The inaugural Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (Hiff) in Vietnam has unveiled its line-up of about 100 films, including 12 each for the Southeast Asia competition and for the first or second film competition, with directors Anne Fontaine and Hirokazu Kore-eda among its guests.
Scroll down for line-up
The Asian premiere of French biopic Bolero will open the festival on April 6. Director Fontaine and leading actor Raphaël Personnaz will be present for the film’s Asian premiere, which will take place at the city’s historic Opera House.
Further notable festival guests include acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda who will receive...
Scroll down for line-up
The Asian premiere of French biopic Bolero will open the festival on April 6. Director Fontaine and leading actor Raphaël Personnaz will be present for the film’s Asian premiere, which will take place at the city’s historic Opera House.
Further notable festival guests include acclaimed Japanese director Kore-eda who will receive...
- 3/21/2024
- ScreenDaily
“I don’t find the definition of Chinese filmmakers by generation to be a useful tool,” said Marco Mueller, introducing dark satire “The Movie Emperor” as the opening film of the first edition of his Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau on Friday. “Much more interesting is the concept of exchange between new and old and between East and West.”
“The new forces of Chinese cinema are present and participating. More than 100 young filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet and interact with names including Amir Naderi, Aleksei German Jr and Yonfan,” Mueller continued. While Macau is these days best known for its high-tech casinos, the former Portuguese colony has long been a venue for international cultural exchange and retains ambitions to restore some of that diversity.
Along with screenings of 27 films and 17 works in progress, masterclasses and on-stage dialogs are a key educational tool on offer at the...
“The new forces of Chinese cinema are present and participating. More than 100 young filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet and interact with names including Amir Naderi, Aleksei German Jr and Yonfan,” Mueller continued. While Macau is these days best known for its high-tech casinos, the former Portuguese colony has long been a venue for international cultural exchange and retains ambitions to restore some of that diversity.
Along with screenings of 27 films and 17 works in progress, masterclasses and on-stage dialogs are a key educational tool on offer at the...
- 1/5/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Some 15 projects will be featured at the festival’s first works in progress lab.
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
Upcoming projects by Chinese filmmaker Li Dongmei and Taiwan’s Lee Hong-chi are among 15 work-in-progress titles selected for the inaugural Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, which will open with Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor.
The WiP Lab will comprise 11 projects from mainland Chinese filmmakers and four international Chinese-language projects and will be screened in Macau and nearby Zhuhai from January 8-10.
A five-strong jury, who will grant awards in post-production services, include producers Jeremy Chua and Wang Yang, Mumbai Film Festival artistic director Deepti Dcunha,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Chinese director Huo Meng, Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-chi and Macau-based Maxim Bessmertny are among a dozen emerging East Asian talent who will present feature film projects and works in progress at the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe).
The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan. 5-11, 2024, will operate as a bridge between the mainland China markets and audiences on one hand and the production and sales industries behind art-house cinema from Europe and other parts of Asia.
The festival opens Friday with a gala screening of Ning Hao’s “The Movie Emperor” and a later showing of the restored version of Yonfan’s “Bugis Street.”
The festival initiative is spearheaded by Marco Mueller, whose track record includes leading creative positions at festivals in Locarno, Rome, Venice and Beijing. He was also previously among the founders of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) that debuted in 2016.
The project market jury includes: Singapore-based producer Jeremy Chua,...
The inaugural edition of the festival, running Jan. 5-11, 2024, will operate as a bridge between the mainland China markets and audiences on one hand and the production and sales industries behind art-house cinema from Europe and other parts of Asia.
The festival opens Friday with a gala screening of Ning Hao’s “The Movie Emperor” and a later showing of the restored version of Yonfan’s “Bugis Street.”
The festival initiative is spearheaded by Marco Mueller, whose track record includes leading creative positions at festivals in Locarno, Rome, Venice and Beijing. He was also previously among the founders of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) that debuted in 2016.
The project market jury includes: Singapore-based producer Jeremy Chua,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor will screen as the opening film of Macau’s Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival, which is holding its inaugural edition from January 5-11. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, recently a hit in India, will screen as the closing film.
