Vladivostok’s 16th Pacific Meridian International Film Festival of Asian Pacific Countries took place from September 21st to 27th 2018.
Jean-Marc Thérouanne co-founder and General Manager of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema was there, along with his wife Martine Thérouanne – who was also a member of the Netpac Jury – and this is his report of the event:
“The town of Vladivostok, founded in 1860, has quickly evolved into a big city thanks to the Trans-Siberian Railway and its commercial and military port. Vladivostok’s festival organizers are very proud actor Yul Brynner has been born in the city back in 1920.
This year’s program included 199 long and short fiction and documentary features in different sections: Competition, Panorama, Russian Cinema, Tribute to Yamamura Koji, Moving Forward, Documentaries, “Family Time” topic, horror movies (After Midnight), Russian Animation, Ingmar Bergman retrospective, film school movies including productions of Vladivostok’s movie school.
The...
Jean-Marc Thérouanne co-founder and General Manager of the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema was there, along with his wife Martine Thérouanne – who was also a member of the Netpac Jury – and this is his report of the event:
“The town of Vladivostok, founded in 1860, has quickly evolved into a big city thanks to the Trans-Siberian Railway and its commercial and military port. Vladivostok’s festival organizers are very proud actor Yul Brynner has been born in the city back in 1920.
This year’s program included 199 long and short fiction and documentary features in different sections: Competition, Panorama, Russian Cinema, Tribute to Yamamura Koji, Moving Forward, Documentaries, “Family Time” topic, horror movies (After Midnight), Russian Animation, Ingmar Bergman retrospective, film school movies including productions of Vladivostok’s movie school.
The...
- 10/2/2018
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Paul Dano’s directorial debut “Wildlife,” which has had considerable festival play including Sundance, Cannes and Toronto is among the titles in the international competition at the 20th Mumbai film festival.
The festival runs Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, 2018. U.S. director, Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”) will give a masterclass.
Other international competition titles include deceased Chinese director Hu Bo’s “An Elephant Sitting Still” which won awards at Berlin and Hong Kong; “And Breathe Normally” which won Isold Uggadottir the directing award at Sundance; Tiago Melo’s “Azougue Nazare,” which won at Rotterdam; Gabrielle Brady’s “Island of the Hungry Ghosts,” which won prizes at Edinburgh and Tribeca; Dominic Sangma’s “Ma-Ama”; Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s “Manta Ray” which won an award at Venice; Christina Coe’s “Nancy” which won the screenwriting prize at Sundance; Alireza Motamedi’s “Reza”; Etienne Kallos’ “The Harvesters”; Marcello Martinessi’s “The Heiresses,” which won awards at Berlin,...
The festival runs Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, 2018. U.S. director, Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”) will give a masterclass.
Other international competition titles include deceased Chinese director Hu Bo’s “An Elephant Sitting Still” which won awards at Berlin and Hong Kong; “And Breathe Normally” which won Isold Uggadottir the directing award at Sundance; Tiago Melo’s “Azougue Nazare,” which won at Rotterdam; Gabrielle Brady’s “Island of the Hungry Ghosts,” which won prizes at Edinburgh and Tribeca; Dominic Sangma’s “Ma-Ama”; Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s “Manta Ray” which won an award at Venice; Christina Coe’s “Nancy” which won the screenwriting prize at Sundance; Alireza Motamedi’s “Reza”; Etienne Kallos’ “The Harvesters”; Marcello Martinessi’s “The Heiresses,” which won awards at Berlin,...
- 10/2/2018
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Zhang Yimou’s moody, monochromatic action drama “Shadow” is the strong favorite in the annual Golden Horse Awards race. The awards, operated from Taiwan, celebrate the best films in Chinese-language variants.
“Shadow,” which premiered in prestigious slots in the Venice and Toronto film festivals last month, collected 12 nominations. These included nominations for best film and for best director.
Taiwanese drama “Dear Ex,” about the manipulations revealed by a man’s altered will, collected the second-most nominations, with eight. The film premiered at the Udine festival in April and won several prizes at the Taipei festival in June. It is next set for festival play in Busan, and heads for commercial release next month. “Dying to Survive” collected seven nominations.
The five contenders for the best film prize are “Shadow,” “Dear Ex,” mainland Chinese hit “Dying to Survive,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” and “An Elephant Sitting Still,” which premiered...
