After five long years, “Have a Nice Day” director Liu Jian returns to New York with his newest project, “Art College 1994.” This hotly-anticipated feature checks off all the boxes. It cements Liu Jian's stamp as a rising animation auteur in China; it marks the completed its world tour at Berlinale, Annecy, New York Asian Film Festival, and more; and, what's more, the film features a star-studded voice cast that spans intellectuals, musicians, and other movie directors, including Jia Zhangke and Bi Gan.
Here, we catch a glimpse of a group of students at the Chinese Southern Academy of the Arts. Like many students, they seem to be suspended in a daze of malaise, and of them, Zhang Xiaojun (Dong Zijian) is especially lost. His best friend, Rabbit (Shaoxing), encourages Xiaojun to expand his practice to conceptual art. His crush, the soft-spoken piano student Hao Lili (Zhou Dongyu), is swayed by...
Here, we catch a glimpse of a group of students at the Chinese Southern Academy of the Arts. Like many students, they seem to be suspended in a daze of malaise, and of them, Zhang Xiaojun (Dong Zijian) is especially lost. His best friend, Rabbit (Shaoxing), encourages Xiaojun to expand his practice to conceptual art. His crush, the soft-spoken piano student Hao Lili (Zhou Dongyu), is swayed by...
- 4/24/2024
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
"Who gets to decide what art is?" Dekanalog has revealed a new trailer for Art College 1994, an animated drama from Chinese filmmaker Jian Liu, also known for Have a Nice Day. This initially premiered at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival more than a year ago, and it played on the festival circuit all of 2023. Beginning on April 26th, Art College 1994, Liu Jian's latest strikingly animated & affecting feature, opens for a week-long NYC exclusive theatrical run at Metrograph In Theater. Lao Wang works in a security department of a college in a big school town. Xiao Wang is a freshman. He has a conflict with his roommate and is taken to security by his counselor. In a room on this foggy winter day, Lao Wang and Xiao Li are tasting the life of their own, and something unexpected is about to happen... The town is waiting quietly for the next day as it always is.
- 4/21/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There’s a beautiful scene in Jia Zhangke’s 2004 film The World in which the protagonist, Tao, crosses paths with an industrial worker nicknamed Little Sister on the rooftop of an unfinished building. They chat aimlessly beneath towering spires of exposed rebar until a massive plane soars overhead, drowning out their voices. “Tao, who flies on those planes?” he asks, to which she responds, “Who knows…I don’t know anybody who’s ever been on a plane.”
It’s this precise contrast of stasis and flux, of the sublime and the quotidian, of simple personal dreams swallowed up by massive national ambitions, that characterizes Liu Jian’s newest feature, Art College 1994. Jia also lends his voice to one of its characters: Gu Yongqing, a “roving artist abroad” who speaks of “the mysterious power of art” during a visiting lecture at the titular art college. This is Liu’s third animated feature film,...
It’s this precise contrast of stasis and flux, of the sublime and the quotidian, of simple personal dreams swallowed up by massive national ambitions, that characterizes Liu Jian’s newest feature, Art College 1994. Jia also lends his voice to one of its characters: Gu Yongqing, a “roving artist abroad” who speaks of “the mysterious power of art” during a visiting lecture at the titular art college. This is Liu’s third animated feature film,...
- 4/21/2024
- by Ryan Coleman
- Slant Magazine
If you see one animated Chinese film this year, we suggest it’s Art College 1994. Liu Jian’s feature, featuring the voices of Jia Zhangke and Bi Gan, will make its theatrical debut next week at Metrograph, which will also screen his earlier feature Have a Nice Day. Ahead of this, we’re happy to debut a trailer from Dekanalog.
Here’s the synopsis: “Based on its director’s own experiences on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the mid-1990s, Art College 1994, which returns to the meticulous hand-drawn 2D animation style of predecessor Have a Nice Day, is Liu’s affectionate, bittersweet group portrait of a pack of would-be geniuses preparing to revolutionize the arts when not locked into impassioned conversations about grunge and Van Gogh, its ensemble cast of characters voiced by a line-up of talent that includes directors Bi Gan and Jia Zhangke,...
Here’s the synopsis: “Based on its director’s own experiences on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the mid-1990s, Art College 1994, which returns to the meticulous hand-drawn 2D animation style of predecessor Have a Nice Day, is Liu’s affectionate, bittersweet group portrait of a pack of would-be geniuses preparing to revolutionize the arts when not locked into impassioned conversations about grunge and Van Gogh, its ensemble cast of characters voiced by a line-up of talent that includes directors Bi Gan and Jia Zhangke,...
- 4/19/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Kicking off this news round-up is a small but notable update that Quentin Tarantino plans to launch production on his final feature The Movie Critic this fall in Los Angeles, according to Production Weekly. With Brad Pitt currently the only confirmed cast member, it’ll follow a movie critic in 1977 wherein Tararantino will reimagine the production of a number of films.
Lynne Ramsay has been developing a handful of projects following 2017’s You Were Never Really Here, and we now finally have an update on which one is likely to shoot first. As reported by Variety out of Reykjavik’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival, Ramsay confirmed she’s prepping to shoot the Jennifer Lawrence-led Die, My Love, based on Ariana Harwicz’s novel “about a woman living in isolation in rural France who loses her mind amid marriage and motherhood.”
Walter Hill isn’t hanging up his directing hat,...
Lynne Ramsay has been developing a handful of projects following 2017’s You Were Never Really Here, and we now finally have an update on which one is likely to shoot first. As reported by Variety out of Reykjavik’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival, Ramsay confirmed she’s prepping to shoot the Jennifer Lawrence-led Die, My Love, based on Ariana Harwicz’s novel “about a woman living in isolation in rural France who loses her mind amid marriage and motherhood.”
Walter Hill isn’t hanging up his directing hat,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Christopher Nolan, Spike Lee, Chantal Akerman, Theo Angelopoulos, Lynne Ramsay, Tsai Ming-liang, Michael Haneke, Lee Chang-dong, Terence Davies, Shōhei Imamura, Bi Gan, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-wai, Yorgos Lanthimos, Denis Villleneuve, Céline Sciamma, Guillermo del Toro, Kelly Reichardt. Those are just a few of the filmmakers introduced to New York audiences at New Directors/New Films over the last half-century across over 1,100 premieres.
Now returning for its 53rd edition at Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art from April 3-14, this year’s lineup features 35 new films, presenting prizewinners from Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Sarajevo, and Sundance film festivals. Ahead of the festival kicking off next week, we’ve gathered fourteen films to see, and one can explore the full lineup and schedule here.
