Chinese and Hong Kong filmmakers continue to be prolific, despite the continuing effects of the lockdown. Screen profiles the titles selected for the festival as well as some of the key titles available to EFM buyers.
This year’s EFM line-up from Hong Kong and China is dominated by Rotterdam and Berlinale titles, including Return To Dust, Li Ruijun’s first outing in Competition, and Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s documentary Jet Lag, which plays in Forum. Fresh from Rotterdam are Tiger Competition special jury winner To Love Again by Gao Linyang, Lei Lei’s animation Silver Bird And Rainbow Fish, Kong Dashan’s sci-fi drama Journey To The West and Chan Tze Woon’s hybrid documentary Blue Island.
In addition to festival films, two Chinese New Year offerings sit in the EFM line-up. The Battle At Lake Changjin II, like its predecessor, is on its way to mega-blockbuster status in China, while Hong Kong comedy Chilli Laugh Story has seen its local release delayed as Hong Kong cinemas remain shut to curb the rise in Omicron cases.
Sales and production companies with representatives based in Europe — including Asian Shadows, Parallax Films, Rediance and Seventh Art Pictures — are set to attend Berlin in‑person. But those in Asia will continue to tread the virtual route.
With the zero-Covid strategy rigidly enforced by Hong Kong and China, most sales agents have not been able to travel to overseas markets since the end of 2019. Hong Kong shortened its quarantine requirements from 21 to 14 days earlier this month, but sellers who spoke to Screen International still find it difficult to make international travel plans for now. Unless the quarantine requirements are scrapped, a trip to Cannes in May seems unlikely.
This EFM line-up is short on mainstream and big-budget titles, but Hong Kong companies plan to present their latest titles at Hong Kong Filmart (March 14-17), which will run online for the third straight year.
Berlinale
Jet Lag
Dir. Zheng Lu Xinyuan
This debut documentary feature, which plays in Forum, is a personal essay film in the form of a travelogue by Zheng Lu, whose debut narrative feature The Cloud In Her Room won Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2020. Part of the documentary was shot in Austria in early 2020, where Zheng Lu was stranded during lockdown. She spent time digging into the mystery of her great-grandfather — who left his family behind in China and became a monk in Myanmar — through footage on a VHS tape and pieces she had shot earlier in Myanmar. The project received backing from Switzerland’s Vision Sud Est fund. Contact: Xie Meng, Rediance
Return To Dust
Dir. Li Ruijun
Li’s Competition debut follows two outcasts (Wu Renlin and Hai Qing) who are forced into an arranged marriage and form an unexpected bond as they overcome adversity together. Writer, editor and set designer Li sets the film in his hometown of Gaotai, Gansu province in northwest China. Major investors include Qizi Film, Beijing JQ Spring Pictures and Beijing Alibaba Pictures Culture. Li’s credits include Walking Past The Future, River Road and Fly With The Crane, which have played in top festival strands including Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Berlinale’s Generation, Venice’s Horizons and Tokyo’s main competition. Contact: Aleksandra Abykova, m-appeal
European Film Market
The Battle At Lake Changjin II
Dirs. Tsui Hark, Chen Kaige, Dante Lam
Following the success of last year’s The Battle At Lake Changjin — which was released in October during the National Day holiday and amassed $913m (rmb5.77bn) to become China’s highest-grossing film of all time — the same trio of directors reteam for a sequel set again during a harsh 1950s winter. Original stars Wu Jing and Jackson Yee return for the sequel, which sees the US and Chinese armies fighting over a strategic bridge. The film opened top during the crowded Chinese New Year holiday, taking $395.2m in six days. Contact: June Wu, Distribution Workshop
Blue Island
Dir. Chan Tze Woon
Told in four chapters, this hybrid documentary drama looks back at the resistance moments that shaped the current state of affairs in Hong Kong. The past is recreated as fictional events, with today’s activists playing their predecessors. The crowd-funded film competed at Rotterdam’s Bright Future and is produced by Peter Yam, who recently attended EFM’s Doc Toolbox Programme and whose producing credits include director Chan’s debut documentary Yellowing and Lost Course, winner of best documentary at the Golden Horse Awards 2020. Blue Island is also produced by Ten Years executive producer Andrew Choi, with Japan’s Uzumasa Film as co-producer.