“Shadow,” which premiered in prestigious slots in the Venice and Toronto film festivals last month, collected 12 nominations. These included nominations for best film and for best director.
Taiwanese drama “Dear Ex,” about the manipulations revealed by a man’s altered will, collected the second-most nominations, with eight. The film premiered at the Udine festival in April and won several prizes at the Taipei festival in June. It is next set for festival play in Busan, and heads for commercial release next month. “Dying to Survive” collected seven nominations.
The five contenders for the best film prize are “Shadow,” “Dear Ex,” mainland Chinese hit “Dying to Survive,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” and “An Elephant Sitting Still,” which premiered...
- 10/1/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Below you will find an index of our coverage from the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) in 2018, as well as our favorite films.Top Picksdaniel KASMANFeatures:1. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire? (Roberto Minervini)2. High Life (Claire Denis)3. Monrovia, Indiana (Frederick Wiseman)4. Green Book (Peter Farrelly)5. aKasha (hajooj kuka)6. Rojo (Benjamin Naishtat)7. Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)8. Belmonte (Federico Veiroj)9. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)10. Hidden Man (Jiang Wen)Shorts:1. Blue (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)2. Arena (Björn Kämmerer)3. Polly One (Kevin Jerome Everson)4. Colophon (Nathaniel Dorsky)5. Please step out of the frame. (Karissa Hahn)6. Wall Unwalled (Lawrence Abu Hamdan)7. Ada Kaleh (Helena Wittmann)8. Alitplano (Malena Szlam)9. Norman Norman (Sophy Romvari)10. Hoarders without Borders, 1.0 (Jodie Mack)Kelley DONG1. "I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians" (Radu Jude)2. High Life (Claire Denis)3. Our Time (Carlos Reygadas)4. Our Body (Han Ka-Ram)5. A Star is Born (Bradley Cooper...
- 9/25/2018
- MUBI
The Toronto International Film Festival is a grab-bag — all fests are, of course — but the 43rd annual edition of what’s arguably the major North American film event of any given year felt like an especially whiplash-inducing, something-for-every-film-nerd get-together this year. You could walk out of a prestige-seeking, Oscar-courting drama about parents dealing with drug-addict kids (there were a few to choose from) and right into a an eight-hour Chinese documentary about Communist “re-education” camps. You had your choice of watching Natalie Portman, Elle Fanning or Lady Gaga play pop...
- 9/16/2018
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
The world is a wasteland. That’s how the world is described in “An Elephant Sitting Still”, the directorial debut and (sadly) the last film of Chinese film director Hu Bo. In other words, a character in the film also states that the world is just disgusting. Now that’s a hard statement to start with. However, that’s the conclusion you will get after the film. “An Elephant Sitting Still” is extraordinary, uncomfortable and compelling at the same time.
An Elephant Sitting Still is screening at Toronto International Film Festival
We’ve all had one of those days in which everything seems wrong to us. Everything around us is empty, sad and dark; and there is nothing that makes us change our mind. As a character says in the movie: The world is a wasteland. In effect, all the characters in this story live in a wasteland. It is...
An Elephant Sitting Still is screening at Toronto International Film Festival
We’ve all had one of those days in which everything seems wrong to us. Everything around us is empty, sad and dark; and there is nothing that makes us change our mind. As a character says in the movie: The world is a wasteland. In effect, all the characters in this story live in a wasteland. It is...
- 9/7/2018
- by Pedro Morata
- AsianMoviePulse
Chinese director Hu Bo’s film “An Elephant Standing Still” has made it’s theatrical debut. The film is the directors only completed feature length film as the director passed in October of 2017. The film stars Yu Zhang Yuchang Peng, and Uvin Wang, as a group of wandering souls all interested in the story of the Elephant that sits and ignores the world.
The film has been previously released in theaters and won the “International Federation of Film Critics Prize” at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival. The film is awaiting a domestic release, a trailer has been previously released.
Synopsis
In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find themselves. Among them is schoolboy Bu, on the run after pushing Shuai down the stairs,...
The film has been previously released in theaters and won the “International Federation of Film Critics Prize” at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival. The film is awaiting a domestic release, a trailer has been previously released.
Synopsis
In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find themselves. Among them is schoolboy Bu, on the run after pushing Shuai down the stairs,...
- 8/24/2018
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
The Toronto International Film Festival has added Brady Corbet’s drama “Vox Lux,” starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law, and Neil Jordan’s “Greta,” with Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert.