All, or Nothing at All (Jiajun “Oscar” Zhang)
In All, or Nothing at all, director Jiajun “Oscar” Zhang employs an experimental...
Now returning for its 53rd edition at Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art from April 3-14, this year’s lineup features 35 new films, presenting prizewinners from Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Sarajevo, and Sundance film festivals. Ahead of the festival kicking off next week, we’ve gathered fourteen films to see, and one can explore the full lineup and schedule here.
All, or Nothing at All (Jiajun “Oscar” Zhang)
In All, or Nothing at all, director Jiajun “Oscar” Zhang employs an experimental...
- 4/1/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The greatest cinema is often an exciting cocktail for the senses: sound and image in perfect harmony, intricately woven to create an immersive experience that transports us to another world. But what happens when one of those senses is numbed? Silent movies formed the foundations of visual grammar for audiences, and sound was a luxury audiences lived without for many years. Few films have attempted the inverse, plunging the viewer into darkness and relying on sound alone to guide them from one experience to another. Enter Galician filmmaker Lois Patiño's bold and beautiful “Samsara”, a meditative drama set between Laos and Zanzibar that tracks a soul moving between states of existence, and the lives that are touched in big and small ways by this cosmic rite of passage. The term ‘samsara' itself is the cycle of death and reincarnation as seen by Buddhism, and while it may sound familiar...
- 3/9/2024
- by Simon Ramshaw
- AsianMoviePulse
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.All too frequently, the reception of recent Asian arthouse films at international festivals showcases an ambiguous predicament. When encountering new films—usually in the sidebars of Cannes, Venice, or the Berlinale—Western critics tend to resort to a repetitious discourse, conveniently labeling the films and making easy comparisons to the canon of the 1990s and 2000s. The pattern goes like this: meditative sonic sequences or notions of reincarnation become instant echoes of Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s work, any neon extravaganza immediately points to Wong Kar Wai, and Tsai Ming-liang is a recurring reference whenever a film abounds in still long shots. In a sense, these touchstones and comparisons are all valid—these older filmmakers conceived cinematic miracles and attempted to redefine the boundaries of film art, and therefore have influenced many artists of the next generation.However, it isn’t difficult to find this labeling tendency to be ectypal Orientalization.
- 1/30/2024
- MUBI
Vietnamese director Pham Thien An’s debut feature Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell juxtaposes moments of great importance with the moment-by-moment stasis of everyday life. An has a terrific eye: the film’s colors are bright and vivid, popping off the screen. Using very long takes, he reframes the image so that a character can appear both in close-up and long shot.
In its opening scene, Thien (Le Phang Vu) watches a soccer game with two friends while debating the meaning of life. As costumed mascots and women selling beer walk by, the stakes seem pretty low, but the scene ends with a sudden motorbike crash. Thien’s sister-in-law is killed, while her 5-year-old daughter survives. (All of this is filmed in one take, with the camera moving to take in the street where this accident happens.) He’s tasked with taking care of the girl, returning from Saigon to...
In its opening scene, Thien (Le Phang Vu) watches a soccer game with two friends while debating the meaning of life. As costumed mascots and women selling beer walk by, the stakes seem pretty low, but the scene ends with a sudden motorbike crash. Thien’s sister-in-law is killed, while her 5-year-old daughter survives. (All of this is filmed in one take, with the camera moving to take in the street where this accident happens.) He’s tasked with taking care of the girl, returning from Saigon to...
- 1/18/2024
- by Steve Erickson
- The Film Stage
We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2023, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2024. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year that either have confirmed 2024 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.
As an additional note, a number of 2023 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2023, including Origin (Jan. 19), Tótem (Jan. 26), Perfect Days (Feb. 7), The Taste of Things (Feb. 9), About Dry Grasses (Feb. 23), Shayda (March 1), La Chimera (March 29), and Robot Dreams.
The Settlers (Felipe Gálvez; Jan. 12)
The barbaric, bloody sins of the past come to define what entities govern certain land today,...
As an additional note, a number of 2023 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2023, including Origin (Jan. 19), Tótem (Jan. 26), Perfect Days (Feb. 7), The Taste of Things (Feb. 9), About Dry Grasses (Feb. 23), Shayda (March 1), La Chimera (March 29), and Robot Dreams.
The Settlers (Felipe Gálvez; Jan. 12)
The barbaric, bloody sins of the past come to define what entities govern certain land today,...
- 1/3/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Special is the opportunity to speak with one of our great living filmmakers; doubly rare is a chance to do so as their latest project premieres on YouTube. Participating with the murderer’s row Film Fest Gent compiled for their 50th-anniversary series––Paul Schrader, Bi Gan, Jia Zhangke, Radu Jude, Helena Wittmann, Naomi Kawase, and João Pedro Rodrigues, to note a handful––Terence Davies has directed Passing Time, a three-minute view of Essex scored by Florencia Di Concilio’s stirring composition and anchored by his reading of a self-penned poem.
Speaking over email, Davies and I had an exchange on the project that, however brief, proves a skeleton-key-of-sorts to his modus operandi: how actors should work, what poetry conveys on-paper and read-aloud, why Essex of all places to capture this music. Therein is also an unfortunate detail about a long-developing project but embers of hope for something new.
Special thanks...
Speaking over email, Davies and I had an exchange on the project that, however brief, proves a skeleton-key-of-sorts to his modus operandi: how actors should work, what poetry conveys on-paper and read-aloud, why Essex of all places to capture this music. Therein is also an unfortunate detail about a long-developing project but embers of hope for something new.
Special thanks...
- 9/19/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSPoor Things.The 80th Venice Film Festival concluded last weekend. The jury, chaired by Damien Chazelle, awarded the Golden Lion to Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, Poor Things; in his latest dispatch, Leonardo Goi calls it "joltingly alive, a film that crackles with the same restless curiosity and lust of its protagonist." See a summary of all the awards, plus a roundup of our coverage.San Sebastian Film Festival has announced who will serve on their festival juries for their 71st edition: Claire Denis will be the president for the Official Section, while Hayao Miyazaki will receive an honorary award for career achievement. His latest film, The Boy and The Heron, will open the festival.Recommended VIEWINGFor their 50th anniversary, the Film Fest Gent have commissioned 25 new short films inspired by new musical compositions. There's...
- 9/16/2023
- MUBI
Marking perhaps the greatest coup any festival’s managed these last ten years, the Film Fest Gent––recently in our sights for their addition of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new(er) feature Gift––are celebrating their 50th anniversary with 25 new shorts by an absolute murderer’s row of filmmakers, among them: Paul Schrader, Terence Davies, Bi Gan, Jia Zhangke, Radu Jude, Helena Wittmann, Naomi Kawase, and João Pedro Rodrigues. Ff Gent’s unusual method was to first hire composers for a short, one- or two-minute piece, then asking this range of filmmakers––”who engage in more “traditional narrative cinema, as well as experimental work and documentary, to ensure diversity––letting sound inspire image. The majority of them (Schrader being a notable exception) are showing completely free.