Contact: Peter Yam, Blue Island Production
Chilli Laugh Story
Dir. Coba Cheng
This Chinese New Year offering is a heartwarming family comedy with an ensemble cast composed of Sandra Ng (who is also the film’s producer), Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung and Edan Lui from popular boyband Mirror in his film debut. Drawing from personal experience, Cheng’s debut feature follows a young man who, frustrated living at home with his parents during the pandemic, bottles his mother’s homemade chilli sauce and turns it into a sensational online business. Cinema closures in Hong Kong have disrupted the film’s day-and-date release with Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and Ireland. Contact: Terence Choi, We Pictures
Journey To The West
Dir. Kong Dashan
This debut feature had its international premiere in Rotterdam’s online Bright Future section after winning four awards including best film and people’s choice at China’s Pingyao festival. Despite sharing a title with the 16th‑century classic novel about the infamous Monkey King, Journey To The West is a quirky sci-fi film about a space exploration magazine editor’s relentless pursuit of UFOs, while he struggles to keep his publication afloat. It is produced by Guo Fan’s G!Film Studio, the Beijing-based company behind sci-fi blockbuster Wandering Earth. Contact: Cao Liuying, Parallax Films
Mama’s Affair
Dir. Kearen Pang
Making their film debuts, Keung To and Jer Lau from boy band Mirror join Teresa Mo (Tomorrow Is Another Day) in this comedy about a former talent manager, now a single mother, who discovers a new star. She has to overcome her teenage son’s jealousy and find the balance between career and family. Multi-hyphenate Pang adapted her 2005 one‑woman show 29+1 into her directorial film debut of the same name, which won her best new director at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2018. Contact: Miriam Cheung, Emperor Motion Pictures
Shen Kong
Dir. Chen Guan
Previously known as Sometimes It’s Like Going Back To Childhood, this debut feature was the opening film at last year’s Venice Days, where it received a special mention. Set in an unnamed Chinese city, the film follows two lonely souls who wander the deserted streets in a time of isolation amid the pandemic lockdown. As the pair explore their surroundings, they also find one another. Writer/director Chen studied directing at EICAR — The International Film & Television School in Paris, and has acting credits including short film The Lobster’s Drive, which competed at Clermont-Ferrand in 2015. Contact: Maria Ruggieri, Asian Shadows
Silver Bird And Rainbow Fish
Dir. Lei Lei
Fresh from Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition, this debut feature animation documents the Lei family’s struggle for survival in China during the tumultuous 1950s and ‘60s. Personal stories are combined with collective memory through the use of numerous visual layers including modelling clay, old family photos, official documentary footage, surreal collage and pop-art animation. Previously known as Ningdu, the US-Netherlands co-production will be released in Benelux by Periscoop in the second half of this year. Asian Shadows also represented Lei’s previous documentary Breathless Animals, which played in Forum in 2019. Contact: Maria Ruggieri, Asian Shadows
Tales From The Occult 3
Dirs. Lee Chi-Ngai, Peter Lee, Pater Wong
The Tales Of The Occult series expands into a third omnibus film, which is currently in production. The Cantonese-language psychological thriller series is set against Hong Kong’s urban backdrop, and all are produced by John Chong and Matthew Tang for a mix of new and established filmmakers. Parts one and two of the franchise are in post-production. The first features directors Fruit Chan, Fung Chih Chiang and Wesley Hoi and stars Richie Jen, Cherry Ngan and Cecilia So. The second film has Frank Hui, Doris Wong and Daniel Chan at the helm. Contact: Fred Tsui, Media Asia
To Love Again
Dir. Gao Linyang
Another film in the EFM line-up that played in Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition and won the special jury and Fipresci awards, Gao’s debut feature deals with old wounds from the past that later resurface. An ageing man wants to rebury his first wife, who died during the Cultural Revolution, with himself and his second wife when they pass away. To Love Again is the latest film backed by Seventh Art Pictures as part of its initiative to support young filmmakers, following Streetwise’s premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year. The Beijing-based company was founded by The Eight Hundred director Guan Hu and actor/producer Liang Jing. Gao is a co-scriptwriter on Striding Into The Wind, which was a recipient of the Cannes 2020 label. Contact: Justine O, Seventh Art Pictures
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