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Filmart opens with sales storm BY LIZ SHACKLETON
As Filmart gets underway, it has become clear the Chinese film sales business is going through a turbulent period, buffeted by China’s booming box office and a declining market for foreign-language films everywhere else in the world. Among recent changes to affect Hong Kong sales companies are Distribution Workshop’s decision to relocate its international sales business to Taipei and a changing of the guard at Emperor Motion Pictures. At the same time, Beijing-based Huayi Brothers has established an
international sales arm, now that Global Road Entertainment is no longer handling its titles, and China’s Tencent Pictures is also exploring setting up a sales division. While it might be tempting to interpret these moves as a shift of distribution power towards Beijing, which has become the capital of the Chinese production business, the reality is more complex. For sure, producers across Greater China are becoming more focused on the mainland China market — where four films grossed a combined $1.5bn over the Chinese
New Year holidays — while the international market is increasingly difficult. “Only Chinese martial-arts films are selling internationally, while the films that work in China are mostly comedies and romantic dramas that often don’t travel,” says Bravos Pictures chief Ricky Tse. Meanwhile, mainland studios are latching on to the relative simplicity of working with global streaming platforms for international distribution. “In some ways we both created and then cratered the international sales market for Chinese films, because we did well
Mega-Vision launches Yen, Koo actioners
Xiao Mei, review, p14
NEWS Slate of vision The Receptionist, The Backstreet Noir and Puzzle lead Mirovision slate » Page 6
REVIEWS Xiao Mei HKIFF’s joint opening film is alive with visual detail » Page 14
FEATURES HAF profiles: part one This year’s projects include filmmakers from Mongolia, Cambodia and Russia » Page 16
Hot projects Buzz titles in the market from China and Hong Kong » Page 24
Universe lines up White Storm 2 BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Following their collaboration on Shock Wave, director Herman Yau and actor-producer Andy Lau are reteaming on a sequel to 2013 action drama The White Storm, which Hong Kong’s Universe Films Distribution is introducing to buyers here at Filmart. In addition to Lau, The White Storm 2 — Drug Lords (working title) will star Louis Koo, who also featured in the original film, along with Michael Miu, Karena Lam
BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Hong Kong’s Mega-Vision Project Workshop is launching two highprofile action titles at Filmart: Kenji Tanigaki’s Enter The Fat Dragon, starring Donnie Yen, and Master Of Ransom with Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo, Gordon Lam and Simon Yam. Yen plays a cop escorting a convict to Japan in Enter The Fat Dragon, which the star is also producing along with Wong Jing and Connie Wong. Currently shooting in Hong Kong, China and Japan, the film is produced by Bona Film Group, Mega-Vision, Sun Entertainment and Super Bullet. In pre-production, Master Of Ransom is the second instalment in Wong Jing and Jason Kwan’s crime trilogy following last year’s hit Chasing The Dragon. The story revolves around a serial kidnapper who is planning to expand his criminal activities in Macau. Mega-Vision’s Filmart slate also includes Kam Ka Wai’s Big Brother, starring Yen, and TV drama The Great Adventurer Wesley, which are in post. A co-production between Mega-Vision and Chinese streaming giant iQiyi, The Great Adventurer Wesley is a three-season sci-fi adventure shot in locations including Egypt, Thailand, Japan and China.
selling them to Netflix, then the producers realised they didn’t need us to do that,” says Stuart Ford, former chief of IM Global, which handled sales for Huayi Brothers and Enlight titles before it was absorbed into Global Road last year. But mainland Chinese companies are still decades behind Hong Kong’s sales agents in understanding the international market, and find it difficult to lure experienced executives to Beijing. Over the past decade, several mainland studios have set up international sales Film sales, continued on p6
TODAY
and Cherrie Ying. Budgeted at $25m, up from the original’s $16m budget, the film will again revolve around cops battling drug dealers in the Hong Kong underworld. It is currently in pre-production for release in the first quarter of 2019. Universe is also selling a sequel to Yau’s Shock Wave, which grossed $63m in mainland China last year. Shock Wave 2 (working title) is in pre-production for release in the third quarter of 2019.
GDH 559 believes in romance
Asian Film Award winners Louis Koo, Sylvia Chang and Feng Xiaogang at the Venetian Macau ceremony on Saturday night. Koo was awarded best actor for Paradox, Chang took best actress for Love Education and Feng won the best film award for Youth.
Gaga pushes out 3ft Ball & Souls BY JEAN NOH
Japan’s Gaga Corporation is launching international sales here on Yoshio Kato’s 3ft Ball & Souls. The film made its world premiere last year at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival, where it won the audience award. It is the sopho-
more feature of TV and commercials director Kato, whose debut Plastic Crime also competed at Skip City in 2014. Kato wrote, directed, produced and fully financed 3ft Ball & Souls, which follows the members of an internet suicide chatroom as they are stuck in a time loop.
Following the success of last year’s Bad Genius in China and throughout the region, Thai production and sales outfit GDH 559 returns to Filmart with two new titles: Brother Of The Year and an untitled fantasy drama. Helmed by My Girl co-director Vithaya Thongyuyong, Brother Of The Year is a romantic drama involving a family that stars Sunny Suwanmethanon, popular TV actress Urassaya Sperbund and Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul from Korean boy band 2PM. The film has been picked up by PT Inter Solusindo Film for Indonesia, Suraya Filem Production & Distribution for Malaysia and Brunei, Golden Village for
Singapore, Westec Media for Cambodia and MVP M Pictures Film Distribution for Laos. The untitled fantasy drama is directed by Parkpoom Wongpoom — his first solo director outing after co-directing horror hits Shutter and Alone. Both titles are scheduled for local release in 2018. Silvia Wong
Brother Of The Year
NEWS
Film sales, continued from p3 divisions, only to pull back when they realised the high costs and relatively low income. “Selling to online or TV is one thing, but a theatrical release where you’re going day-and-date in several territories is much harder to coordinate,” says Distribution Workshop founder Jeffrey Chan. He adds that while there were several factors at play in the company’s decision to relocate its sales force, one of the biggest was to improve cost efficiencies in a challenging market. “We had the luxury of moving to Taiwan as we already had offices there.” Beijing has also seen a rise in sales companies handling independent product, including Rediance, Asian Shadows and a soon to be relaunched Fortissimo Films. However, these companies are mostly handling arthouse titles, which were never the mainstay of Hong Kong’s veteran producer-sales agents. These are unsettling times but Hong Kong’s status as an international sales hub is likely to endure.
Bravos slate in Limbo BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Hong Kong-based Bravos Pictures is handling international sales on a fresh slate of action titles, including Soi Cheang’s Limbo, starring Lam Ka Tung. Lam plays a detective on the trail of a serial killer in the $16m action drama, which is produced by Wilson Yip and Paco Wong. Mason Lee also stars as a rookie cop, while Cya Liu plays a woman who is assigned to the case
but has killed the detective’s wife and child in an accident. In postproduction, the film is produced by Sun Entertainment Culture, Er Dong Pictures, Bona Film Group and Sil-Metropole Organization. Lam also stars in Bravos’s The Strangled Truth, directed by Jill Wong. The film follows two narcotics cops, one of whom is forced to go undercover. In pre-production, the film is backed by Sun
Entertainment and Fei Fan Entertainment. Also being introduced at Filmart is Fire Lee’s fantasy drama In Love With A Monster, which is in pre-production and backed by Sun, Fei Fan and Er Dong Pictures. Bravos has recently bolstered its sales team with former Emperor Motion Pictures executives May Yip, who joins as a consultant, and Catherine Chau as distribution manager.
Geoffrey Wong
Wong to head up HK festival BY SILVIA WONG
Mirovision brings Receptionist, Backstreet Noir, Puzzle BY JEAN NOH
South Korean sales company Mirovision is launching a slate of new films at Filmart led by UKTaiwan co-production The Receptionist and two Korean films: black comedy The Backstreet Noir and mystery thriller Puzzle. UK-based Taiwanese director Jenny Lu made her feature debut with The Receptionist, which fol-
6 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
lows the lives of the employees and clients of an illegal massage parlour in London as seen through the eyes of a Taiwanese receptionist. Executive-produced by Damian Jones and Jimmy Huang, the film stars Teresa Daley, Shiangchyi Chen and Josh Whitehouse. Directed by Kang Hyo-jin, The Backstreet Noir stars Byungchul Kim and Jiyu Kwak in a story about
a good-for-nothing who earns his living by taking beatings for other people. Puzzle, directed by Lim Jinseung, stars Kang Ki-young and Ji Seung-hyun in the story of a man, living alone in Korea and working to support his family abroad, who is accused of murder. Released locally on February 22, the film screened at Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
Geoffrey Wong will step up to be the head of programming for Hong Kong International Film Festival once long-serving artistic director Li Cheuk To leaves after this year’s edition. Wong is joined in the programming team by Kiki Fung, who was appointed programmer in December. Jacob Wong remains as curator and director of Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), while Alvin Tse is still programme manager.
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NEWS
Ablaze hot for Happiness, Scoundrels BY SILVIA WONG
Taipei-based Ablaze Image has sold Taiwanese animation On Happiness Road to Eurozoom for France and Media Solutions Partners for Spain. Sung Hsin-yin’s debut animation feature, about the homecoming of a young woman after years in the US, won the grand prize at Tokyo Anime Award Festival last week. Separately, Ablaze has picked up international rights to The Scoundrels, a crime drama about a former basketball star who becomes the suspect in a bank robbery and the only witness who can clear his name is in a coma. The film is the debut feature for Hung Tzu-hsuan from a script by Huang Chien-ming (Wake Up). It stars Wu Kang-ren, JC Lin and Hsieh Hsin-ying, and key heads of department include cinematographer Chen Ko-chin (Shuttle Life).