Find the available films below:
The post Film Fest Gent Are Now Streaming New Shorts from Terence Davies, Bi Gan, Jia Zhangke, and More first appeared on The Film Stage.
Find the available films below:
The post Film Fest Gent Are Now Streaming New Shorts from Terence Davies, Bi Gan, Jia Zhangke, and More first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 9/15/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Covid-19 has altered our lives this way or other, and some were given new opportunities to go places they haven't dared venture to before. When his acting career was put to a halt due to strict anti-pandemic measures and lockdown in 2020, Le Hong-Chi remembered his initial dream of becoming a director, and a desire to make something of his own resulted in the idea for “Love Is A Gun”, a neo-noir about a young man who tries to build a normal life after years spent in prison.
“Love Is A Gun” is screening in Venice International Film Festival
In his ambitious directorial debut that screens in Critics' Week section of Venice Film Festival, Lee slips in the role of his main character, a loner nicknamed “Sweet Potato” who fights for his right to an ordinary life on way too many fronts. Imagine anything that could possibly go wrong, multiply it...
“Love Is A Gun” is screening in Venice International Film Festival
In his ambitious directorial debut that screens in Critics' Week section of Venice Film Festival, Lee slips in the role of his main character, a loner nicknamed “Sweet Potato” who fights for his right to an ordinary life on way too many fronts. Imagine anything that could possibly go wrong, multiply it...
- 9/7/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
With his astounding debut Kaili Blues (2015) and the equally impressive 3D odyssey Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018), Chinese director Bi Gan emerged as one of the most promising new voices in cinema this last decade. Now he’s finally returning behind the camera with a new feature.
Later this year, Bi Gan will embark on the production of his third film Resurrection, Variety reports. Set to star Jackson Yee and Shu Qi, the project is described as an “ambitious sci-fi detective movie” tha follows a woman whose consciousness falls into the “eternal time zone” during a surgical procedure. “Trapped in many dreams, she finds an android corpse and tries to wake it up by telling endless stories. The android then wanders within her stories and its senses gradually awaken,” the synopsis reads.
Backed by Charles Gillibert’s CG Cinema, the crew includes cinematographer Dong Jingsong, production designers Tu Nan (Wong Kar-Wai...
Later this year, Bi Gan will embark on the production of his third film Resurrection, Variety reports. Set to star Jackson Yee and Shu Qi, the project is described as an “ambitious sci-fi detective movie” tha follows a woman whose consciousness falls into the “eternal time zone” during a surgical procedure. “Trapped in many dreams, she finds an android corpse and tries to wake it up by telling endless stories. The android then wanders within her stories and its senses gradually awaken,” the synopsis reads.
Backed by Charles Gillibert’s CG Cinema, the crew includes cinematographer Dong Jingsong, production designers Tu Nan (Wong Kar-Wai...
- 9/6/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Chinese director Bi Gan, whose 2018 film “Long Day’s Journey into Night” played at Cannes, will next direct “Resurrection.” The ambitious sci-fi detective movie is to be headlined by Chinese superstar Jackson Yee (“Better Days”) and actor Shu Qi (“The Assassin”) who sits on this year’s Venice jury.
Boasting Bi’s edgy aesthetic and narrative style, the film tells the story of a woman whose consciousness falls into the “eternal time zone” during a surgical procedure. Trapped in many dreams, she finds an android corpse and tries to wake it up by telling endless stories. The android then wanders within her stories and its senses gradually awaken.
Charles Gillibert’s CG Cinema will again co-produce the project. Bi is finishing the script and plans to shoot later this year.
“Resurrection” will be lensed by Dong Jingsong, whose credits include “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “The Wild Goose Lake.”
The...
Boasting Bi’s edgy aesthetic and narrative style, the film tells the story of a woman whose consciousness falls into the “eternal time zone” during a surgical procedure. Trapped in many dreams, she finds an android corpse and tries to wake it up by telling endless stories. The android then wanders within her stories and its senses gradually awaken.
Charles Gillibert’s CG Cinema will again co-produce the project. Bi is finishing the script and plans to shoot later this year.
“Resurrection” will be lensed by Dong Jingsong, whose credits include “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “The Wild Goose Lake.”
The...
- 9/6/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Christian Petzold’s Afire and Celine Song’s Past Lives are among the titles set to screen at this year’s scaled-down Edinburgh International Film Festival (Aug 18-23), which is being mounted as part of Edinburgh’s wider cultural Festival.
The full programme announced includes 24 feature films, five retrospective titles, and a five pic short film programme. Five feature films will be presented as World Premieres, including the opening film Silent Roar. The festival closes with British Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali’s well-received Sundance pic Fremont.
The festival also today announced its new venue partners. Vue Edinburgh Omni and Everyman Edinburgh at the St James Quarter will host indoor festival screenings while the Old College Quad at the University of Edinburgh will be the site for a weekend of outdoor screenings titled Cinema Under the Stars.
Edinburgh had previously been based out of the Edinburgh Filmhouse cinema, which was sold...
The full programme announced includes 24 feature films, five retrospective titles, and a five pic short film programme. Five feature films will be presented as World Premieres, including the opening film Silent Roar. The festival closes with British Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali’s well-received Sundance pic Fremont.
The festival also today announced its new venue partners. Vue Edinburgh Omni and Everyman Edinburgh at the St James Quarter will host indoor festival screenings while the Old College Quad at the University of Edinburgh will be the site for a weekend of outdoor screenings titled Cinema Under the Stars.
Edinburgh had previously been based out of the Edinburgh Filmhouse cinema, which was sold...
- 7/6/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The quality of Asian short films have been increasing exponentially during the last few years, with the necessity to cut down on production size due to Covid actually giving a number of directors the opportunity to shine in the format. Shorts Shorts Film Festival and Asia highlights the fact with an impressive selection for their 20th anniversary, with one of the dominant trends of this year having Japanese actors directing their own films, with Kengo Kora and Hiroshi Tamaki being two among a number. Our coverage of the festival includes a number of reviews and interviews, beginning with one with the director of Ssff & Asia, which sheds a very thorough light to a number of details regarding how the whole thing works.
Click on the titles for the full articles.
1. Amp Video Interviews: Shoko Takegasa
2. Short Film Review: Courier (2023) by Kengo Kora
To begin with, the thing the viewer will...
Click on the titles for the full articles.
