Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales outfit Fortissimo Films has secured international rights to Chinese martial arts drama 100 Yards, directed by Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng, and will launch sales at the Cannes market this month.
The film, locally titled Men Qian Bao Di, is in post-production for release this summer, and Fortissimo has already secured a pre-sale of the feature with Splendid for Germany. It is produced by Beijing-based Lumen Art and Culture.
Xu Haofeng is director of The Sword Identity, which played Venice and Toronto in 2011, and more recently 2017’s The Hidden Sword, but is also known as the co-writer of Wong Kar Wai’s martial arts epic The Grandmaster.
His latest feature is set in 1920s Tianjin, northern China, and centres on the rivalry between the son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice. When the old master dies, the two face off to take over his prominent martial arts academy. But rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street.
The two central roles are taken by Jacky Heung, known for The Warlords and Johnnie To’s Chasing Dream, and Andy On of New Police Story and Michael Mann’s Blackhat. The cast also includes Bea Hayden Kuo, Tang Shiyi and Li Yuan.
Heung, who is also producer of the film, said: “For Andy and I, 100 Yards has been the most physically demanding acting experience ever. We managed to create this unique realistic martial arts style thanks to the great collaboration with director Xu and choreographer Duncan Leung (The Grandmaster).”
Fortissimo handles international sales, excluding North America and Southeast Asia.
The company’s Cannes slate also includes Chinese animation Deep Sea, which played in Generation at the Berlinale and will receive a market screening at Cannes, as well as Lu Chuan’s Olympics documentary Beijing 2022.
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