China’s Blossoms Entertainment will introduce Chen Sicheng-produced thriller Octopus With Broken Arms and Midi Z’s Tokyo competitor The Unseen Sister at Busan’s ACFM.
Octopus With Broken Arms is the third instalment of the hit Manslaughter franchise that includes Sheep Without A Shepherd and Fireflies In The Sun, which have grossed a combined $342m (RMB2.4bn) at the Chinese box office.
Xiao Yang returns in the lead role and the film is directed by Jacky Gan, who previously made kidnapping thriller Vortex. It has an original and unrelated story that continues to explore the themes about the strengths and weaknesses of human nature.
The story follows a young girl who is kidnapped at her birthday party. Her tycoon father and schoolteacher must deliver a substantial ransom to save her, but a series of shocking secrets begin to emerge.
Chen’s company, As One Production, is behind the trilogy. He is also the director behind the hit Detective Chinatown franchise.
The Unseen Sister, which is set to premiere in the main competition of the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival later this month, is a suspense drama based on a novel by Zhang Yueran. It stars Zhao Liying and Xin Zhilei as two long-lost sisters who reconnect when one of them, now a big star, has fallen victim to extortion, which brings her back to her hometown in Yunnan province.
It marks the first feature that Myanmar-born director Midi Z has shot in China. It was filmed mainly in Beijing and partly in Yunnan along the Myanmar border, close to his hometown. His previous credits include 2016’s The Road To Mandalay, which screened at Venice, and 2019’s Taiwan-set Nina Wu, which played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes
Backers include Shanghai Linmon Pictures, Beijing Enlight Pictures and Shanghai Tao Piao Piao. Blossoms Entertainment and Linmon Media International co-manage the international sales rights.
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