1. Amp Video Interviews: Shoko Takegasa
2. Short Film Review: Courier (2023) by Kengo Kora
To begin with, the thing the viewer will...
- 6/27/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Bi Gan's last project, “Long Day's Journey Into Night,” was an ambitious, 138-minute feature that became instantly iconic for a nearly hour-long tracking shot filmed entirely in 3D. His latest effort, the aptly-titled “A Short Story,” is a 15-minute cat fable commissioned by a pet company. For most other directors, this shift in focus might result in an easy paycheck or minor stylistic exercise, but Bi turns the quaint concept into a vessel for further formal experimentation. His powers are evident regardless of running time.
A Short Story is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia
The story takes on the form of a fairy tale, with Bi himself narrating the journey of a Black Cat (Guo Hua Chen; voiced by Huan Huang) who sets out to find the “most precious thing in the world” after a Scarecrow tells him he can locate it if he talks to...
A Short Story is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia
The story takes on the form of a fairy tale, with Bi himself narrating the journey of a Black Cat (Guo Hua Chen; voiced by Huan Huang) who sets out to find the “most precious thing in the world” after a Scarecrow tells him he can locate it if he talks to...
- 6/18/2023
- by Henry McKeand
- AsianMoviePulse
Last Summer... (Catherine Breillat).There’s nothing quite like the rush of a bolt-from-the-blue discovery—the real-time realization, while in a darkened theater, that one is witnessing the emergence of a major cinematic voice. The closest this year’s Cannes came to offering such an experience was with the premiere of Pham Thien An’s Directors’ Fortnight selection Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, a deserving recipient of this year’s Caméra d’Or. Immediately notable for its expansive 182-minute runtime, the film, Pham’s first, comprises numerous extremely long takes which call to mind the sequence shots of Shinji Sōmai, with complex choreography that does not conceal the artificiality (and occasional strain) of their production, and which are ultimately less concerned with Bazinian realism than with creating an indiscernibility between the real and the imaginary. Until its title card drops over half-an-hour in, Yellow Cocoon Shell impresses not just for its technical prowess,...
- 6/1/2023
- MUBI
Spike Lee, Chantal Akerman, Wong Kar-wai, Steven Spielberg, Claire Denis, Pedro Almodóvar, Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, Kelly Reichardt, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Charles Burnett, Lynne Ramsay, Lee Chang-dong, Yorgos Lanthimos, Mia Hansen-Løve, Bi Gan, Michael Haneke, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Those are just a few of the directors who have been featured at New Directors/New Films throughout its 52-year history.
With this year’s edition, taking place at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center at the Museum of Modern Art, kicking off this Wednesday, we’ve rounded up 17 features worth seeing––some of which we caught at Sundance, Berlinale, Locarno, and beyond, and others new to us at the festival. All in all, this 52nd edition presents another exciting example of the boundless creativity of emerging filmmakers and points to a bright future for the medium.
Check out our picks to see below and learn more here.
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark,...
With this year’s edition, taking place at NYC’s Film at Lincoln Center at the Museum of Modern Art, kicking off this Wednesday, we’ve rounded up 17 features worth seeing––some of which we caught at Sundance, Berlinale, Locarno, and beyond, and others new to us at the festival. All in all, this 52nd edition presents another exciting example of the boundless creativity of emerging filmmakers and points to a bright future for the medium.
Check out our picks to see below and learn more here.
Astrakan (David Depesseville)
Astrakhan fur is unique: dark,...
- 3/28/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The quote that opens Chinese director Liu Jian’s shaggy but amiable new animated feature is instructive. “To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life” is a passage from James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” and indeed, Liu was himself at art college as a young man in the early ’90s, when and where “Art College 1994” is, unsurprisingly, set. The quasi-memoir feel to the movie does have its charm — it’s always a kick to see animation techniques applied not to extravagant flights of fancy but to slices of real, ordinary life — but it’s also its chief flaw. In re-creating life out of life, Liu is quite successful; whether he makes it into drama is another question. Like its characters, “Art College 1994” gives the impression of having just too much time on its hands.
Liu...
Liu...
- 2/25/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Sales agency Memento Intl. has unveiled the first clip and poster from Liu Jian’s Berlin competition title “Art College 1994,” which world premieres on Feb. 24.
The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become.
It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become.
It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
- 2/20/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2022, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
Three years after the pandemic broke out, things––including moviegoing––are finally starting to feel normal again. It would have been an even more joyous occasion if only 2022 has yielded a stronger crop of films to offer those rushing back to theaters.
Of course many, many good films came out in the last twelve months; great ones too––entertaining, informative, artistic works that anyone would be doing themselves a favor by checking out. But films that make you go for the M(asterpiece) word, that you know right away would be top 10 material? Not that many by my count. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, for example, is super fun and features awards-worthy performances from Zlatko Buric and Dolly De Leon, although I’m not sure if...
Three years after the pandemic broke out, things––including moviegoing––are finally starting to feel normal again. It would have been an even more joyous occasion if only 2022 has yielded a stronger crop of films to offer those rushing back to theaters.
Of course many, many good films came out in the last twelve months; great ones too––entertaining, informative, artistic works that anyone would be doing themselves a favor by checking out. But films that make you go for the M(asterpiece) word, that you know right away would be top 10 material? Not that many by my count. Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, for example, is super fun and features awards-worthy performances from Zlatko Buric and Dolly De Leon, although I’m not sure if...
- 1/2/2023
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
One of the year’s most resonant films, Aftersun looks at the scratchy dynamics between a father and daughter while on vacation. It’s about memory, the finite nature of the relationships in our lives, and the difficulties of a parent’s diminishing mental health. Charlotte Wells knows where to put the camera in her debut—undeterred from taking risks, from placing her characters outside of the frame, from looking at shadows instead of the people themselves. Aftersun is a rare, tremendous first film, full of heart and focused melancholy; it breaks you down and fills you up simultaneously. The consistent inclusion of camcorder footage, and the fact that it enhances the story rather than becoming a distraction, further...
Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
One of the year’s most resonant films, Aftersun looks at the scratchy dynamics between a father and daughter while on vacation. It’s about memory, the finite nature of the relationships in our lives, and the difficulties of a parent’s diminishing mental health. Charlotte Wells knows where to put the camera in her debut—undeterred from taking risks, from placing her characters outside of the frame, from looking at shadows instead of the people themselves. Aftersun is a rare, tremendous first film, full of heart and focused melancholy; it breaks you down and fills you up simultaneously. The consistent inclusion of camcorder footage, and the fact that it enhances the story rather than becoming a distraction, further...
