privileged you are to be granted five minutes to be in their presence. This year is parfticularly challenging for the journalists accredited in Cannes, since they are told that some stars won't be giving any interviews at all, and if they kind of are, those turn out to be junkets involving so many people at the table, that the same gig gets published in 23 languages the next day.
The talent we spoke to is writing history. Zoljargal Purevdash is not only the first Mongolian director with a film in festival's 76-year-old existence, but her debut feature “If Only I Could Hibernate” that runs for both The Golden Camera Award and the main prize of the Un Certain Regard competition,...
The talent we spoke to is writing history. Zoljargal Purevdash is not only the first Mongolian director with a film in festival's 76-year-old existence, but her debut feature “If Only I Could Hibernate” that runs for both The Golden Camera Award and the main prize of the Un Certain Regard competition,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
by Khushi Jain
When some realities are defined by fear, unease and terror, it is only right that they be translated into cinema as is. This is the basis of Zarrar Kahn's “In Flames”, a drama of patriarchal oppression robed in horror. This eerie debut feature premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as part of Directors' Fortnight, and established itself as an authentic account of Pakistani womanhood through its spectral in(ter)ventions.
In Flames is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Death marks the beginning of the film and of its many ghosts. The passing of a patriarch doesn't wipe out his presence but makes it even more prominent. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her family are left stranded since almost everything they have is under the dead grandfather's name. Danger also lurks in the form of a greedy and deceitful uncle,...
When some realities are defined by fear, unease and terror, it is only right that they be translated into cinema as is. This is the basis of Zarrar Kahn's “In Flames”, a drama of patriarchal oppression robed in horror. This eerie debut feature premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as part of Directors' Fortnight, and established itself as an authentic account of Pakistani womanhood through its spectral in(ter)ventions.
In Flames is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Death marks the beginning of the film and of its many ghosts. The passing of a patriarch doesn't wipe out his presence but makes it even more prominent. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her family are left stranded since almost everything they have is under the dead grandfather's name. Danger also lurks in the form of a greedy and deceitful uncle,...
- 5/21/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the poster for the 76th edition featuring none other than Gallic cinema icon Catherine Deneuve.
The black and white photo pictures the noted performer in the film “La Chamade” (Heartbeat), directed by Alain Cavalier. Shot in 1968 on Pampelonne beach, near Saint-Tropez, the film stars Deneuve as Lucile, who the festival describes as living a “worldly and superficial life, tinged with ease and a taste for luxury. Her heart beats frantically, hurriedly, passionately.”
Cannes official 2023 poster featuring Catherine Deneuve
The festival called her “an embodiment of cinema, far from what is conventional or appropriate. Without compromise and always in tune with her convictions, even if it means going against the grain of the times,” recalling that Deneuve has been the muse of filmmakers including Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Marco Ferreri, Manoel de Oliveira, André Téchiné, Emmanuelle Bercot and Arnaud Desplechin.
In...
The black and white photo pictures the noted performer in the film “La Chamade” (Heartbeat), directed by Alain Cavalier. Shot in 1968 on Pampelonne beach, near Saint-Tropez, the film stars Deneuve as Lucile, who the festival describes as living a “worldly and superficial life, tinged with ease and a taste for luxury. Her heart beats frantically, hurriedly, passionately.”
Cannes official 2023 poster featuring Catherine Deneuve
The festival called her “an embodiment of cinema, far from what is conventional or appropriate. Without compromise and always in tune with her convictions, even if it means going against the grain of the times,” recalling that Deneuve has been the muse of filmmakers including Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Marco Ferreri, Manoel de Oliveira, André Téchiné, Emmanuelle Bercot and Arnaud Desplechin.
In...
- 4/19/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the poster for its upcoming 76th edition which pays tribute to iconic French actress Catherine Deneuve. Scroll down to see it.
The image shows Deneuve standing on Pampelonne beach, near Saint-Tropez, for the shoot of Alain Cavalier’s 1968 romantic drama Heartbeat (La Chamade), adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan.
Deneuve stars as a beautiful woman who oscillates between her older businessman lover and a charming young man of her own age, played by Michel Piccoli and Roger Van Hool.
“She plays Lucile, who leads a worldly and superficial life, tinged with ease and a taste for luxury. Her heart beats frantically, hurriedly, passionately,” said the festival in a statement. “Like the heart of cinema that the Festival de Cannes celebrates every year: its lively and embodied pulse can be heard everywhere. The heart of the 7th Art – of its artists, professionals, amateurs, press – beats like a drum,...
The image shows Deneuve standing on Pampelonne beach, near Saint-Tropez, for the shoot of Alain Cavalier’s 1968 romantic drama Heartbeat (La Chamade), adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan.
Deneuve stars as a beautiful woman who oscillates between her older businessman lover and a charming young man of her own age, played by Michel Piccoli and Roger Van Hool.
“She plays Lucile, who leads a worldly and superficial life, tinged with ease and a taste for luxury. Her heart beats frantically, hurriedly, passionately,” said the festival in a statement. “Like the heart of cinema that the Festival de Cannes celebrates every year: its lively and embodied pulse can be heard everywhere. The heart of the 7th Art – of its artists, professionals, amateurs, press – beats like a drum,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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