More In Group grapples with Jealousy, Woori: Us BY JEAN NOH
South Korea’s More In Group is launching sales on a pair of new titles produced by its head TJ Chung — A History Of Jealousy and Woori: Us — as well as music doc The Juvenescence Choir — Another Dream. A History Of Jealousy is the second feature directed by Inbong Jeong (aka Jung In-bong), who
made his directorial debut in 2016 with The Way. The film stars Nam Kyu-ri, Oh Ji-ho, Jo Han-sun, Kim Seunghyun and Jang So-yeon in a story about a woman who, starting in college, deals with love, jealousy, rape and domestic abuse. The film is in post-production. Woori: Us, directed by Seung Hun Chae, is about a paralysed woman who writes with her
mouth, and a former gang member starting a new life as a street poet, as they work together on a story. The film stars Woori Jo and Gwang-young Kim. In post-production, it is due out this year. The Juvenescence Choir — Another Dream, directed by Lee Hyuk-jong (Sketch), follows a senior citizens’ choir as they sing their way to the United Nations.
Summerside sells Skopje to China BY JEAN NOH
Italian sales company Summerside International has sold fatherand-son directing team Rade and Danilo Serbedzija’s Second World War film The Liberation Of Skopje to China (First Brave/Jushi). Set
8 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
in 1941, when the Germans and their Bulgarian allies occupied the city of Skopje, the film depicts the suffering of the townspeople through the eyes of 11-year-old Zoran. The award-winning Macedonia-Finland-Croatia co-pro-
d u c t i o n wa s Ma c e d o n i a’s submission to last year’s Oscars foreign-language film category. Rade Serbedzija makes his filmmaking debut with the feature, which he co-wrote with Dusan Jovanovic.
FNGA boards mm2 sextet Fox Networks Groups Asia (FNGA) has come on board as co-producer to six Chineselanguage films produced by Singapore-based mm2 Asia for rising talents from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. FNGA will have the exclusive pay-TV broadcast and digital rights to the films, which will be aired on Star Chinese Movies and streaming platform FOX+. From Taiwan comes Gavin Lin’s More Than Blue, a remake of the Korean romance; and Tommy Yu’s Girls, Be Ambitious! about erotic wrestling. Two are from Hong Kong: boxing fantasy 1 Sec Champ by Chiu Sin Hang and horror Walk With Me, directed by Malaysia’s Ryon Lee. Guang by Malaysia’s Quek Shio Chuan’s is about an autistic man, while Jacen Tan’s Zombiepura is Singapore’s first zombie film. Silvia Wong
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“Magnificent” THE GUARDIAN
“Exceptional” SCREEN DAILY
“A role Everett was born to play” VARIETY
SCREENING TOMORROW Mar 20th 10:00 am Meeting Room N101A, HKCEC
BETA CINEMA @ FILMART / EUROPEAN UMBRELLA STAND #1C-E14 WWW.BETACINEMA.COM
HKTDC RAYMOND YIP
Welcome Welcome to this year’s Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART), Asia’s largest entertainment market. Entering its 22nd edition, FILMART gathers more than 850 exhibitors from 37 countries and regions, including emerging markets such as Colombia, Mongolia and Nigeria. The event continues to enjoy keen participation from countries such as Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. We are also delighted to witness a record-high attendance from the Chinese mainland this year. Besides film, FILMART is also an ideal market place for TV broadcasters. We continue to see a strong presence of over 370 TV exhibitors from across the globe in TV World. The Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Pavilion also returns with 36 local companies showcasing the latest innovations for the entertainment industry. In addition, two new zones are debuting to offer diversity to our visitors, namely Doc World and the Global Filming Support zone. on the latest trends. A series of As always, FILMART seeks to inspire our visitors with industry experts sharing insights market updates; challenges and TV Chinese as such topics covering FILMART, t throughou held be thematic conferences will ing; and the application live-stream of opportunities of new media; market opportunities of documentaries; market potential sharing insights producers renowned with launched, be also will of VR/AR in animation etc. A Filmmaker Spotlight Series of networking series a to addition in FILMART, at screened be will premieres regional and and experience. Over 100 world activities and media events throughout the four-day event. The event is also one of nine FILMART remains one of the most effective trading and networking platforms for the industry. film, TV, digital entertainment of mix global events featured in Entertainment Expo Hong Kong (19 March-15 April), spanning a and music. I wish you all a very rewarding and insightful experience at FILMART 2018.
Raymond Yip Deputy Executive Director Hong Kong Trade Development Council
10 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
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HKIFF REVIEWS Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
An Elephant Sitting Still Reviewed by Sarah Ward
Xiao Mei Reviewed by Sarah Ward Xiao Mei is a dialogue-heavy film, staged as interview scenes with the missing titular character’s friends, family and acquaintances as they try to find her and piece together her last movements. As its nine vignettes form a snapshot of a young woman who is lost both figuratively and literally, writer-director Maren Hwang’s flair for framing and staging draws in viewers. How and why Xiao Mei (Jao Cincin) vanished are the questions that bind each conversation — her unhappy reality coming into sharp focus. At first described as kind, quiet and shy, she was also unable to leave behind a past drug problem — though that is just one reason behind her disappearance. As the sections are spliced together from subjective memories and observations, it becomes apparent that one person can leave different impressions on everyone around her — a far from novel message but one that resonates all the same. Rendered by first-time filmmaker Hwang in crisp, tellingly elaborate visuals, this is a feature that lets every frame add potent texture to its central story. Xiao Mei fares better in style than its slight story however, which could hamper its prospects. Still, even when the bigger picture becomes predictable, the images are alive with detail, ensuring there is sustained interest in everything else. Grimy beige and grey tones surround Mei’s landlord (Chen Yi-wen) in a filthy apartment; rich, deep reds line the alleyway where her half-brother (Na Dow) works in a restaurant; and there are splashes of colour in the clothing store where Mei worked. Cinematographer Nagao Nakashima also captures her delivery driver boyfriend (Liu Kuan-ting) rushing around on his scooter, and includes dash-cam car-crash footage featuring her office manager (Laurence Chiu). Mei is intermittently glimpsed wandering through recreations intertwined with the interview footage, always remaining a ghost in her own story. As a haunting portrait emerges, Hwang is aided by the cast optimising their screen time, with each bringing emotional intricacy in their to-camera interviews. Though Xiao Mei’s visuals are its main focus, the cast’s performances are vital in a contemplative, atmospheric effort that lets words flow freely but is never played as stagey.
14 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
OPENING FILM Tai. 2018. 95mins Director/screenplay Maren Hwang Production company Studio Romance International sales MandarinVision, contact@mandarinvision. com Production design Liao Kuo-Hui Editing Lai Hsiu-Hsiung, Man Chi-Ming Cinematography Nagao Nakashima Music Luming Lu Main cast Chen Yi-wen, Liu Kuan-ting, Na Dow, Wu Chien-ho, Yin Shin, Laurence Chiu, Chang Shao-huai, Samantha Ko, Wu Kang-jen, Jao Cincin
As a chronicle of life’s everyday horrors beating down upon four residents of a northern Chinese town, An Elephant Sitting Still could not be more emotionally desolate. Indeed, with the film’s bleakness ingrained into every grey-hued frame, it is impossible to divorce Hu Bo’s nonetheless accomplished and involving debut from the writer/director/editor’s own plight when, in October 2017, he committed suicide just before this film was completed. His tragic passing is cinema’s considerable loss. Certain to tour the international festival circuit after its Berlin premiere and Hong Kong berth, An Elephant Sitting Still deserves attention based on its merits. Unrelenting as its tone may be, the film proves a delicately layered, deftly shot work that makes an incisive statement about the prevalence of apathy, arrogance and egotism in contemporary China and beyond. The film starts with the recounting of a myth that explains its title. According to the tale, an elephant in the city of Manzhouli sits motionless in a zoo and simply ignores everything around it. Both a damning comment on the best way to survive increasingly demanding times and a zen ideal to strive for, it resonates among An Elephant Sitting Still’s main characters, all deeply unhappy in their industrial locale. High-schooler Weibu (Peng Yuchang) attempts to defend a classmate from a schoolyard bully but ends up accidentally pushing him down the stairs. Meanwhile, his tormentor’s thug brother Yucheng (Zhang Yu) is driven to retaliate out of duty more than desire. Back in the schoolyard, Weibu’s object of affection Huangling (Wang Yuwen) has her own scandal via an affair with the married vice dean that has been splashed across social media. Just as sunshine cannot penetrate cinematographer Fan Chao’s grim naturalistic visuals, there is no chance of a bright outlook among Hu’s protagonists. And as the film’s long takes and roving tracking shots unfold slowly, the characters’ day remains bleak. However, the gloom and misery never outstays its welcome. Hu paints a picture of existential malaise with such a fine-tuned control of mood, pacing and imagery, that the end result resembles a marriage of Jia Zhangke and Bela Tarr.