- 12/23/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There’s a lot riding on Avatar: The Way of Water. It may sound ridiculous to suggest that a sequel to the highest-grossing film ever made could possibly be a gamble – but it is. Thirteen years have passed since Avatar first hit screens. The cinematic landscape has been stripped bare in the interim by declining audiences, bullish competition from streaming services, and ever-dwindling investment in original ideas. James Cameron has kept the budget for The Way of Water under wraps, though has conceded that it was “very f***ing expensive”: according to the veteran filmmaker, The Way of Water needs to become the “third or fourth” highest-grossing film ever made just to break even. Beneath this game of precarious balance sheets and capitalist folly, however, there could be something else at stake: the future of 3D.
It’s almost impossible to talk about 3D films without mentioning Avatar; it...
It’s almost impossible to talk about 3D films without mentioning Avatar; it...
- 12/16/2022
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Film
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival officially announced the Shorts and Indie Episodic programs.
Notable artists and talent in the shorts program include Paul Feig, Angela Sarafyan, Kate Flannery, Yalitza Aparicio Martinez, Angela Trimbur, Ken Marino, Bi Gan, and Shannon Plumb. Selections range from more than 23 countries, including Iran and Ukraine.
The Sundance Institute will offer in-person premieres for the Indie Episodic works, with Shorts screened in curated programs. Beginning January 24, all Indie Episodic projects and selected Shorts will also be available to stream online through the end of the festival. The 2023 festival will take place January 19 through 29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29.
This upcoming year’s Short Film program includes work from 23 countries, and the Indie Episodic represents works from five countries. Forty-six percent of the filmmakers identify as women, and filmmakers...
Notable artists and talent in the shorts program include Paul Feig, Angela Sarafyan, Kate Flannery, Yalitza Aparicio Martinez, Angela Trimbur, Ken Marino, Bi Gan, and Shannon Plumb. Selections range from more than 23 countries, including Iran and Ukraine.
The Sundance Institute will offer in-person premieres for the Indie Episodic works, with Shorts screened in curated programs. Beginning January 24, all Indie Episodic projects and selected Shorts will also be available to stream online through the end of the festival. The 2023 festival will take place January 19 through 29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29.
This upcoming year’s Short Film program includes work from 23 countries, and the Indie Episodic represents works from five countries. Forty-six percent of the filmmakers identify as women, and filmmakers...
- 12/13/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday revealed its 2023 lineup of episodic projects and 64 shorts, the latter culled from the fest’s highest number of submissions at 10,981.
The shorts span 23 countries, including projects from Iran (Azheh) and Ukraine (Liturgy of anti-tank obstacles), with works from such artists as Paul Feig (Help Me Understand producer), Westworld actress Angela Sarafyan (Power Signal), The Office‘s Kate Flannery (Help Me Understand), Roma‘s Yalitza Aparicio Martinez (Sweatshop Girl), The Feels’ Angela Trimbur (Mirror Party), Party Down‘s Ken Marino (Help Me Understand), Bi Gan (director of Cannes Certain Regard title A Long Days Journey Into Night director) and Shannon Plumb (Walk of Shame) to name a few.
Related Story Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More Related Story 'The Amazing Maurice' Heads To France,...
The shorts span 23 countries, including projects from Iran (Azheh) and Ukraine (Liturgy of anti-tank obstacles), with works from such artists as Paul Feig (Help Me Understand producer), Westworld actress Angela Sarafyan (Power Signal), The Office‘s Kate Flannery (Help Me Understand), Roma‘s Yalitza Aparicio Martinez (Sweatshop Girl), The Feels’ Angela Trimbur (Mirror Party), Party Down‘s Ken Marino (Help Me Understand), Bi Gan (director of Cannes Certain Regard title A Long Days Journey Into Night director) and Shannon Plumb (Walk of Shame) to name a few.
Related Story Sundance Film Festival Lineup Set With Ukraine War, Little Richard, Michael J. Fox, Judy Blume Docs; Pics With Anne Hathaway, Emilia Clarke, Jonathan Majors; More Related Story 'The Amazing Maurice' Heads To France,...
- 12/13/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, alongside his 1999 short film Judgement, as well as Bi Gan’s new short A Shory Story and his second feature Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Peter Strickland’s new short.
Additional highlights include new episodes of Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom Exodus, Denis Côté’s That Kind of Summer (which we caught at Berlinale earlier this year), Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy ahead of his imminent new project, and an Abel Ferrara double bill to close out 2022.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
December 1 – That Kind of Summer, directed by Denis Côté | Luminaries
December 2 – The Cat’s Meow, directed by Peter Bogdanovich
December 3 – La chinoise, directed by Jean-Luc Godard | For Ever Godard
December 4 – The Kingdom Exodus: The Congress Dances, directed by Lars von Trier | The Kingdom Exodus
December 5 – Judgement,...
Additional highlights include new episodes of Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom Exodus, Denis Côté’s That Kind of Summer (which we caught at Berlinale earlier this year), Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy ahead of his imminent new project, and an Abel Ferrara double bill to close out 2022.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
December 1 – That Kind of Summer, directed by Denis Côté | Luminaries
December 2 – The Cat’s Meow, directed by Peter Bogdanovich
December 3 – La chinoise, directed by Jean-Luc Godard | For Ever Godard
December 4 – The Kingdom Exodus: The Congress Dances, directed by Lars von Trier | The Kingdom Exodus
December 5 – Judgement,...
- 11/29/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSNighthawks.Buenos Aires—1970s Los Angeles—outer space—all of these destinations are contained in Issue 2 of the Notebook print magazine, which will ship out at the end of January. Click here to learn more and subscribe.If you read this New York Times profile of Jennifer Lawrence carefully, you’ll find that she is planning a project with Lynne Ramsay—an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s Die, My Love. In a follow-up tweet, Kyle Buchanan added that Martin Scorsese will produce.X Crucior is the heavy-metal name of the next film project written by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks—a musical, of course, continuing their momentum with Annette (2021). No director is attached yet, but if it's not too much to ask, a reunion with Guy Maddin would be fun.According to The Times,...
- 11/9/2022
- MUBI
Long Story Short
Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.
Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.
- 10/13/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Following the Main Slate and Spotlight announcements, the 60th New York Film Festival has unveiled its Currents section. The slate of boundary-pushing work features Bertrand Bonello’s Coma, João Pedro Rodrigues’ Will-o’-the-Wisp, Helena Wittmann’s Human Flowers of Flesh, Alessandro Comodin’s The Adventures of Gigi the Law, Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós’s Dry Ground Burning, Ruth Beckermann’s Mutzenbacher, and Ashley McKenzie’s Queens of the Qing Dynasty, plus new shorts by Bi Gan, Mark Jenkin, Simón Velez, Nicolás Pereda, Courtney Stephens, Ben Russell, and more.