The festival also announced Tuesday a total of 46 titles in its Discovery program, which is devoted to up-and-coming filmmakers. The festival will screen 255 features and 88 shorts with 138 being world premieres, including “Greta.” The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival will begin on Sept. 6.
“Vox Lux” and “Greta” have been added to the Special Presentations program. “Vox Lux,” which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, is a musical drama about a woman who achieves success after a tragic childhood. The film also stars Jennifer Ehle, Stacy Martin and Raffey Cassidy. “Greta” stars Moretz as a young woman in New York who befriends a widow, played by Huppert, who has sinister intentions.
The Discovery program includes Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s ‘Girl,...
The festival also announced Tuesday a total of 46 titles in its Discovery program, which is devoted to up-and-coming filmmakers. The festival will screen 255 features and 88 shorts with 138 being world premieres, including “Greta.” The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival will begin on Sept. 6.
“Vox Lux” and “Greta” have been added to the Special Presentations program. “Vox Lux,” which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, is a musical drama about a woman who achieves success after a tragic childhood. The film also stars Jennifer Ehle, Stacy Martin and Raffey Cassidy. “Greta” stars Moretz as a young woman in New York who befriends a widow, played by Huppert, who has sinister intentions.
The Discovery program includes Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s ‘Girl,...
- 8/21/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 6-16) has added a world premiere screening of Neil Jordan’s Greta and the North American premiere of Natalie Portman-starrer Vox Lux to its Special Presentations program, which now numbers 24 films.
Jordan’s Greta tells the story of a young New York woman named Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an enigmatic widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert). Co-written by Jordan and Ray Wright, pic also stars Colm Feore, Maika Monroe, and Stephen Rea.
In musical drama Vox Lux, Brady Corbet’s second feature as writer-director tracks its heroine’s path from childhood tragedy to a life of fame and fortune. Starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law, the film begins with teenage sisters Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) and Eleanor (Stacy Martin) who survive a violent incident that changes their lives.
Tiff has also revealed the 46 movies taking part in its Discovery lineup for emerging filmmakers.
Jordan’s Greta tells the story of a young New York woman named Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an enigmatic widow named Greta (Isabelle Huppert). Co-written by Jordan and Ray Wright, pic also stars Colm Feore, Maika Monroe, and Stephen Rea.
In musical drama Vox Lux, Brady Corbet’s second feature as writer-director tracks its heroine’s path from childhood tragedy to a life of fame and fortune. Starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law, the film begins with teenage sisters Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) and Eleanor (Stacy Martin) who survive a violent incident that changes their lives.
Tiff has also revealed the 46 movies taking part in its Discovery lineup for emerging filmmakers.
- 8/21/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux,” with Natalie Portman and Jude Law, and Neil Jordan’s “Greta,” with Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert, are among almost 50 films that have been added to the lineup of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, Tiff organizers announced on Tuesday.
The two films have been added to the Special Presentations program, with “Greta” having its world premiere at Tiff and “Vox Lux” its Canadian premiere.
“Greta” features Moretz as a young woman in New York who befriends a widow who turns out to have sinister intentions; “Vox Lux” is a musical drama that encompasses the life of a woman who achieves success after a tragic childhood.
Also Read: Natalie Portman Is an Aspiring Pop Star in First-Look at Brady Corbet's 'Vox Lux' (Photo)
Toronto also announced its Discovery program, which is devoted to up-and-coming filmmakers. The 46 films in the lineup come from 37 different countries,...
The two films have been added to the Special Presentations program, with “Greta” having its world premiere at Tiff and “Vox Lux” its Canadian premiere.
“Greta” features Moretz as a young woman in New York who befriends a widow who turns out to have sinister intentions; “Vox Lux” is a musical drama that encompasses the life of a woman who achieves success after a tragic childhood.
Also Read: Natalie Portman Is an Aspiring Pop Star in First-Look at Brady Corbet's 'Vox Lux' (Photo)
Toronto also announced its Discovery program, which is devoted to up-and-coming filmmakers. The 46 films in the lineup come from 37 different countries,...
- 8/21/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Swedish filmmaker Isabella Eklöf, the director of the film Holiday, is the winner of the Grand Prix of the New Horizons International Competition.
Of the 12 competition entries, seven were directed by women. This year’s edition of New Horizons can also boast record attendance.