WORLD CINEMA China. 2018. 230mins Director/screenplay/ editing Hu Bo Production company Dongchun Films International sales Rediance, meng@ rediancefilms.com Producer Liu Xuan Screenplay Hu Bo, based on the story of the same name from his novel Huge Crack Production design Xie Lija Cinematography Fan Chao Music Hua Lun Main cast Peng Yuchang, Zhang Yu, Wang Yuwen, Liu Congxi
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HAF PROFILES, PAGE 16
Dragonfly Eyes Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan
Die Tomorrow Reviewed by Ben Croll Rarely has the subject of human mortality been treated with such playful dexterity as in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Die Tomorrow. This narrative/doc hybrid hones in on the existential question, ‘When is it our time to die?’, and goes about answering it through a mix of staged re-enactments, captured interviews and surprisingly droll text-based asides. The film saw a selected local release in Thailand late last year, and while the market for digressive Thai essay-films might be limited to lofty festivals and higher-end TV chains, such programmers might do well to seek out this idiosyncratic title. At the outset, white text over a black screen tells us that two people die every second around the globe, and the film then kicks off a counter to track the number of souls lost during its runtime (at 75 minutes, that is 9,000 deaths). In between various wry statistical interludes, Nawapol stages six vignettes, each shot in a single unbroken take in tight 1:1 aspect ratio. Each is based on a real case reported in the Thai press, though they vary in focus. Some play like winking riffs on the Final Destination franchise. Others perform ironic reversals and rug-pulls. One follows a woman in need of a heart transplant and her solemn spouse as they consider what his life will be like once she has gone. “I’ll die before you,” she says, only to find out he has booked a ticket on a certain Malaysia Airlines flight. Nawapol is not interested in the act itself. Save for distant news footage of the Challenger space shuttle explosion, no death happens on screen. Instead, he explores the way one person’s expiration may affect others. Bathed in cinematographer Niramon Ross’s warm light and backed with gentle piano, the six long takes focus on the emotional lives of those who have been touched by mortality. Die Tomorrow punctuates each vignette with documentary footage, where the director asks various interviewees if they fear death, and questions of a similar ilk. The film’s most memorable subject is a 102-year-old man who has seen his family go before him. At one point, he makes the reasonable guess that he is nearing the end of the road — before the director cuts to more recent footage of his 104th birthday.
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GLOBAL VISION Thai. 2017. 75mins Director/screenplay Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit Production company Very Sad Pictures International sales Asian Shadows, contact@ chineseshadows.com Producers Pacharin Surawatanapongs, Donsaron Kovitvanitcha Production design Phairot Siriwath Editing Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Chonlasit Upanigkit Cinematography Niramon Ross Music Tongta Jitdee, Pokpong Jitdee Main cast Patcha Poonpiriya, Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Morakot Liu, Chonnikan Netjui, Koramit Vajrasthira, Sirat Intarachote, Sunny Suwanmethanont, Rattanarat Aurthaveekul, Jarinporn Joonkiat, Violette Wautier
KALEIDOSCOPE
Celebrated Chinese artist Xu Bing turns his mind to cinema in Dragonfly Eyes, loading his 79-minute film with thoughts, sounds and images gleaned entirely from surveillance cameras and live-streaming sites in China. He has grafted a narrative onto the footage, but nothing is conventional here; the film is quietly disturbing, filled with unease and malaise but also rich in poetry. While many films use, or are set in the world of, surveillance footage, Dragonfly Eyes uses it to work fitfully through an unsettling modern-day parable. Superb editing and sound design combine to create a collage, but one that is delivered with a tense rhythm that is uneasily transfixing. Festival exposure and museum opportunities should follow in the way of other influential film artists such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The poet Zhai Yongming wrote the screenplay in an organic process where the footage also dictates what happens next. Dragonfly Eyes — which features a computerised voice speaking in English — starts out with an accidental drowning, then moves over to a Buddhist temple, alternating between calm chanting and abrasive construction as the story starts to swim into view. Qing Ting (‘Dragonfly’, in Chinese) is a young nun who decides to leave the sanctuary of the monastery; alarming footage of a sudden plane crash is interrupted when the film cuts to black and restarts in a milking factory where cows are tethered to a giant wheel. Qing Ting confesses to co-worker Ke Fan that she would like to set one of the animals free. So begins a pull-and-push relationship, doused with footage from all over China, flashing and buzzing, the sound and score moving to the beat of mouse clicks. Surveillance footage is captured at a lopsided angle, slashing diagonals ratcheting up the tension. Themes begin to emerge, of savage moments and loss of identity, and the issue of appearance become a motif. Then it is a matter of transformation: change your mind or change your face, we are told. Fake reality or reality becomes fake. Ke Fan becomes convinced that Qing Ting is now video livestreamer Xiao Xiao, as Dragonfly Eyes reverses into itself and faces become indistinguishable. Who are we, really?
China. 2017. 79mins Director Xu Bing Production company Xu Bing Studio International sales Movieview International, yangying@movieview-int. com Producers Xu Bing, Zhai Yongming, Matthieu Laclau Screenplay Zhai Yongming, Zhang Hanyi Editors Matthieu Laclau, Zhang Wenchao Music Yoshihiro Hanno Main cast Qing Ting, Ke Fan
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HAF PROFILES
SCREENINGS, PAGE 30
Tale Of The Land
Revnost
Art College
Dir Loeloe Hendra
Dir Nigina Sayfullaeva
Dir Liu Jian
Project’s country of origin Indonesia
Project’s country of origin Russia-France
Project’s country of origin China
Selected for last year’s TorinoFilmLab, Indonesian director Loeloe Hendra’s first feature film is about a girl from the Dayak tribe who is brought to live in a floating house on Kalimantan’s Semayang Lake after her parents are killed in a land conflict. She develops a peculiar syndrome, which makes her fall unconscious whenever she sets foot on land. The film is Hendra’s response to the aggravating land conflicts in Kalimantan. “The girl’s character is an allegory of the bigger problems facing the Dayaks, as they are no longer able to live freely on their own land. Indigenous people are losing their customary lands to palm oil and other industries,” says Hendra, who was born and raised in rural Kalimantan on Borneo Island, and moved to Yogyakarta on the island of Java to study at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. Hendra returned to Borneo to make Onomastika, about a nameless boy, which won best short at Festival Film Indonesia in 2014 and screened in the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus section in 2015. His other short-film credits include Lost Wonders and Egg (Tigu), both produced by Siska Raharja, founder of Yogyakarta-based Elora Production, who is also on board Tale Of The Land. The film will also reunite Hendra with Onomastika cinematographer Fahrul Ayunk Hikmawan, while Andhy Pulung will serve as editor. It stars veteran Indonesian actor Yayu Unru (Posesif) as an old man who lives with the girl on the lake. Silvia Wong
A well-established obstetrician in a small town, Lena starts to suspect her husband Sergey is having an affair. She takes her revenge by sleeping with several other men but, even after she discovers she was mistaken about her husband’s infidelity, she finds it hard to give up her double life, struggling with her insecurities and exploring her sexuality. “Women’s sexuality is still almost a taboo topic in post-Soviet Russia, for both men and women,” says Tajik-born Russian director Nigina Sayfullaeva. “A woman who tries to talk about it even with her husband is still considered odd. I hope that exploring these issues in an open and calm way will help Russian men and women to overcome their mental taboos in their relationships and understand each other better.” Sayfullaeva made her feature debut with Name Me in 2014. It played in San Sebastian Film Festival’s New Directors section and won the Tridens special award at Tallinn Black Nights, as well as travelling to Warsaw, Stockholm and other international festivals. Moscow-based production company Droog Drooga, which produced Name Me, is again working with the director, and is joined by Russia’s Paradox Films and France-based Arizona Productions. Currently in pre-production with casting underway, Revnost’s producers are looking for completion funding. Sayfullaeva aims to start shooting this summer in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic sea, separated from mainland Russia. Jean Noh
Have A Nice Day director Liu Jian reteams with producer Yang Cheng for his new animation. Drawn from Liu’s experiences as an art student, Art College takes a bittersweet look at youth, love and the lives of several students in an art college located in southeast China in the 1990s. The story was inspired by a recent visit to his alma mater, Nanjing University of the Arts. It was the first time he had returned in 20 years and, to his disappointment, it has changed beyond all recognition with an array of new concrete buildings. “My access to my past is lost, blocked by the concrete,” says Liu. “I couldn’t recall the romantic past of my university days. But a sense of cruelty — the cruelty of time — dawned on me and lingered in my mind. It’s this sense of cruelty that I want to portray in my film.” Liu says the animated format will allow him to express more effectively the inner thoughts of his characters. In addition to directing, he will also be the background artist, key animator and editor, infusing the film with much of his personal style. This is Liu’s third animated feature: his debut, I Piercing, premiered at Annecy in 2010 and won best animated feature at the Asian Pacific Screen Awards that year. His second film, Have A Nice Day, premiered at the Berlinale last year — the first Chinese animated feature to play in the festival’s Competition section — and won best animated feature at the Golden Horse Awards in 2017. Silvia Wong
Tale Of The Land
Revnost
Art College
Producer Siska Raharja Production company Elora Production Budget $613,000 Finance raised to date $98,000 Contact Elora Production forelora@
Producers Pavel Odynin, Sergey Kornikhin Production companies Droog Drooga, Paradox Films, Arizona Productions Budget $1.3m Finance raised to date $863,000 Contact Pavel Odynin pavel@