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
- 1/4/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Parallax, one of the few indie film sales firms in China has picked up two of this year’s best performing mainland Chinese movies.
Ahead of the winter festival and markets season, Parallax has taken on comedy-drama “Post Truth” and family-oriented comedy-fantasy “Five Hundred Miles.”
Directed and co-written by Dong Chengpeng (aka Da Peng), “Post Truth” is the story of a cemetery plot salesman who is released from prison and seeks to clear the online rumors of sexual misconduct by his deceased client. The film stars Dong and leading female actor Li Xueqin.
Dong previously directed hit 2015 title “Jian Bing Man and another 2023 title “One and Only.”
Produced by Ruyi Entertainment with backing from ticketing agencies Taopiaopiao and Maoyan, “Post Truth” released in March and earned over $100 million in mainland cinemas.
In “Five Hundred Miles” a dubious lawyer and a shy man, who are both involved with the same woman,...
Ahead of the winter festival and markets season, Parallax has taken on comedy-drama “Post Truth” and family-oriented comedy-fantasy “Five Hundred Miles.”
Directed and co-written by Dong Chengpeng (aka Da Peng), “Post Truth” is the story of a cemetery plot salesman who is released from prison and seeks to clear the online rumors of sexual misconduct by his deceased client. The film stars Dong and leading female actor Li Xueqin.
Dong previously directed hit 2015 title “Jian Bing Man and another 2023 title “One and Only.”
Produced by Ruyi Entertainment with backing from ticketing agencies Taopiaopiao and Maoyan, “Post Truth” released in March and earned over $100 million in mainland cinemas.
In “Five Hundred Miles” a dubious lawyer and a shy man, who are both involved with the same woman,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Chinese film sales company Parallax Films is poised to make a splash this week in Tokyo. The outfit has two titles in the Tokyo International Film Festival official selection and a host of festival-travelled Chinese films in the Tiffcom market.
Appearing in main competition is “A Long Shot,” a crime drama by first time feature director Gao Peng. The film is set in the 1980s when China’s modernization was only beginning to get under way. Nevertheless, in the rust belt of the North East, factories were already in decline and thefts were on the rise. The story follows a former sharpshooter who retires to become a factory security officer and who tries to steer away from crime the son of a woman he cares about. The picture stars Zu Feng, Qin Hailu and Zhou Zhengjie.
Florian Zinke, a German cinematographer who has other Asian film credits including “Nina Wu...
Appearing in main competition is “A Long Shot,” a crime drama by first time feature director Gao Peng. The film is set in the 1980s when China’s modernization was only beginning to get under way. Nevertheless, in the rust belt of the North East, factories were already in decline and thefts were on the rise. The story follows a former sharpshooter who retires to become a factory security officer and who tries to steer away from crime the son of a woman he cares about. The picture stars Zu Feng, Qin Hailu and Zhou Zhengjie.
Florian Zinke, a German cinematographer who has other Asian film credits including “Nina Wu...
- 10/23/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
‘’Eye Of The Storm’ and ‘Marry My Dead Body’ also secure several nods.
Chong Keat-aun’s historical epic Snow In Midsummer leads the nominations for the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, scoring nine nods including best film and best director.
Lin Chun-yang’s Sars drama Eye Of The Storm and Cheng Wei-hao’s ghost comedy Marry My Dead Body are close behind with eight nominations apiece.
Each will compete in the best film category along with Stonewalling by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji from mainland China and Ryuji Otsuka from Japan, and Time Still Turns The Pages, the feature debut...
Chong Keat-aun’s historical epic Snow In Midsummer leads the nominations for the 60th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, scoring nine nods including best film and best director.
Lin Chun-yang’s Sars drama Eye Of The Storm and Cheng Wei-hao’s ghost comedy Marry My Dead Body are close behind with eight nominations apiece.
Each will compete in the best film category along with Stonewalling by husband-and-wife team Huang Ji from mainland China and Ryuji Otsuka from Japan, and Time Still Turns The Pages, the feature debut...
- 10/3/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Sales will begin at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm).
Chinese sales agent Parallax Films is set to launch sales of Gao Peng’s A Long Shot at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), ahead of its world premiere in competition at Tokyo International Film Festival.