The winner of the Audience Award was An Elephant Sitting Still /Da xiang xi di er zuo, directed by Hu Bo, who died tragically last year. An Elephant Sitting Still was his only film. To protect his friend, 16-year-old Wei Bu pushes the school bully down the staircase and escapes the scene after the bully becomes hospitalized with his life hanging by a thread.
Financed by Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska and Jan Jakub Kolski, the Zuzanna Kolska Prize was awarded to the youngest filmmaker at New Horizons for the first time ever this year. Going to Zuzanna Grajcewicz for her film Cut-out, the award is a gesture of...
Of the 12 competition entries, seven were directed by women. This year’s edition of New Horizons can also boast record attendance.
The winner of the Audience Award was An Elephant Sitting Still /Da xiang xi di er zuo, directed by Hu Bo, who died tragically last year. An Elephant Sitting Still was his only film. To protect his friend, 16-year-old Wei Bu pushes the school bully down the staircase and escapes the scene after the bully becomes hospitalized with his life hanging by a thread.
Financed by Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska and Jan Jakub Kolski, the Zuzanna Kolska Prize was awarded to the youngest filmmaker at New Horizons for the first time ever this year. Going to Zuzanna Grajcewicz for her film Cut-out, the award is a gesture of...
- 8/6/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Since 2012, IndieWire has lent its support to the Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop developed as part of the Summer Academy initiative at the Locarno Film Festival designed to foster aspiring film critics. This year’s participants will contribute essays on the 71st edition of the festival, currently underway in Switzerland. Here’s an overview of their backgrounds and interests.
Name: Pedro Emilio Segura Bernal
Age: 28
Twitter Handle: @PedroEmilioSB / @LAOLACine
Home: Mexico City
Cinematic Area of Expertise: I can’t say I have expertise in anything… I can confess certain predilection for “non-traditional” narratives.
Best You’ve Seen in 2018: “Le Livre d’Image” (“The Image Book”) – Jlg
Movie You’re Most Looking Forward to Seeing At Locarno: It’s a tie between Mariano Llinas’ “La Flor” and “Gangbyeon Hotel” by Hong Sang Soo
Favorite Book or Piece of Writing About Film: The poem-essay used and composed by Godard as a...
Name: Pedro Emilio Segura Bernal
Age: 28
Twitter Handle: @PedroEmilioSB / @LAOLACine
Home: Mexico City
Cinematic Area of Expertise: I can’t say I have expertise in anything… I can confess certain predilection for “non-traditional” narratives.
Best You’ve Seen in 2018: “Le Livre d’Image” (“The Image Book”) – Jlg
Movie You’re Most Looking Forward to Seeing At Locarno: It’s a tie between Mariano Llinas’ “La Flor” and “Gangbyeon Hotel” by Hong Sang Soo
Favorite Book or Piece of Writing About Film: The poem-essay used and composed by Godard as a...
- 8/4/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The event is focused on the arthouse and independent areas of Chinese cinema.
Perched high on the Tibetan plateau, the city of Xining hosts the First International Film Festival, an event that is firmly focused on the arthouse and independent end of the Chinese cinema spectrum.
The annual event, which this year ran July 21-30, is committed to supporting young talent that may not find a berth in more mainstream Chinese festivals. Almost every Chinese filmmaker who has popped up on the international festival circuit over the past few years – including Cai Chengjie (The Widowed Witch), Xin Yukun (The Coffin...
Perched high on the Tibetan plateau, the city of Xining hosts the First International Film Festival, an event that is firmly focused on the arthouse and independent end of the Chinese cinema spectrum.
The annual event, which this year ran July 21-30, is committed to supporting young talent that may not find a berth in more mainstream Chinese festivals. Almost every Chinese filmmaker who has popped up on the international festival circuit over the past few years – including Cai Chengjie (The Widowed Witch), Xin Yukun (The Coffin...
- 7/30/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
The event is focused on the arthouse and independent areas of Chinese cinema.
Perched high on the Tibetan plateau, the city of Xining hosts the First International Film Festival, an event that is firmly focused on the arthouse and independent end of the Chinese cinema spectrum.
The annual event, which this year ran July 21-30, is committed to supporting young talent that may not find a berth in more mainstream Chinese festivals. Almost every Chinese filmmaker who has popped up on the international festival circuit over the past few years – including Cai Chengjie (The Widowed Witch), Xin Yukun (The Coffin...