Producer Yang Cheng Production company NeZha Bros Pictures Budget $1.5m Contact Zhang
gmail.com
Yuhan
zhangyuhan@nezhabros.com
paradox-films.com
16 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
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SCREENING MARCH 19 tH | 6:00 PM tHEAtRE 2
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HAF PROFILES
I Promised
In The Next Life
Twist Of Fate
Dir Chan Ying-wai
Dir Jake Wachtel
Dir Baasanjargal Orgodol
Project’s country of origin Hong Kong
Project’s countries of origin Cambodia-US
Project’s country of origin Mongolia
Hong Kong director Chan Ying-wai’s coming-of-age drama is set over one summer, and sees a teenager keeping a promise to a close friend who has committed suicide. The youth repairs the friend’s bicycle and embarks on a cycling trip in search of the southernmost lighthouse on Lantau Island. Describing his first narrative feature as a road movie in the city, Chan says the travel elements bear much significance to the characters as the journey is full of setbacks that force them to face their inner turmoil. The original screenplay is written by Catherine Lai, a 2015 screenwriting graduate of Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) whose credits include writing and producing episodes for Radio Television Hong Kong productions Breaking Point (2014), Below The Lion Rock (2015 and 2016) and Hong Kong My Home III (2017). I Promised’s cinematographer Bill Wong is a fourtime Golden Horse winner, while veteran producer Jessinta Liu has worked with high-profile Hong Kong directors including Ann Hui, Wayne Wang, Yim Ho and Andrew Lau, as well as international filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway and Marion Hansel. Chan has previously directed two documentaries: 2003’s Humming In The Journey and 2010’s Landscape From The Other Side: Hong Kong Cinematographer Bill Wong. His 2008 short Someone’s Running won best film in that year’s Fresh Wave Short Film Competition. In 2013, Chan founded production company At Odds Workshop and is also a sound designer and lecturer at HKAPA’s school of film and television. Silvia Wong
A year-long stint teaching filmmaking to slum youths in Phnom Penh, in partnership with Filmmakers Without Borders, inspired US-born, Cambodia-based filmmaker Jake Wachtel to create this sci-fi tale about the impact of technology on society as his first feature-film project. The story revolves around a 13-yearold slum orphan who investigates a boy’s past-life visions, but uncovers a sinister conspiracy of scientific reincarnation that involves the transference of consciousness from one brain to another. “It will be an intentional clash of genres. The first half, unfolding in the slum where our heroes live, is a low-key, observational kids mystery. Halfway through, the style switches to that of a technothriller,” Wachtel explains, adding that it will not be exploitative ‘poverty porn’ and his subjects are treated with humanity and normalcy. He has cast Leng Heng Prak and Srey Leak Chhin, students at his Filmmakers Without Borders class who are the inspiration for the main characters, and plans to shoot in their home of Trolok Bek. Also on board is cinematographer Chananun Chotrungroj, whose credits include Pop Aye, Yosemite and Karaoke Girl. Wachtel has spent the last five years making short documentaries for non-profit and social-impact ventures, with his work featured on NYTimes.com, Wired, NPR and MSNBC. His 2015 Phnom Penh-set short The Foreigner Here premiered at Cambodia International Film Festival. US-based producer Valerie Steinberg’s credits include award-winning shorts Hair Wolf and Fry Day. She is also the consulting producer for Ash Mayfair’s The Third Wife, which took part in HAF in 2016 and HAF’s Work-in-Progress Lab in 2017. Silvia Wong
Set in Mongolia’s Taiga snow forest, Twist Of Fate follows a young woman who marries identical twin brothers, going against her father’s wishes and local mores. Caught up in an incident on the RussiaMongolia border, the twins end up killing some Russian guards and hiding their corpses under the frozen river. When the spring thaw arrives and the bodies float to the surface, Russian soldiers hunt for the murderer while the twins use their identical looks to protect each other. Debut feature-film director Baasanjargal Orgodol, a graduate of the Mongolian University of Arts and Culture, has produced numerous videos and advertisements. He was inspired by the real-life story of a love triangle he read about while researching Mongolia’s Great Repression of the 1930s. “The perspectives, behaviours and beliefs [were] totally different,” he says, explaining that he is planning to depict the “true reality of nomadic Mongols’ lives during those horrendous years in the most interesting and visually astounding way”. In pre-production with casting and location research in progress, Twist Of Fate is scheduled to start shooting in Mongolia in July. Russian elements of the shoot are due to take place from November to December, aiming for completion by February 2019. Production company Wild Vision has produced commercials, documentaries and TV concerts, as well as Mongolian feature films such as Kino Shig Amidral (2013) and Ezegnegch (2017). Wild Vision is co-producing alongside Mongolian sales and distribution company Digital Content LLC. Jean Noh
I Promised
In The Next Life
Twist Of Fate
Producer Jessinta Liu Production companies Greenlight Pictures, At Odds Workshop Budget $900,000 Contact Catherine Lai catherine.
Producer Valerie Steinberg Production companies Valerie Steinberg Productions Budget $500,000 Finance raised to date $200,000 Contact Valerie
puitung@gmail.com
Steinberg
Producers Usukhbayar Batsaikhan, Bayanjargal Moldoi Production companies Wild Vision, Digital Content LLC Budget $1.48m Finance raised to date $20,000 Contact Sainzaya Jargalsaikhan zaya@contents.mn
20 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
valerie.steinberg@gmail.com
www.screendaily.com
HONG KONG FILMART 2018
BOOTH #1C-E14 at EFP
SALES - Louis Balsan louis@filmsboutique.com +49 1525 4525769
ELDORADO
A Film by MARKUS IMHOOF (MORE THAN HONEY, THE BOAT IS FULL) 2018 - Documentary - Switzerland/Germany - 1.85 - 92 min
MARKET SCREENING
Wed March 21st 18:00 MEETING ROOM N101A, HKCEC
PIG
A Film by MANI HAGHIGHI (A DRAGON ARRIVES, MEN AT WORK) 2018 - Comedy / Drama - Iran - 2.39 - 107 min Cast : Hasan Majuni, Leila Hatami, Leili Rashidi, Parinaz Izadyar
SEASON OF THE DEVIL A Film by LAV DIAZ (THE WOMAN WHO LEFT, A LULLABY TO THE SORROWFUL MYSTERY)
2018 - Drama - Philippines - 1.50 - 234 min Cast : Piolo Pascual, Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador, Bituin Escalante
L’ANIMALE
A Film by KATHARINA MUECKSTEIN 2018 - Documentary - Switzerland/Germany - 1.85 - 92 min Cast : Sophie Stockinger, Kathrin Resetarits, Dominik Warta, Julia Franz Richter, Jack Hofer
MARIO
A Film by MARCEL GISLER 2018 - Drama - Switzerland - 1.85 - 118 min Cast : Max Hubacher, Aaron Altaras, Jessy Moravec
BUTTERFLIES A Film by TOLGA KARAÇELIK
2018 - Turkey - Drama/Comedy - 2.35 - 117 min Cast : Tolga Tekin, Bartu Küçükçağlayan, Tuğçe Altuğ
CORNELIUS, THE HOWLING MILLER A Film by YANN LE QUELLEC
2018 - Drama - France - 2.35 - 105 min Cast : Bonaventure Gacon, Anais Demoustier, Gustave Kervern, Denis Lavant
DOG
A Film by SAMUEL BENCHETRIT (MACADAM STORIES, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A GANGSTER) 2017 - Drama - France - 2.35 - 87 min Cast : Vincent Macaigne, Bouli Lanners, Vanessa Paradis
Panorama Special
HOT PROJECTS CHINA & HONG KONG
The dragon fires A raft of diverse titles from China and Hong Kong are lighting up Filmart. Liz Shackleton profiles some of the hottest properties
T
he staggering success of this year’s crop of Chinese New Year films, three of which were directed by Hong Kong filmmakers, has imbued mainland China’s production industry with a new confidence. Coming on the heels of a string of hits in late 2017 and early this year, it confirms the local industry is back on a winning streak after the shock correction of 2016. Bona Film Group’s military-themed drama Operation Red Sea,, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Dante Lam, headed the pack over the holidays with a gross of more than $530m, closely followed by Wanda’s action comedy Detective Chinatown 2,, which took more than $520m. Edko Films’ fantasy adventure
Monster Hunt 2, directed by Raman Hui, grossed more than $350m, while Filmko’s The Monkey King 3, helmed by Soi Cheang, finished on $120m. Animated feature Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink raked in just shy of $100m. These stellar results helped China set a global monthly box-office record of $1.57bn (RMB10bn) in February, overtaking North America’s previous high in July 2011, when films from the Harry Potter and Transformers franchises were released. Looking at January and February combined, China’s box office increased by 39% to reach $2.37bn (RMB15.1bn), with local films driving growth. The best-performing foreign film during that period was Indian Superstar starring drama Secret Superstar,
Aamir Khan with $118m, while the top Hollywood film was Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle with $77.5m. Big releases lined up While the next few months are likely to be quieter, there are several big films jostling for release later in 2018. Many Hong Kong and mainland Chinese sales companies skipped this year’s European Film Market in Berlin, as it clashed with the Chinese New Year holidays, but are attending Filmart with new titles. Among the offerings are a string of action dramas and comedies, including Kenji Tanigaki’s Enter The Fat Dragon, star-
ring Donnie Yen, Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings and Jackie Chan’s latest martial-arts comedy, The Knight Of Shadows: Between Yin And Yang. Both China and Hong Kong continue to diversify their output, however, with a range of social dramas, suspense thrillers, horror films and even a foray into science fiction with Ng Yuen-fai’s Warriors Of Future. Among the titles making their market debuts are Stanley Kwan’s first feature in seven years, an as-yet-untitled drama starring Sammi Cheng. New mainland dramas include Jiang Jiachen’s feature debut Looking For Lucky, which receives its world premiere at Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Assassins And The Missing Gold
Chan Pang Chun, whose credits include 2015 horror thriller Daughter.
Dir Jeffrey Lau
Contact Grace Chan, Entertaining Power Co gracechan@entertainingpower.com
Veteran filmmaker Jeffrey Lau is directing this martial-arts adventure about a group of assassins attempting to track down a stash of hidden gold. Max Zhang heads the cast, which also includes Andy On and Ada Choi, while behind-the-scenes talent includes art director Lau Man Hung (Call Of Heroes) and visual-effects director Cecil Cheng (Cold War). Produced by Entertaining Power, the film is in post-production for a summer 2018 release.