“Each Currents lineup is an attempt to distill the spirit of innovation and playfulness in contemporary cinema, and this is, by design, the most expansive section of the festival,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director, New York Film Festival. “There are familiar names here—including multiple filmmakers who will be known to NYFF and Flc audiences—as well as some electrifying new talents,...
“Each Currents lineup is an attempt to distill the spirit of innovation and playfulness in contemporary cinema, and this is, by design, the most expansive section of the festival,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director, New York Film Festival. “There are familiar names here—including multiple filmmakers who will be known to NYFF and Flc audiences—as well as some electrifying new talents,...
- 8/18/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Home is profoundly where the heartache is in Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), a finely wrought, wistful but mildly unsatisfying debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri. Tracking two resilient Lagos residents, in sequential order, united by one goal––to illegally migrate in search of a better life––the film occasionally feels akin to an immaculately put-together class assignment, over-mindful of the reaction of an end user or assessor, rather than a risky, personality-infused piece of art. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt)
The Innocents, the assured sophomore feature from Eskil Vogt, is a prickly film about childhood morality designed to...
Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) (Arie and Chuko Esiri)
Home is profoundly where the heartache is in Eyimofe (This Is My Desire), a finely wrought, wistful but mildly unsatisfying debut feature by Nigerian-raised, New York-educated twins Arie and Chuko Esiri. Tracking two resilient Lagos residents, in sequential order, united by one goal––to illegally migrate in search of a better life––the film occasionally feels akin to an immaculately put-together class assignment, over-mindful of the reaction of an end user or assessor, rather than a risky, personality-infused piece of art. – David K. (full review)
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt)
The Innocents, the assured sophomore feature from Eskil Vogt, is a prickly film about childhood morality designed to...
- 5/13/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The last time we saw a Bi Gan film on the Croisette – we then rewatched the same film the day after. Long Day’s Journey into Night helmer is among the nine world filmmakers selected (3500 entries) to compete for the Palme d’Or in the Short Film Competition. We thought it was titled Le cœur du soleil brisé, but it’s officially known as “A Short Story.” We now await the same announcement for the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. Here are the competing films – some of these filmmakers go onto remarkable filmmaking careers so keep an eye out for them on the film festival circuit.…...
- 4/22/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Though we continue waiting for Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night follow-up—about which we know production begins this year, and about which that’s basically enough—here’s something to satiate. One of world cinema’s better recent discoveries has directed a 15-minute short The Broken Heart of the Sun, a short produced by the Chinese cat company pidan. Loosely described as “a fairy tale about love” and said to follow “the relationship between man and cat,” it suggests Bi’s style (however influenced by others) could hardly be suppressed: in clear sight are his interests in camera distance, production design, and emphasizing landscape. The return of his (I guess mainstay) star Chen Yongzhong doesn’t hurt.
Update: At the request of Bi Gan’s producers, we have removed the short. As we await the official release, with English subtitles, check out his previous short Secret Goldfish below.
Update: At the request of Bi Gan’s producers, we have removed the short. As we await the official release, with English subtitles, check out his previous short Secret Goldfish below.
- 4/7/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
With his astounding debut Kaili Blues (2015) and the equally impressive 3D odyssey Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018), Chinese director Bi Gan emerged as one of the most promising new voices in cinema this last decade. Now he’s finally returning behind the camera for two new projects.
Bi Gan has completed shooting a new short titled Le cœur du soleil brisé (which is translated to The Broken Heart of the Sun), Hang Lu reports (via Ioncinema), and one can see some snaps from the set below. Following financing news last spring, they also report that the director’s third feature will finally go into production this year.
While no details have been unveiled yet, Bi Gan did discuss his future in filmmaking, following the surprise box office of his previous film, which took in over $40 million in China courtesy a marketing campaign that led people to believe it was a romance.
Bi Gan has completed shooting a new short titled Le cœur du soleil brisé (which is translated to The Broken Heart of the Sun), Hang Lu reports (via Ioncinema), and one can see some snaps from the set below. Following financing news last spring, they also report that the director’s third feature will finally go into production this year.
While no details have been unveiled yet, Bi Gan did discuss his future in filmmaking, following the surprise box office of his previous film, which took in over $40 million in China courtesy a marketing campaign that led people to believe it was a romance.
- 3/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As of late Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan has been keeping busy with one finger on the shutter button, and one eye in the viewfinder. We are just learning that he just completed a short film titled Le cœur du soleil brisé (translates into The Broken Heart of the Sun) and that he is poised to return behind the camera for his third feature film — and as early as 2022. Announced back in April as part of prod company Huace Pictures’ future slate, Gan’s untitled third film is still without a title, synopsis and cast but if we were the betting type we’d wager that we’ll be returning to some pocket of Guizhou and there’ll likely be some name players involved — especially after wowing Un Certain Regard auds with his Long Day’s Journey Into Night (the unique viewing experience came with instructions to put on 3D glasses for...
- 3/1/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Chinese cinema is at a weird place. On the one hand, three of 2021’s top five worldwide grossers are, as of writing, Chinese, so it’s doing more than okay on the money front. But not one Chinese film made the competition lineups of Berlin, Cannes, or Venice, which could be a first in decades. The pandemic might have something to do with it, but ever-tightening censorship is more likely the main reason. One has the sense that, for a country / industry teeming with resources and talents, less and less room is allowed for artistic expression.
As such, it is lovely to see a film like Farewell, My Hometown, director Wang Erzhuo’s narrative feature debut which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, and be reminded of the potential of the Middle Kingdom’s cultural output beyond war epics and populist comedies.
It opens inside a moving car heading towards the countryside.
As such, it is lovely to see a film like Farewell, My Hometown, director Wang Erzhuo’s narrative feature debut which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, and be reminded of the potential of the Middle Kingdom’s cultural output beyond war epics and populist comedies.
It opens inside a moving car heading towards the countryside.
- 10/13/2021
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
Chinese director Jia Zhangke has formally launched his new venture: a filmmaking school in his native Shanxi staffed by some of China’s top industry talent, including helmers Ning Hao and Bi Gan.
Communist party officials presided over an inauguration ceremony for the Shanxi Film Academy that was attended by major firms seeking synergies between the school’s future graduates and their own thirst for new talent and content. The school is affiliated with the existing Communication University of Shanxi, which trains many graduates to enter top media regulatory bodies like the State Administration of Radio and Television.
Official support for the new academy was repeatedly highlighted in both speeches and news coverage of the event. Little can be achieved in China at scale without strong government buy-in.
“The comprehensive thinking and strategic arrangements of the Shanxi Province Party Committee and government for the economic transformation of Shanxi has inspired us,...