Perched high on the Tibetan plateau, the city of Xining hosts the First International Film Festival, an event that is firmly focused on the arthouse and independent end of the Chinese cinema spectrum.
The annual event, which this year ran July 21-30, is committed to supporting young talent that may not find a berth in more mainstream Chinese festivals. Almost every Chinese filmmaker who has popped up on the international festival circuit over the past few years – including Cai Chengjie (The Widowed Witch), Xin Yukun (The Coffin...
- 7/30/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Collaboration will start with Xing Jian’s Winter After Winter, starring Yan Bingyan.
Beijing-based sales outfit Rediance has reached an agreement with Alibaba Pictures to handle international distribution of new titles produced under its young talent initiative Project A.
The collaboration will start with Xing Jian’s Winter After Winter, starring Yan Bingyan in the story of a family struggling to survive in Northern China during the Japanese occupation in 1945. The film is Xing’s second following Seven Days (2015), which premiered at Montreal World Film Festival.
Rediance will also exclusively handle festivals and international sales for most future Project A titles,...
Beijing-based sales outfit Rediance has reached an agreement with Alibaba Pictures to handle international distribution of new titles produced under its young talent initiative Project A.
The collaboration will start with Xing Jian’s Winter After Winter, starring Yan Bingyan in the story of a family struggling to survive in Northern China during the Japanese occupation in 1945. The film is Xing’s second following Seven Days (2015), which premiered at Montreal World Film Festival.
Rediance will also exclusively handle festivals and international sales for most future Project A titles,...
- 7/28/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
The lineup for this year’s Locarno International Film Festival, which celebrates its 71st edition, has arrived. Among the most-anticipated titles in the lineup there’s a new feature from Hong Sang-soo titled Hotel by the River and the latest film from Tuesday, After Christmas director Radu Muntean, Alice T. Also in the slate is Man in the Well, a short film from Hu Bo, made before his first and final feature An Elephant Sitting Still. Ahead of our coverage, check out the full lineup below (via Mubi), also featuring previously premiered films from Spike Lee, Kent Jones, Ethan Hawke, Ciro Guerra & Cristtina Gallego, Aneesh Chaganty, and more.
Piazza Grande
BlackKkansman
Blaze
Coincoin et les Z’inhumains
I Feel Good
Le vent tourne
Les Beaux Esprits
Liberty
L’ordre des medecins
L’ospite
Manila in the Claws of Light
Birds of Passage
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Se7en
Searching
The Equalizer 2...
Piazza Grande
BlackKkansman
Blaze
Coincoin et les Z’inhumains
I Feel Good
Le vent tourne
Les Beaux Esprits
Liberty
L’ordre des medecins
L’ospite
Manila in the Claws of Light
Birds of Passage
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Se7en
Searching
The Equalizer 2...
- 7/11/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"The world is a wasteland..." An international trailer has arrived online for the highly acclaimed film An Elephant Sitting Still, a film by Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo. This is Bo's first & final film, as he tragically took his own life last year after finishing the film. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this year, where it won the Fipresci Prize and a Best First Feature "Special Mention", and it has played at numerous other festivals including New Directors/New Films in NYC, plus the Sydney and Edinburgh Film Festivals, and is heading to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival next. The film actually runs nearly 4 hours in total, and tells a story across one day, linking the stories of various characters in one town. The focus is on bullying and the way people affect each other. Starring Yuchang Peng, Yu Zhang, Uvin Wang, and Congxi Li. This brief trailer does have English subtitles,...
- 6/25/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Initially premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, An Elephant Sitting Still is the directorial debut drama from the late Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo. With an epic, nearly four-hour long runtime, Elephant tells the long and winding story of Wei Bu (played by Our Shining Days’ Yuchang Peng), and his classmates Wang Jin and Huang Ling, as they flee to a far-away city after becoming involved with escalated trouble at home.
Alongside Yuchang Peng, the film features Yu Zhang, Uvin Wang, and Congxi Li. Ambitiously told, with fearlessness and relentlessness, An Elephant Sitting Still garnished the Prize of the Fipresci as well as special mention as the Best First Feature while in Berlin. Unfortunately, while An Elephant Sitting Still marks Hu Bo’s directorial debut, it also becomes his last, as Bo took his own life in October.
Our own Zhuo-Ning Su caught Elephant in Berlin (full...