Bodies At Rest Dir Renny Harlin Nick Cheung, Richie Jen and Yang Zi head the cast of Renny Harlin’s Chinese-language action thriller, which is in post-production for release in late 2018. Scripted by David Lesser, the film follows a group of thugs who break into a morgue demanding access to a body that contains evidence of a crime they committed. Wanda Pictures and Media Asia are co-producing with the latter also handling international sales.
Assassins And The Missing Gold
Contact Grace Chan, Entertaining Power Co gracechan@entertainingpower.com
Big Brother
Contact Fred Tsui, Media Asia frederick_tsui@mediaasia.com
Dir Kam Ka Wai Following their successful collaboration on Chasing The Dragon, action star Donnie Yen reteams with producer Wong Jing on this action drama, also starring Joe Chen. Yen plays a high-school teacher who must tame a group of unruly students at the same time as protecting the school from an evil entrepreneur. Directed by Kam Ka Wai (Colour Of The Game) with Kenji Tanigaki (The Monkey King) as action director, the film is currently in post-production for release in 2018. Contact Angela Wong, Mega-Vision Project Workshop angelaolwong@mvphk.biz
Call Heaven To Heaven (working title) Dir Oxide Pang
Big Brother
Binding Souls Dir Chan Pang Chun Award-winning actress Kara Wai (Happiness), Tsao Yu Ning (Kano) and Carlos
24 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
Chan (To The Fore) star in this horror film about a university student who revisits his old high school and stumbles across a series of supernatural events. Currently in post-production, the film is directed by
Oxide Pang’s latest thriller follows three young girls who are detained on a remote island and forced to mate with three brothers who have been raised in isolation. Newcomers Kabby Hui, Yomi Jin and Joyin Cai head the cast of the film, which is currently in post-production for release in the third quarter of 2018. Contact Mia Sin, Universe Films Distribution mia_sin@uih.com.hk
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HOT PROJECTS CHINA & HONG KONG
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings Dir Tsui Hark The third film in Huayi Brothers’ blockbuster Detective Dee franchise reunites the cast of the second instalment — Mark Chao, Feng Shaofeng, Lin Gengxin and Carina Lau. The story follows Detective Dee as he battles a supernatural crimewave at the same time as defending himself against accusations of wrongdoing from his most formidable opponent Empress Wu. Currently in post-production, the film is scheduled for release on July 27, 2018. Contact Celia Hao, Huayi Brothers celia.hao@huayimedia.com
Enter The Fat Dragon Dir Kenji Tanigaki Donnie Yen and Wong Jing produce and star in this action title about an overweight cop with emotional issues who is tasked with escorting a convict to Japan. Currently shooting in Japan, Hong Kong and China, the film is directed by renowned action choreographer Kenji Tanigaki, whose credits include SPL, The Monkey King and Japanese manga adaptation Rurouni Kenshin.
Enter The Fat Dragon
behind-the-scenes talent such as cinematographer Cheng Siu Keung (Election) and action director Stephen Tung Wei (Operation Mekong). Contact Kat Yeung, Mandarin Motion Pictures kathy.yeung@mandarinmovie.com.hk
Contact Angela Wong, Mega-Vision Project Workshop angelaolwong@mvphk.biz
Europe Raiders
The Knight Of Shadows: Between Yin And Yang
Dir Jingle Ma
Dir Vash
Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Kris Wu and Jennifer Du star in the third instalment of Ma’s Tokyo Raiders and Seoul Raiders franchise, which is currently in post-production after shooting in Europe, China and Japan. Produced by Hong Kong’s Jet Tone Films and China’s Inlook Media, the $45m action film follows a pair of CIA agents tracking down a stolen missile, who collaborate with a computer hacker to uncover a European gang.
Jackie Chan stars as a demon hunter defending humanity from an inhuman invasion in this period action comedy, which also stars Ethan Juan, Elane Zhong and Lin Peng. When a mysterious force starts kidnapping village girls to feast on their souls, Chan’s character encounters another demon hunter who is not fully human. Currently in postproduction for release in 2019, the film is produced by Kiefer Liu (The Monkey King series) and backed by iQiyi Pictures, Beijing Sparkle Roll Media and Golden Shore Films & Television.
Contact Sara Law, Mei Ah Entertainment sara@meiah.com
Fatal Visit Dir Calvin Poon Based on Candace Chong’s play Murder In San Jose, this suspense drama stars Sammi Cheng, Tong Dawei and Charlene Choi in the story of a women who visits a friend in the US and discovers the terrifying truth behind the facade of her seemingly perfect marriage. Currently in post-production, the film was adapted for the big screen by award-winning Hong Kong filmmaker Philip Yung (Port Of Call). Contact Raymond Liu, Emperor Motion Pictures raymondliu@emperorgroup. com
26 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
Invincible Dragon
Golden Job
I Am Your Mom
Dir Chin Ka-lok
Dir Zhang Xiao
Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan and Michael Tse head the cast of this car-chase action picture, directed by veteran action choreographer Chin Ka-lok (Cold War, Firestorm). Produced by Eric Tsang and backed by Beijing Sparkle Roll Media and The Entertainer Production Company, the film follows a group of globe-trotting mercenaries staging the ultimate heist. Currently in post-production following an extensive international shoot, the film is being readied for release over summer 2018.
Chinese actress Yan Ni (The Wasted Times) and her real-life daughter Zou Yuan-qing star in this comedy about the conflicts and reconciliation between a mother and her daughter who is preparing for college-entry exams. The film is currently in post-production and scheduled for Chinese theatrical release in May.
Contact Clarence Tang, Golden Network Asia clarence@goldnetasia.com (Left) Looking For Lucky
Contact Alice Leung, iQiyi alice.leung@qiyi. com; Bryce Tsao, iQiyi bryce@qiyi.com
Invincible Dragon Dir Fruit Chan Max Zhang (Ip Man 3) and mixed martial-artist Anderson Silva star in Fruit Chan’s $12m action film about an undercover agent who clashes with a Macao detective and a US army veteran with a secret link to his past. Currently in postproduction for release in the third quarter of 2018, the film also features
Contact Clarence Tang, Golden Network Asia clarence@goldnetasia.com
Looking For Lucky Dir Jiang Jiachen Receiving its world premiere in this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), Jiang Jiachen’s debut feature tells the story of a graduate student who loses his professor’s dog, and enlists his father to help retrieve it. Produced by China’s Heyi Pictures, the film was the winner of HKIFF’s inaugural Early Bird New Directors Film Fund. Contact Pearl Chan, Good Move Media chan@goodmovemedia.com
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HOT PROJECTS CHINA & HONG KONG
Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy Dir Yuen Woo-ping Currently in post-production, this $28m spin-off of the hugely successful Ip Man series follows the character played by Zhang Jin, who is trying to lie low after being defeated by martial-arts master Ip Man, but manages to cross an influential female gangster and the foreign ‘big boss’ behind the local bar district. In addition to Zhang, the top-flight kung fu cast also includes Dave Bautista, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Jaa. Contact Kat Yeung, Mandarin Motion Pictures kathy.yeung@mandarinmovie.com.hk
Napping Kid Dir Amos Why The second feature from director Amos Why, following Dot 2 Dot, is an adaptation of Mann Shin’s award-winning novel about an IT engineer investigating the kidnap of a confidential computer file. Currently in post-production, Napping Kid is produced by Teresa Kwong and stars Cecilia So (She Remembers, He Forgets) and Ng Siu Hin (In Your Dreams).
Out Of Control
production, his new project follows an actress past her prime who makes a comeback only to discover she is acting alongside her biggest rivals both on and off the stage. The female ensemble cast also includes Qi Xi and Angie Chiu.
Contact Lung Kwok Yiu, Golden Scene lung@goldenscene.com
Contact Lung Kwok Yiu, Golden Scene lung@goldenscene.com
Out Of Control
Warriors Of Future
Dirs Axel Sand, Richard Lin Produced by Germany’s Hermann Joha (Fast Track: No Limits) and China’s Wilson Qiu (Cloud Atlas), this action thriller stars Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung as a Chinese superstar who falls victim to a kidnap plot while attending the Berlin Film Festival. Korean star Choi Seung-hyun (aka T.O.P.) plays the secret agent attempting to save her, while the cast also includes Michael Trevino and David Cheung. Contact Elliot Tong, Arclight Films elliot@arclightfilms.com
Push And Shove Dir Wu Nan Huang Lei (What A Wonderful Family) and Yan Ni (Some Like It Hot) star in this drama about a Beijing scriptwriter seeking justice after his dog is injured by the neighbour’s Tibetan mastiff. Currently in post-production, the film also features special appearances by Tang Wei and Francis Ng. It marks the directorial debut of acclaimed screenwriter Nan, whose credits include Derek Tsang’s Soul Mate and Zhang Yimou’s Curse Of The Golden Flower. Contact Raymond Liu, Emperor Motion Pictures raymondliu@emperorgroup.com
Dir Ng Yuen-fai
cover cop who unveils collusion between the highest level of government and the triads. Cheung also stars in the $22m action title, along with Chinese actresses Xu Jinglei and Yu Nan. In postproduction, the film is being lined up for release in May.
Louis Koo and Sean Lau star in this ambitious sci-fi action title set in the nottoo-distant future when the Earth’s atmosphere has been destroyed and a mysterious vine is running rampant, leaving genetic modification as the only hope for mankind. Currently in post-production, the $56m film is directed by visual-effects veteran Ng (Bodyguards And Assassins), who runs One Cool Group’s VFX company FatFace Production.