Communist party officials presided over an inauguration ceremony for the Shanxi Film Academy that was attended by major firms seeking synergies between the school’s future graduates and their own thirst for new talent and content. The school is affiliated with the existing Communication University of Shanxi, which trains many graduates to enter top media regulatory bodies like the State Administration of Radio and Television.
Official support for the new academy was repeatedly highlighted in both speeches and news coverage of the event. Little can be achieved in China at scale without strong government buy-in.
“The comprehensive thinking and strategic arrangements of the Shanxi Province Party Committee and government for the economic transformation of Shanxi has inspired us,...
- 4/21/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
China’s Huace Pictures this week unveiled its upcoming film lineup, which includes a new project from young arthouse filmmaker Bi Gan (“Kaili Blues”) and sequels to its Chinese New Year hit “A Writer’s Odyssey.”
Founded in 2014, Huace Pictures is the newer outgrowth of Shenzhen-listed, Hangzhou-headquartered Zhejiang Huace Film and TV, founded in 2005. The latter has historically been a strong player in China’s TV drama production, but the group hopes to boost its footprint in film.
To that end, it unveiled on Tuesday a new logo for Huace Pictures, and announced the goal of producing 30 films over the next three years that can collectively bring in $1.5 billion (RMB10 billion) or more at the box office. It also released a list of 16 upcoming films that it plans to produce or distribute this year.
Fu Binxing, Huace Pictures chairman and VP of Huace Film and TV Group, said the company seeks...
Founded in 2014, Huace Pictures is the newer outgrowth of Shenzhen-listed, Hangzhou-headquartered Zhejiang Huace Film and TV, founded in 2005. The latter has historically been a strong player in China’s TV drama production, but the group hopes to boost its footprint in film.
To that end, it unveiled on Tuesday a new logo for Huace Pictures, and announced the goal of producing 30 films over the next three years that can collectively bring in $1.5 billion (RMB10 billion) or more at the box office. It also released a list of 16 upcoming films that it plans to produce or distribute this year.
Fu Binxing, Huace Pictures chairman and VP of Huace Film and TV Group, said the company seeks...
- 4/2/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Making its debut at the 2021 Osaka Asian Film Festival, “Morning Elsewhere” is a 30-minute short that, for better or for worse, refuses to be one type of movie. The movie is the first to be written and directed by young and talented Han Feng Yu, since he took home the Best Fiction award at the Singapore Best Fiction awards way back in 2015 for his acclaimed short, “Last Trip Home”.
Morning Elsewhere screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The film opens with a stone-faced young woman, Fei, getting ready to board a bus that will take her, a group of similarly aged girls, and several suitcases seemingly full of drugs over the border. The reason she has volunteered herself to be a drug mule is unclear, but what soon becomes obvious is that she has a personal vendetta against those who are running the show. After naively trying to sabotage the operation,...
Morning Elsewhere screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The film opens with a stone-faced young woman, Fei, getting ready to board a bus that will take her, a group of similarly aged girls, and several suitcases seemingly full of drugs over the border. The reason she has volunteered herself to be a drug mule is unclear, but what soon becomes obvious is that she has a personal vendetta against those who are running the show. After naively trying to sabotage the operation,...
- 3/16/2021
- by Luke Georgiades
- AsianMoviePulse
When it comes to action choreography, any long take sequence that lasts more than a few minutes is an achievement. Stunts and fights are risky. They can even be deadly. The longer the scene, the more chances of an accident. But a 77-minute one-er? That’s just crazy.
Talented filmmakers strut their stuff because the technical skill behind a good one-er demands next-level directorial and choreographic mastery. Setting up a long take scene is exponentially more challenging than a normal scene with cuts. For example, the short one-er that opens Lindsay Vonn’s new Amazon Prime reality game show series The Pack only runs a few minutes and is split by a cut in the middle, but it took 26 hours to prepare, film, and strike the sequence. Plus they had to shut down the 110 Freeway to film it.
The extensive long takes in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman and Sam Mendes’ 1917 have won international acclaim,...
Talented filmmakers strut their stuff because the technical skill behind a good one-er demands next-level directorial and choreographic mastery. Setting up a long take scene is exponentially more challenging than a normal scene with cuts. For example, the short one-er that opens Lindsay Vonn’s new Amazon Prime reality game show series The Pack only runs a few minutes and is split by a cut in the middle, but it took 26 hours to prepare, film, and strike the sequence. Plus they had to shut down the 110 Freeway to film it.
The extensive long takes in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman and Sam Mendes’ 1917 have won international acclaim,...
- 2/12/2021
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
A double San Sebastian Golden Shell winner with “The Double Steps” (2011) and “Between Two Waters” (2018), Isaki Lacuesta is teaming with Tamara Iglesias’ Atekaleun and Víctor Iriarte’s Cajaconcosasdentro to co-produce “Reescritura” (“Rewriting”), Iriarte’s fiction feature debut. Lacuesta will co-produce out of his label La Termita Films.
Catalan auteur Lacuesta has produced to date only one feature that he didn’t direct: Jordi Morató’s documentary “The Creator of the Jungle,” made in 2013.
San Sebastian’s Vitrine Films, formerly based in Brazil, is attached to the project for Spanish distribution.
According to Iriarte, “Reescritura” is “a noir portraying three main characters searching for their place in the world. A feature with three murders, two robberies and a getaway.”
“Víctor is a very singular filmmaker. One of the few with a voice of his own,” Lacuesta told Variety “It’s very difficult to share this assertion, because all his short pieces...
Catalan auteur Lacuesta has produced to date only one feature that he didn’t direct: Jordi Morató’s documentary “The Creator of the Jungle,” made in 2013.
San Sebastian’s Vitrine Films, formerly based in Brazil, is attached to the project for Spanish distribution.
According to Iriarte, “Reescritura” is “a noir portraying three main characters searching for their place in the world. A feature with three murders, two robberies and a getaway.”
“Víctor is a very singular filmmaker. One of the few with a voice of his own,” Lacuesta told Variety “It’s very difficult to share this assertion, because all his short pieces...
- 9/21/2020
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Santiago Segura’s Father There Is Only One sequel is a major new opener in Spain.
South Korea, opening Wednesday July 29
In South Korea, where theatrical releases open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the new films in cinemas this weekend with top ticket reservation rates, according to the Korean Film Council (Kofic), are led by Lotte Cultureworks’ Jung Woo-sung-starrer Steel Rain 2: Summit - director Yang Woo-suk’s sequel to his North-South Korea political action thriller.
The film opened Wednesday, July 29 and as of Thursday has clocked up $1.2m atop the box office chart.
Further new titles include Chinese shark...