Alongside Yuchang Peng, the film features Yu Zhang, Uvin Wang, and Congxi Li. Ambitiously told, with fearlessness and relentlessness, An Elephant Sitting Still garnished the Prize of the Fipresci as well as special mention as the Best First Feature while in Berlin. Unfortunately, while An Elephant Sitting Still marks Hu Bo’s directorial debut, it also becomes his last, as Bo took his own life in October.
Our own Zhuo-Ning Su caught Elephant in Berlin (full...
- 6/24/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Cai Chengjie’s The Widowed Witch won the Tiger Award at this year’s Rotterdam film festival.
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has sealed North American deals on two titles – The Widowed Witch, which has been sold to Icarus Films, and An Elephant Sitting Still, which has gone to Kimstim.
Cai Chengjie’s The Widowed Witch, about a woman who poses as a shaman after losing her home, won the Tiger Award at this year’s Rotterdam film festival.
Directed by late Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo, An Elephant Sitting Still won a special mention for best first feature at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has sealed North American deals on two titles – The Widowed Witch, which has been sold to Icarus Films, and An Elephant Sitting Still, which has gone to Kimstim.
Cai Chengjie’s The Widowed Witch, about a woman who poses as a shaman after losing her home, won the Tiger Award at this year’s Rotterdam film festival.
Directed by late Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo, An Elephant Sitting Still won a special mention for best first feature at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
- 5/12/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
KimStim, a Brooklyn based arthouse distributor, has secured the North American rights to Berlin Film Festival award-winning film, An Elephant Sitting Still, from director Hu Bo. Set in a mid-sized Chinese city over the course of single day, the film follows four characters trying to escape from their problematic small-town life of economic depression and social malaise. In the end, they decide to escape to the city of Manzhouli, where they hope to see an elephant that simply sits, unfazed and impervious to the world. The pic not only marked Bo’s directorial debut but it was also his final piece as the filmmaker and author took his own life at age 29. KimStim is planning to release the film in theaters this Fall. KimStim’s Ian Stimler negotiated the deal with Rediance’s Founder and CEO Meng Xie.
Abramorama has picked up the Deer Tick music documentary Straight Into A Storm,...
Abramorama has picked up the Deer Tick music documentary Straight Into A Storm,...
- 5/4/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Female filmmakers bagged top prizes at the Hong Kong International Film Festival on Monday, with Chinese drama “Girls Always Happy” scooping two awards and Japanese gay documentary “Of Love & Law” leading the documentary race.
“Girls Always Happy,” the directorial debut of Chines filmmaker Yang Mingming, revolves around a complex mother-daughter relationship. It won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition and the Fipresci Prize. The film premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year.
The Hong Kong festival features three different competitions: young cinema, documentary and short film. “Daughter of Mine” by Italian filmmaker Laura Bispuri, which also premiered in Berlin, was awarded Jury Prize in the Young Cinema Competition.
The Firebird Award of the documentary competition went to “Of Love & Law” by Toda Hikaru, which follows the story of gay couple Fumi and Kazu, who run a law firm together in Japan. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s “The Distant Barking of Dogs,...
“Girls Always Happy,” the directorial debut of Chines filmmaker Yang Mingming, revolves around a complex mother-daughter relationship. It won the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition and the Fipresci Prize. The film premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year.
The Hong Kong festival features three different competitions: young cinema, documentary and short film. “Daughter of Mine” by Italian filmmaker Laura Bispuri, which also premiered in Berlin, was awarded Jury Prize in the Young Cinema Competition.
The Firebird Award of the documentary competition went to “Of Love & Law” by Toda Hikaru, which follows the story of gay couple Fumi and Kazu, who run a law firm together in Japan. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s “The Distant Barking of Dogs,...
- 4/2/2018
- by Vivienne Chow
- Variety Film + TV
Hale County: This Morning, This EveningFor a critic, the annual New Directors/New Films festival offers an opportunity not just for discovery, but also for introspection. Curated by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the festival’s spotlight on the emerging, as-yet-unheralded voices of world cinema invites a headlong dive into the selection with little advance knowledge or baggage. The results, although expectedly uneven, are often revelatory, prompting a re-examination of one’s traditional notions of film language and form. This year’s Nd/Nf runs from March 28 to April 8, with a slate of 25 features culled from all over the globe. Some of the most remarkable entries in the line-up, including Khalik Allah’s Black Mother, Hu Bo’s An Elephant Sitting Still, and Kantemir Balegov’s Closeness have already been covered by the Notebook. Here are some more highlights. *** The festival’s Closing Night selection,...