Contact Christy Choi, One Cool Pictures christy@onecoolfilm.com
Contact Christy Choi, One Cool Pictures christy@onecoolfilm.com
Untitled Stanley Kwan Project
When Robbers Meet The Monster
Dir Stanley Kwan
Dir Andrew Lau
Napping Kid
Theory Of Ambitions Dir Philip Yung Following their collaboration on awardwinning drama Port Of Call, Hong Kong director Philip Yung is reteaming with star Aaron Kwok on this $38m crime action drama, which also features Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Jennifer Du. Currently in post-production, the film is based on the true story of a group of corrupt cops in 1960s Hong Kong. Contact Sara Law, Mei Ah Entertainment sara@meiah.com
The Trough Dir Nick Cheung Hong Kong actor Nick Cheung’s third film as director following Ghost Rituals and Keeper Of Darkness, The Trough follows an under(Right) Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy
28 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
Sammi Cheng, Gigi Leung and Bai Baihe star in Stanley Kwan’s first feature in seven years, as he returns to directing after producing films such as So Young and Cities In Love. Currently in post-
Louis Koo, Cheney Chen, Bao Bei Er and Zhou Dongyu star in this fantasy action title directed by Andrew Lau, whose credits include Revenge Of The Green Dragons and the Infernal Affairs series. Currently in post-production, the film revolves around a gang of bandits who plan to break into an official’s residence to take back what he has stolen from the people, only to be spied on by a monster. Contact Fred Tsui, Media Asia s frederick_tsui@mediaasia.com ■
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SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell
» Screening times and venues
are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration
paullindsell@gmail.com
12:00
10:00 AMIKO
GASPARD AT THE WEDDING
(Japan) Drama. 66mins. Pia Film Festival. Dir: Yoko Yamanaka. Key cast: Aira Sunohara, Hiroto Oshita, Maiko Mineo, Ayu Hasegawa. High-school girl Amiko adores Aomi to the point of nearly worshipping him. But one day he runs away from home.
(France) Comedy. 105mins. Pyramide International. Dir: Antony Cordier. Key cast: Felix Moati, Laetitia Dosch. After many years of keeping a distance, Gaspard has to renew contact with his family when his father announces he is getting remarried. Accompanied by Laura, an eccentric girl who agrees to play the role of his girlfriend, he finally feels ready to set foot again in his parents’ zoo, where he is reunited with the monkeys and tigers he grew up with. But between a father who is too much of a womaniser, a brother who is too square and a sister who is far too beautiful, he is not aware that he is preparing to live the final days of his childhood.
Meeting Room N201B, HKCEC
BITTER FLOWERS
(Belgium, France, China) Drama. 95mins. Loco Films. Dir: Olivier Meys. Key cast: Xi Qi, Le Geng. Lina is a young Chinese mother and loving wife, full of dreams. In order to bring some extra money into her household, she leaves her family and flies to Paris. But once there, nothing goes as planned. Meeting Room N204-N205, HKCEC
FILMART 10:00
BLACK TIDE
FATHER
(France) Drama. 113mins. Playtime. Dir: Erick Zonca. Key cast: Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Sandrine Kiberlain. The Arnault family’s teenage son Dany has disappeared. The case is assigned to a world-weary and disillusioned detective whose wife has left him. The policeman investigates the teenager’s disappearance while he is reluctant to take care of his own son, who seems to be mixed up in drug trafficking. When Dany’s French tutor learns about his former student’s disappearance, he offers his services to the detective.
(Taiwan) Documentary. 100mins. Backstage Studio Co. Dir: Yang Li-Chou. Chen Hsi-huang was the eldest son of a renowned Taiwanese glove puppeteer whose
Meeting Room N202-N203, HKCEC
CLEO & PAUL
(France) Action/ adventure. 60mins. Stray Dogs. Dir: Stephane Demoustier. Lost in Paris, Cleo is looking for Paul and Paul is looking for Cleo. A poetic adventure lived in a threeyear-old kid’s shoes Meeting Room N206-N207, HKCEC
FATHER See box, above
IMPOSED PIECE
(Belgium) Documentary. 74mins. Wide House. Dir: Brecht Vanhoenacker. A cinematographic chronicle revealing one of Belgium’s most prestigious violin competitions: the Queen Elisabeth. Through this documentary, the audience meets some of the 12 finalists and follows their intense preparation. Meeting Room N102-N103, HKCEC
IN BLUE
(Netherlands) Drama. 102mins. Wide. Dir: Jaap van Heusden. A flight attendant has to deliver a child in mid-air on a flight to Bucharest, Romania. In the aftermath her cab driver collides with a 15-year-old boy who lives in the tunnels under the city, and the two begin
30 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
relationship with him had always been strained. At the age of 79, Chen set up his own troupe, which soon earned recognition around the world, but he has no one to whom he can pass on his skills. Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema
a confused mother/lover relationship. Meeting Room N109-N110, HKCEC
LOOKING FOR LUCKY
(China) Drama. 100mins. Hong Kong International Film Festival. Dir: Jiang Jiachen. Key cast: Ding Xinhe, Yu Hai. An MA student loses his professor’s dog and must enlist his father’s help to retrieve it. A biting satire on every conceivable ill in modern society and an endearing portrait of a father and son relationship. Theatre 1, HKCEC
LOVE ONLY
(Hong Kong) Romance. 92mins. Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution. Dir: Chan Chere. Key cast: Lee Seung-Hyun, Bea Hayden Kuo, Zhang Liang, Wong Chee Hynn, Zoe Lee, Bai
Bing, Sarika Choi. A beautiful love story between Tina, a psychologist who was hurt in previous relationships, and Winston, a charming marketing director who is madly in love with her. Theatre 2, HKCEC
PIN CUSHION
(UK) Drama. 83mins. Stray Dogs. Dir: Deborah Haywood. A mother hopes that a move to a new town will provide a better life for both herself and her awkward daughter. Meeting Room N104-N105, HKCEC
PORORO: DINOSAUR ISLAND ADVENTURE
(South Korea) Animation. 80mins. Ocon. Dir: Kim Hyunho. Pororo meets a dinosaur who can’t remember anything but his name. Together he and his new friend must save their kidnapped friends from aliens. Meeting Room N201A, HKCEC
SAMSON
(South Africa) Action/ adventure. 130mins. Pure Flix/Quality Flix. Dir: Bruce Macdonald. Key cast: Billy Zane, Jackson
Rathbone, Rutger Hauer, Taylor James. Out of the pages of ancient scripture arises the first superhero saga — that of a child born with supernatural strength in 1200bc who, as an adult, leads his oppressed tribe against the mighty empire of his day. Though seduced by women and wine, his feats of might strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. In the end, only one God can stand in this tale of seduction, revenge and supernatural might. Meeting Room N101A, HKCEC
Meeting Room N104-N105, HKCEC
HOSTILE
(France) Horror, suspense. 90mins. All Rights Entertainment. Dir: Mathieu Turi. Key cast: Brittany Ashworth, Gregory Fitoussi, Javier Botet. Juliette, a lone survivor of an apocalyptic era, fights to survive against hunger, thirst, a broken leg and strange, disturbing creatures that come out at nighttime. Theatre 2, HKCEC
TODD & THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL: THE END OF THE END
(Canada) Horror/ suspense. 82mins. Telefilm Canada. Dir: Richard Duhaney, Craig David Wallace. Key cast: Alex House, Maggie Castle, Bill Turnbull. Continues where the cult TV series left off to find Todd, Jenny and Curtis grieving the loss of their friend Hannah. The three must reunite to fight evil when the Book of Pure Evil returns to Crowley High, bringing with it some familiar faces as well as some new foes. Meeting Room N111-N112, HKCEC
IVAN
(Slovenia, Croatia) Drama. 95mins. Slingshot Films. Dir: Janez Burger. Key cast: Marusa Majer. Caught up in a violent corruption affair, a young woman is forced to make an impossible choice between the man she loves obsessively and her newborn son. Meeting Room N102-N103, HKCEC
MISSION KATHMANDU — THE ADVENTURES OF NELLY & SIMON
(Canada) Animation. 85mins. Cinema Management Group. www.screendaily.com
»
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“Films by the World for the World.�
SCREENINGS
Dir: Nancy Florence Savard and Pierre Greco. Key cast: Rachelle Lefevre, Noel Fisher, Colm Feore. Quebec City, 1956: Nelly Maloye, a young apprentice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard, a research assistant in anthropology at the local university. Backed by a glory-seeking philanthropist, the intuitive but disorganised Nelly and the methodical, obsessive Simon set off on a wild adventure to prove the existence of the abominable snowman.
he has committed. From that day on, his name is replaced by a number and he becomes as trivial as the ants. Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
(Italy) Thriller. 112mins. True Colours Glorious Films. Dir: Ferzan Ozpetek. Key cast: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alessandro Borghi. In a Naples suspended between magic and superstition, madness and rationality, a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana, overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime. Meeting Room N111-N112, HKCEC
OMOTENASHI
(Taiwan, Japan) Romance. 95mins. Epic Entertainment Co, Shochiku Studio Co. Dir: Jay Chern. Key cast: Po-Chieh Wang, Renatanaka. The heir to a Taipei construction company takes on the renovation of an old Japanese hotel to win back his soon-to-be-married ex-girlfriend while clashing with the previous owner’s daughter. Meeting Room N101B, HKCEC
RADIOGRAM
(Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey) Drama. 85mins. Intramovies. Dir: Rouzie Hassanova. Key cast: Alexander Hadjiangelov, Yana Titova, Aleksandar Aleksiev. 1971: Bulgaria under the Communist regime, when music from the West is a threat. Follows a father who walks almost 100km to the nearest town, so he can buy a new radio for his rock ‘n’ roll obsessed son. Meeting Room N204-N205, HKCEC
Meeting Room N104-N105, HKCEC
THE GIANT WITH A HOUSE
(Hong Kong) Animation. 11mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Chan Sinhong. The story of a giant carrying a big house and travelling with a little girl. In this world of fantasy, what is true may be false, and what is false may be true. The simple fairy tale is anything but simple.