South Korea, opening Wednesday July 29
In South Korea, where theatrical releases open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the new films in cinemas this weekend with top ticket reservation rates, according to the Korean Film Council (Kofic), are led by Lotte Cultureworks’ Jung Woo-sung-starrer Steel Rain 2: Summit - director Yang Woo-suk’s sequel to his North-South Korea political action thriller.
The film opened Wednesday, July 29 and as of Thursday has clocked up $1.2m atop the box office chart.
Further new titles include Chinese shark...
- 7/31/2020
- by 134¦Jean Noh¦516¦¬1101324¦Elisabet Cabeza¦37¦¬1101325¦Gabriele Niola¦35¦¬158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦¬1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The streaming pool just keeps getting deeper. Joining fellow boutique distributors like Kino Lorber, Film Movement, and Cinema Tropical, Grasshopper Film is now making the jump into the streaming world, armed with the brand-new Projectr, a deeply curated platform that already boasts films from auteurs like Bong Joon Ho, Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo, and Pedro Costa.
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
- 6/18/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Thompson on Hollywood
The streaming pool just keeps getting deeper. Joining fellow boutique distributors like Kino Lorber, Film Movement, and Cinema Tropical, Grasshopper Film is now making the jump into the streaming world, armed with the brand-new Projectr, a deeply curated platform that already boasts films from auteurs like Bong Joon Ho, Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo, and Pedro Costa.
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
“So many of the acclaimed international and American Independent films that cinephiles hunger to see have fallen through the cracks of current Tvod providers,” Grasshopper Film founder Ryan Krivoshey told IndieWire. “With Projectr, we are seeking to remedy that oversight and create an accessible treasure trove for movie lovers. We’ve long contemplated a curated streaming platform — where viewers could immerse themselves in some of the most adventurous, exciting and important independent cinema. During these past months, we’ve realized this is more urgent than ever.”
Available today, Projectr will function as both a...
- 6/18/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Putting end to months of rumours and speculations, it has been confirmed that Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s next project will be a melodrama starring Park Hae-il and Chinese actress Tang Wei (“Lust/Caution”).
Park was earlier rumoured to have been developing a “The Brigands of Battlecreek” for Amazon Studios off a S. Craig Zahler script as well as a remake of the Costa-Gavras film “Ax”, it will be this venture into the unchartered territories of the melodrama genre that will end up being his first film since he critically and commercially lauded “The Handmaiden” back in 2016.
The Korean title for the film translates as “The Decision to Break Up”. Of course, with Park being at the helm, one can expect the film to be rather dark and different to the usual Korean melodramas we know and love.
Interestingly, Lee Byung-hun was earlier rumoured to be considering a role in...
Park was earlier rumoured to have been developing a “The Brigands of Battlecreek” for Amazon Studios off a S. Craig Zahler script as well as a remake of the Costa-Gavras film “Ax”, it will be this venture into the unchartered territories of the melodrama genre that will end up being his first film since he critically and commercially lauded “The Handmaiden” back in 2016.
The Korean title for the film translates as “The Decision to Break Up”. Of course, with Park being at the helm, one can expect the film to be rather dark and different to the usual Korean melodramas we know and love.
Interestingly, Lee Byung-hun was earlier rumoured to be considering a role in...
- 5/20/2020
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
A missing woman, doomed romance, the cigarette stench of ennui. Bi Gan’s 2018 Cannes Film Festival premiere “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has all the makings of a neo-noir classic. The Chinese film, released by Kino Lorber last year, is known for its 50-minute long take that plays out in 3D, but now it’s also going to be known as actress Cate Blanchett’s favorite comfort movie.
As discussed on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via The Film Stage), Blanchett nerded out over Bi Gan’s film, introduced to her by her son. “My son is a cinephile, so he has great taste. We watched my comfort movie actually, the other night, which he actually put me on to. It’s Bi Gan’s film ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night,’” she said.
More from IndieWireStream of the Day: 'Notes on a Scandal' Is a Campy Battle of the Divas'Mrs.
As discussed on Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via The Film Stage), Blanchett nerded out over Bi Gan’s film, introduced to her by her son. “My son is a cinephile, so he has great taste. We watched my comfort movie actually, the other night, which he actually put me on to. It’s Bi Gan’s film ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night,’” she said.
More from IndieWireStream of the Day: 'Notes on a Scandal' Is a Campy Battle of the Divas'Mrs.
- 4/18/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
As everyone offers up their streaming picks (including yours truly), it may be hard to truly define what’s worth seeing. Well, leave it to Cate Blanchett to recommend one of the very best films of the last decade from one of the world’s most promising directors. Bi Gan’s transportive, dreamlike odyssey Long Day’s Journey Into Night debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2018, then opened in theaters in the spring of last year, and now Blanchett has named it her favorite comfort movie, period.
“My son is a cinephile, so he has great taste. We watched my comfort movie actually, the other night, which he actually put me on to. It’s Bi Gan’s film Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” she reveals to Josh Horowitz in the latest Happy Sad Confused podcast episode. “For me, I’m a huge Tarkovsky fan and an enormous fan...
“My son is a cinephile, so he has great taste. We watched my comfort movie actually, the other night, which he actually put me on to. It’s Bi Gan’s film Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” she reveals to Josh Horowitz in the latest Happy Sad Confused podcast episode. “For me, I’m a huge Tarkovsky fan and an enormous fan...
- 4/15/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
U.K. cinemas remain shuttered due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and while some of the large chains with deep pockets have the wherewithal to ride out the crisis, independent cinemas are suffering. Some U.K. distributors have come up with solutions to remedy this.
Modern Films was due to release Haifaa Al-Mansour’s festival favorite “The Perfect Candidate” theatrically on March 27, but instead released it online on Curzon Home Cinema, the BFI Player and its own website. Customers choosing to rent the film via Modern’s website will see a drop-down menu at the purchase point that allows them to select and support a cinema of their choice. Part of the proceeds will go directly back to the cinema.
Similarly, 606 Distribution, which has released Nora Fingscheidt’s Berlin winner “System Crasher” online via Vimeo, gives renters the option to select a cinema of their choice who will receive 10% of the after-tax profit.
Modern Films was due to release Haifaa Al-Mansour’s festival favorite “The Perfect Candidate” theatrically on March 27, but instead released it online on Curzon Home Cinema, the BFI Player and its own website. Customers choosing to rent the film via Modern’s website will see a drop-down menu at the purchase point that allows them to select and support a cinema of their choice. Part of the proceeds will go directly back to the cinema.
Similarly, 606 Distribution, which has released Nora Fingscheidt’s Berlin winner “System Crasher” online via Vimeo, gives renters the option to select a cinema of their choice who will receive 10% of the after-tax profit.
- 3/31/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.