- 3/28/2018
- MUBI
New Directors/New Films concentrates on first/sophomore features on the more ambitious/undistributable side of the festival ledger; with that mission, it may be my favorite annual NYC fest, so all the more regrettable that deadlines and hellacious Mta/personal dysfunction limited my press screening attendance to three films. (I’ve written from elsewhere about the following titles: 3/4; Black Mother; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.; The Nothing Factory. The latter is especially recommended.) When I finally made it out, Hu Bo’s Berlinale premiere An Elephant Sitting Still made for the kind of textbook intimidating object I crave: a nearly four-hour-long debut by a filmmaker who […]...
- 3/28/2018
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
New Directors/New Films concentrates on first/sophomore features on the more ambitious/undistributable side of the festival ledger; with that mission, it may be my favorite annual NYC fest, so all the more regrettable that deadlines and hellacious Mta/personal dysfunction limited my press screening attendance to three films. (I’ve written from elsewhere about the following titles: 3/4; Black Mother; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.; The Nothing Factory. The latter is especially recommended.) When I finally made it out, Hu Bo’s Berlinale premiere An Elephant Sitting Still made for the kind of textbook intimidating object I crave: a nearly four-hour-long debut by a filmmaker who […]...
- 3/28/2018
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Dedicated to the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent, this year’s New Directors/New Films festival will screen features and shorts from 29 countries across five continents, with 10 North American premieres, 13 films directed or co-directed by women, and 14 works by first-time feature filmmakers.
The opening and closing night selections at this year’s fest feature Sundance award-winning documentaries, both celebrating their New York premieres as part of the event. Stephen Loveridge’s “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” an intimate long-term look inside the life of global rap sensation through her own video diaries, will open the festival, coming off its World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance in January.
RaMell Ross’s “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” billed as “a visionary and poetic look at resilient African American families in the titular Alabama region,” will close the festival, its next big event after winning the U.
The opening and closing night selections at this year’s fest feature Sundance award-winning documentaries, both celebrating their New York premieres as part of the event. Stephen Loveridge’s “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” an intimate long-term look inside the life of global rap sensation through her own video diaries, will open the festival, coming off its World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance in January.
RaMell Ross’s “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” billed as “a visionary and poetic look at resilient African American families in the titular Alabama region,” will close the festival, its next big event after winning the U.
- 3/26/2018
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Jude Dry, Jenna Marotta and Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The film is by Beijing Film Academy graduate Hu Bo, who took his own life in October last year.
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has sold Hu Bo’s An Elephant Sitting Still, which premiered in this year’s Berlinale Forum, to Capricci for France and Spain.
Rediance is also in talks for a sale to North America, which it is hoping to close before the film receives its North American premiere at the New Directors/New Films festival in New York at the end of this month.
Set over the course of one day, the 230-minute film follows a teenage...
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has sold Hu Bo’s An Elephant Sitting Still, which premiered in this year’s Berlinale Forum, to Capricci for France and Spain.
Rediance is also in talks for a sale to North America, which it is hoping to close before the film receives its North American premiere at the New Directors/New Films festival in New York at the end of this month.
Set over the course of one day, the 230-minute film follows a teenage...
- 3/20/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
MoMA and the Film Society of Lincoln Center are kicking off the 47th New Directors/New Films festival at the end of the month, and IndieWire is excited to premiere the exclusive trailer for this year’s edition. The annual festival spotlights the best films of the year made by first or second-time directors.
This year’s New Directors/New Films will open with Stephen Loveridge’s music documentary “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. RaMell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” is the closing night selection. New films by Khalik Allah, Gustav Möller, Helena Wittmann, and more are included in this year’s lineup.
New Directors/New Films 2018 runs March 28 – April 8. Watch the trailer and check out the full lineup below. Visit the festival’s official website to purchase tickets.
Opening Night
“Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” Stephen Loveridge...
This year’s New Directors/New Films will open with Stephen Loveridge’s music documentary “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. RaMell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” is the closing night selection. New films by Khalik Allah, Gustav Möller, Helena Wittmann, and more are included in this year’s lineup.
New Directors/New Films 2018 runs March 28 – April 8. Watch the trailer and check out the full lineup below. Visit the festival’s official website to purchase tickets.
Opening Night
“Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” Stephen Loveridge...
- 3/19/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
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