Meeting Room N201A, HKCEC
NAPLES IN VEILS
(Next Entertainment World). Dir: Lee Ha-nuk. A teacher and a former detective hunt a mysterious person who commits a series of terrifying crimes.
FILMART 14:00 CRAZY FIST
(China) Action/ adventure. 90mins. All Rights Entertainment. Dir: Guo Qing. Key cast: Steve Yoo, Wang Wei, Collin Chou, Kai Greene. Shanghai, a former mixed martial-arts champion, swore to never
TOYS AND PETS ADVENTURE
(China) Comedy. 98mins. All Rights Entertainment. Dir: Gary Wang. Atang lives in a shop and is the only toy that cannot change colour. One day, Atang meets a little robot and decides to join it on an adventure to find a way back to his creator — and to finally change his colour. Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema
13:45 GOGOL VIY
(Russia) Horror/suspense. 100mins. GPM ETV. Dir: Egor Baranov. Key cast: Alexander Petrov. A dark, mysterious horseman slays young girls near the village of Dikanka. A scribe from Saint Petersburg has to take charge of the investigation. The closer he gets to solving the case, the more he experiences macabre visions. When he learns the next victim is his beloved Liza, he questions if he is capable of protecting her. Fortunately, he meets Khoma Brutus, witch hunter, martial artist
32 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
again fight in the ring after accidentally killing his opponent during his last fight. But when his brother is killed in an underground boxing tournament, he has no choice but to return — only to uncover a huge conspiracy.
get justice for his master? This time, his job is to kill a plot maker. The reason is not important; what’s important is that he wants to tell the plot maker: “The bullet you fired will eventually come back to hit you on the head.” Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
DAMN KIDS
Meeting Room N206-N207, HKCEC
Theatre 2, HKCEC
14:00 ANA BY DAY
(Spain) Drama. 104mins. Media Luna New Films. Dir: Andrea Jaurrieta. Key cast: Ingrid GarciaJonsson, Mona Martinez, Alvaro Ogalla. Ana is a young woman about to finish her PhD and get married. One day a lookalike appears and takes her place. For the first time anonymous and free, Ana decides to test her limits between a boarding house and cabaret nights. Meeting Room N111-N112, HKCEC
CRAZY FIST See box, above
CROSS BLADE KILL
(Hong Kong) Animation. 6mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Mak Siu-fung. He kills not for money but because he enjoys killing, or perhaps he is trying to
(Chile) Drama. 95mins. Cinema Management Group. Dir: Gonzalo Justiniano. Key cast: Nathalia Aragonese, Daniel Contesse, Elias Collado. In 1983, a woman fights for democracy in Chile under the regime of General Pinochet. Meeting Room N201B, HKCEC
DOWNRANGE
(US) Horror/suspense. 90mins. Genco. Dir: Ryuhei Kitamura. Key cast: Kelly Connaire, Stephanie Pearson, Rod Hernandez-Farella. Stranded at the side of the road after a tyre blowout, a group of friends become targets for a sniper.
LADY NINJA: A BLUE SHADOW
(Japan) Action/adventure. 75mins. Crei. Dir: Kenichi Fujiwara. Key cast: Mai Hakase, Saki Akai. In the near future, the economy has collapsed and the country has turned into a ghetto. Secret agents Aya and Chinatsu’s mission is to fight against one of the largest international companies, Kuroda Group. One day Yasha, their most powerful enemy, appears in front of the Lady Ninjas. Who will survive? The Lady Ninjas begin the fight for a brighter future for our country. Meeting Room N101B, HKCEC
Meeting Room N101A
LOSING SIGHT OF A LONGED PLACE
EVEN ANTS STRIVE FOR SURVIVAL
(Hong Kong) Animation. 8mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Wong Tszying, Shek Ka-chun, Wong Chun-long. A young gay man who grew up in Hong Kong, fights for LGBT rights.
(Hong Kong) Drama. 21mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Ren Xia. When the government introduces a law to replace citizens’ names with numbers. Ma Yi, who keeps ants as pets in his home, is suddenly arrested for no reason. He is released the next day, without knowing what offence
(Hong Kong) Drama. 7mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Tiffany Ng. A film about distance and broken relationships, documenting a series of unanswered voice messages and misdialled phone calls between a mother, a grandmother and a girl. Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
MONKEY BUSINESS GROW WITH LOVE
(China) Drama. 90mins. China Film Promotion International. Dir: Zeng Jianying. Key cast: Xufan, Dai Jiaxi, Zhang Chi, Liang Cuishan. The stories of four couples who encounter their lovers.
Theatre 1, HKCEC
and philosopher. Together they spend three dreadful nights in an old chapel reading the funeral service for Ulyana the witch, and calling on the ghastly evil spirit Viy.
Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
MOM
(Hong Kong) Drama. 30mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Wong Hoi-yin, Suen Sui-hung, Wong Chung-yan, Wong Ka-man, Chan Hoi-yu. Three young people have a chance to become rich through an extraordinary experience. Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
MUG
(Poland) Drama. 91mins. Memento Films International. Dir: Malgorzata Szumowska. Key cast: Mateusz Kosciukiewicz, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Malgorzata Gorol. A man undergoes a face transplant and experiences rejection in his community. Meeting Room N201A, HKCEC
PASSING RAIN
(Hong Kong) Animation. 7mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Yeung Heychiu. While studying, a girl starts to pay attention to a boy. After a shower of rain, they get closer. Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
RED
MARIONETTE
(Hong Kong) Drama. 19mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Yiu King-hei. Markings on a test paper, red traffic lights on the road, burning flames, warm blood, red flags… this is a story about the colour red.
(South Korea) Thriller. 117mins. Contents Panda
Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
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»
PERSPECTIVE CANADA
MAKING BIG WAVES AT HONG KONG. A curated program of Canadian genre films screening at FILMART, financed by Telefilm Canada.
International Premiere/ Market Premiere
Ice Blue
Sandi Somers THRILLER
Production/Sales Iylond Entertainment scott@iylond.com 21/03 10:00
N109 - N110
International Premiere/ Market Premiere
Ordinary Days
Jordan Canning Kris Booth Renuka Jeyapalan DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Production Relay Station, Seedaylight Sales Relay Station gcockburn@meridianartists.com 21/03 16:00
N102 - N103
Juggernaut
Daniel Di Marco THRILLER
Production Mad Samurai Sales Spotlight Pictures rm@spotlight-pictures.com 20/03 16:00
N104 - N105
Asian Premiere
Knuckleball
Mike Peterson HORROR/SUSPENSE
Production 775 Media Corp. Sales AMP International nina@amp-film.com 20/03 10:00
Asian Premiere/ Market Premiere
Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End Craig David Wallace Richard Duhaney ANIMATED COMEDY/HORROR
Production Aircraft Pictures, Corvid Pictures, Frantic Films, Smiley Guy Studios Sales Raven Banner michaelangelo@ravenbanner.ca 19/03 10:00
N111 - N112
SEE BIG. CANADA PAVILION HONG KONG FILMART BOOTH 1B-E21-E28
N206 - N207
Trench 11
Leo Scherman HORROR/THRILLER/WAR
Production Carousel Pictures Sales Raven Banner michaelangelo@ravenbanner.ca 19/03 16:00
N102 - N103
For more info RDVCANADA.CA
SCREENINGS
THIS CRAZY HEART
(Germany) Drama. 107mins. Global Screen. Dir: Marc Rothemund. Key cast: Elyas M’Barek, Philip Noah Schwarz. When 30-ish rich kid Lenny has to take care of 15-year-old David, who is suffering from heart disease, it is the beginning of a wild adventure. Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema
THE WITCH
(Cambodia) Horror/ suspense. 100mins. Cambodia Film Commission. Dir: Huy Yaleng. Key cast: Huy Yaleng, Hin Channiroth, Lim Rothahin Channiroth. Tycoon Reaj lives peacefully in a village with his pregnant wife. One day, he is kidnapped and wounded. When he wakes up, he finds that the well has dried up and several villagers and cattle have disappeared. Reaj is worried his brother-inlaw will accuse him of witchcraft. Meeting Room N204-N205, HKCEC
WHY?
(Cambodia) Horror/ suspense. 100mins. Rock Entertainment. Dir: Hout Sithorn. Key cast: Hout Sithorn, Dy Sonita. Darong and Vilai are secret lovers. Banned by Darong’s family from seeing each other, they struggle to be together. When Darong is forced to marry BoBo, Vilai is heartbroken. Meeting Room N202-N203, HKCEC
WIND FIRE LAM CHUNG
(Hong Kong) Animation. 7mins. Hong Kong Arts Centre. Dir: Mok Yiu-wa Buck. Lam Chung is falsely accused by a local thug and his good friend, and has nowhere to turn. If you were Lam, an ordinary bureaucrat who goes through trials by wind, fire and snow, would your fate be any different? Meeting Room N211-N212, HKCEC
15:50 A LIVING BEING
(South Korea) Drama.
113mins. Mirovision. Dir: Min Byung-kook. Key cast: Lee Il-hwa, Yang Dong-Geun. Moon-ho has Alzheimer’s disease. Yoon-jeong works as his carer. One day, Yoonjeong finds the old man has completely recovered from his dementia.
disbanding. The coach tries to persuade the principal to let his two remaining players compete one last time. Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema
LOVE AND BULLETS
(China) Drama. 90mins. China Film Promotion International. Dir: Zeng Jianying. Key cast: Xufan, Dai Jiaxi, Zhang Chi, Liang Cuishan. The love stories of four couples who encounter their lovers.
(Italy) Musical. 134mins. Rai Com Spa. Dir: Manetti Bros. Key cast: Giampaolo Morelli, Serena Rossi, Claudia Gerini, Carlo Buccirosso. Ciro is a killer. Together with Rosario, he is one of the two “tigers” who serve Don Vincenzo and his wife, Donna Maria. Fatima, a young nurse, is a dreamer. Their lives are worlds apart but destined to meet.
Meeting Room N206-N207, HKCEC
Meeting Room N202-N203, HKCEC
INVISIBLE BOY — SECOND GENERATION
LOVERS
Theatre 2, HKCEC
16:00 GROW WITH LOVE
(Italy) Sci-fi, fantasy. 100mins. True Colours Glorious Films. Dir: Gabriele Salvatores. Key cast: Ludovico Girardello, Ksenia Rappoport, Galatea Bellugi, Valeria Golino. The second chapter of the saga: young superhero Michele is now 16 and facing all the troubles of his age. But it is hard to go back to being a normal teenager after having discovered you have super powers. Meeting Room N111-N112, HKCEC
LEO DA VINCI: MISSION MONA LISA
(Italy) Action/adventure. 85mins. All Rights Entertainment. Dir: Sergio Manfio. Life flows peacefully in Vinci: Leonardo is struggling with his inventions, Lorenzo helps him and Gioconda observes them mockingly. An adventure begins when a mysterious storyteller comes to town and speaks of a hidden treasure. Meeting Room N101A, HKCEC
LOSER’S ADVENTURE
(South Korea) Action/ adventure. 107mins. Indiestory. Dir: Ko Bong-soo. Key cast: Kim Choong-gil, Baek Seunghwan, Shin Min-jae. Daepoong High’s wrestling team is in danger of
34 Screen International at Filmart March 19, 2018
(Italy) Romance. 112mins. Intramovies. Dir: Matteo Vicino. Key cast: Primo Reggiani, Margherita Mannino, Ivano Marescotti, Antonietta Bello, Luca Nucera. Four stories where the main characters are all connected in a spiral driven by love. Meeting Room N204-N205, HKCEC
MAQUIA: WHEN THE PROMISED FLOWER BLOOMS
(Japan) Animation. 115mins. Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures. Dir: Mari Okada. Key cast: Manaka Iwami, Miyu Irino. An immortal girl and a normal boy become friends, sharing a bond that lasts throughout the years. Meeting Room N201B, HKCEC
TOKYO LIVING DEAD IDOL
(Japan) Action/adventure. 82mins. Crei. Dir: Yuki Kumagai. Key cast: Nana Asakawa, Shogen, Asami. One day an idol is bitten by a zombie but runs away before she is taken into custody. She has only 72 hours left until she becomes a zombie. She tries to find a serum but a high-school girl zombie hunter and zombies attack her. Will she make it to her destination within the time limit? Will she survive? Meeting Room N101B, HKCEC
TRENCH 11
(Canada) Sci-fi, fantasy. 91mins. Telefilm Canada. Dir: Leo Scherman. Key cast: Karine Vanasse, Rossif Sutherland, Rob Archer. In the final days of the First World War, a shellshocked tunneller must lead an Allied team into a hidden German base… 100 hundred feet beneath the trenches. Meeting Room N102-N103, HKCEC
WHEN MARGAUX MEETS MARGAUX
(France) Drama. 97mins. Indie Sales Company. Dir: Sophie Fillieres. Key cast: Sandrine Kiberlain, Agathe Bonitzer, Melvil Poupaud. Margaux, 20, meets Margaux, 45. They cannot help but be drawn to each other as they are the exact same person at two different ages. Meeting Room N209-N210, HKCEC
YOUNG SOLITUDE
(France) Documentary. 100mins. Wide House. Dir: Claire Simon. Portrays an important time for any individual, from 16 to 18 years of age. Set in the Paris suburbs in high school, teenagers chat after and even during class, sitting in the hallway or outside on a bench, looking at the city below them. Meeting Room N201A, HKCEC
16:15 ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
(Japan) Comedy. 96mins. Nikkatsu Corporation. Dir: Shinichiro Ueda. Key cast: Takayuki Hamatsu, Mao, Harumi Syuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya. A film crew are making a zombie film in an abandoned warehouse. Yet this is no ordinary warehouse. It has been said that it is the site of secret military experiments. Then out of nowhere, the real zombies arrive. Meeting Room N104-N105, HKCEC
18:00 THE DREAMSELLER
(Brazil) Drama. 90mins. All Rights Entertainment. Dir: Jayme Monjardim.
Key cast: Cesar Troncoso, Dan Stulbach. Julio Cesar stands on the ledge of a 20-storey building — poised to jump — when he is joined by a mysterious, dishevelled stranger, a “dreamseller,” whose mission is to convince people to love life.
Editorial office: Room G202, second floor, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong Filmart stand: 1A-B19
Editorial Tel +852 2582 8958
Meeting Room N101A, HKCEC
Editor Matt Mueller, matt. mueller@screendaily.com
IN THE AISLES
Asia editor Liz Shackleton, lizshackleton@gmail.com
(Germany) Drama. 125mins. Beta Cinema. Dir: Thomas Stuber. Key cast: Franz Rogowski, Sandra Huller, Peter Kurth. An introverted Christian discovers love, friendship and a new and mysterious world in the aisles of a wholesale market. Meeting Room N201A, HKCEC
PARTY HARD, DIE YOUNG
(Austria) Horror/ suspense. 94mins. ARRI Media International. Dir: Dominik Hartl. Key cast: Elisabeth Wabitsch, Michael Glantschnig, Michael Ostrowski. Julia and her clique travel to an island resort with the purpose of celebrating the “party of their lives”, but soon it turns out that “party of their deaths” would be a more fitting description. Theatre 2, HKCEC
WE ARE LINKED . DIARIES
(Japan) Documentary. 20mins. Mylamstudio. Dir: Man Lam. Key cast: Yoshinori Tsubouchi, Man Lam. A memory from one atomic bomb survivor... a promise for two wishes... changing three journeys of life.
Deputy Asia editor and Korea correspondent Jean Noh, hjnoh2007@ gmail.com Contributing writer (Asia) Silvia Wong, screenasia@ yahoo.com Reviews editor Finn Halligan, finn.halligan@ screendaily.com Group head of production and art Mark Mowbray, mark.mowbray@screendaily. com Sub-editors Paul Lindsell, Jon Lysons, Tim Mawdsley, Adam Richmond Advertising Tel +1 323 654 2301 Sales consultant Ingrid Hammond, ingridhammond@mac.com President, North America Nigel Daly, +1 323 654 2301 / 213 447 5120, nigel.daly@screendaily.com International account manager Raphael Bechakjian, +44 90 050 0799, raphael bechakjian@ screendaily.com Production manager Jonathon Cooke, jonathon. cooke@mb-insight.com Sales co-ordinator and festival manager Rebecca Moran, +44 20 8102 0829, rebecca.moran@screendaily. com Commercial director Scott Benfold, scott. benfold@screendaily.com
Meeting Room N102-N103, HKCEC
Publishing director Nadia Romdhani
THE WIDOWED WITCH
Managing director, publishing and events Alison Pitchford
(China) Drama. 118mins. REDiance Films. Dir: Cai Chengjie. Details the life of an unfortunate woman who suddenly seems to possess magical powers. Meeting Room N101B, HKCEC
18:15 RIDING UPHILL
(Japan) Action/adventure. 105mins. SDP. Dir: Kan Eguchi. Life is an uphill struggle for an ageing cyclist.
Chief executive officer, MBI Conor Dignam Printer G.L. Graphic & Printing Ltd, level 1-8, Howard Factory Building, 66 Tsun Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Published by Media Business Insight Ltd (MBI) Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ Subscription customer services +44 330 333 9414, help@subscribe.screendaily. com
Meeting Room N104-N105, HKCEC
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GLOBAL SCREEN PRESENTS AT FILMART HONG KONG 2018
SCREENING Monday, March 19 14:00 h at Hong Kong Arts Centre Cinema
GLOBAL SCREEN PRESENTS A CONSTANTIN FILM PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH OLGA FILM ELYAS M’BAREK IN “THIS CRAZY HEART” PHILIP NOAH SCHWARZ NADINE WRIETZ UWE PREUSS MUSIC JOHNNY KLIMEK EDITOR SIMON GSTÖTTMAYR PRODUCTION DESIGNER CHRISTIAN SCHÄFER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY CHRISTOF WAHL LINE PRODUCER PATRICK ZORER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER VIOLA JÄGER HARALD KÜGLER SCREENPLAY MAGGIE PEREN ANDI ROGENHAGEN BASED ON THE BOOK BY DANIEL MEYER WITH LARS AMEND PRODUCED BY MARTIN MOSZKOWICZ OLIVER BERBEN DIRECTOR MARC ROTHEMUND © 2017 CONSTANTIN FILM PRODUKTION GMBH I ROLIZE GMBH & CO. KG
CONTACT AT FILMART FROM MARCH 19 – 21 Alice Buquoy | Senior Sales & Acquisition Manager | EFP booth, 1C-E14, hall 1| Ph + 49 173 9319804 | alice.buquoy@globalscreen.de | www.globalscreen.de