The Chinese crime drama is set in the 1990s, when the country underwent rapid societal changes, and stars Zu Feng, Qin Hailu and young actor Zhou Zhengjie. The protagonist is a former shooting athlete who finds himself in a profound state of self-doubt when he must forego his impressive skills and is...
Chinese sales agent Parallax Films is set to launch sales of Gao Peng’s A Long Shot at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm), ahead of its world premiere in competition at Tokyo International Film Festival.
The Chinese crime drama is set in the 1990s, when the country underwent rapid societal changes, and stars Zu Feng, Qin Hailu and young actor Zhou Zhengjie. The protagonist is a former shooting athlete who finds himself in a profound state of self-doubt when he must forego his impressive skills and is...
- 9/28/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
For more on Venice's standout films, read our dispatch coverage: "Biopics Reloaded" and "Hitmen, A.I., and Dangerous Women."Poor Things.Main Competition(Jury: Damien Chazelle (chair), Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras, and Shu Qi)Golden Lion: Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)Silver Lion Best Director: Matteo Garrone (Io Capitano)Special Jury Prize: Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)Best Screenplay: Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón (El Conde)Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard (Memory)Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Seydou Sarr (Io Capitano)Explanation For Everything.HORIZONSJury: Jonas Carpignano (chair), Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Truttle)Best Film: Explanation For Everything (Gábor Reisz)Best Director: Mika Gustafson (Paradise Is Burning)Special Jury Prize: Una Sterminata Domenica (Alain Parroni)Best Actress:...
- 9/12/2023
- MUBI
Although Italy and France took the lion's share of awards at the 80th Biennale, and Yorgos Lanthinmos took home the Golden Lion, a number of productions from Asia still found space to shine, starting with the latest festival sensation, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who went home with the Silver Lion for “Evil Does not Exist”. In more detail:
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize to:
Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai (Evil Does Not Exist) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
the Orizzonti Award For Best Actor to:
Tergel Bold-Erdene in the film Ser Ser Salhi (City of Wind) by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
Lion Of The Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award For A Debut Film to:
Ai Shi Yi Ba Qiang (Love Is A Gun) di Lee Hong-Chi (Hong Kong/Taiwan)
Check the review of the film Film Review: Love Is A Gun (2023) by Lee Hong-Chi|
the Venice Classics Award For Best Restored Film to:
Ohikkoshi (Moving...
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize to:
Aku Wa Sonzai Shinai (Evil Does Not Exist) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
the Orizzonti Award For Best Actor to:
Tergel Bold-Erdene in the film Ser Ser Salhi (City of Wind) by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
Lion Of The Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award For A Debut Film to:
Ai Shi Yi Ba Qiang (Love Is A Gun) di Lee Hong-Chi (Hong Kong/Taiwan)
Check the review of the film Film Review: Love Is A Gun (2023) by Lee Hong-Chi|
the Venice Classics Award For Best Restored Film to:
Ohikkoshi (Moving...
- 9/10/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
With Venice Film Festival wrapping up after quite an epic year, Damien Chazelle’s jury handed out their awards, giving the top prize to Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, led by La La Land star Emma Stone. Elsewhere, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Matteo Garrone, Priscilla‘s Cailee Spaeny, and Memory‘s Peter Sarsgaard picked up top prizes.
Check out the list below courtesy of Cineuropa.
Competition
Golden Lion for Best Film
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/UK/USA)
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Silver Lion – Award for Best Director
Matteo Garrone – Me Captain (Italy/Belgium)
Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Cailee Spaeny – Priscilla (USA/Italy)
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Peter Sarsgaard – Memory (Mexico/USA)
Award for Best Screenplay
Guillermo Calderón, Pablo Larraín – El conde (Chile)
Special Jury Prize
Green Border – Agnieszka Holland (Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium)
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent
Seydou Sarr...
Check out the list below courtesy of Cineuropa.
Competition
Golden Lion for Best Film
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/UK/USA)
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Silver Lion – Award for Best Director
Matteo Garrone – Me Captain (Italy/Belgium)
Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Cailee Spaeny – Priscilla (USA/Italy)
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Peter Sarsgaard – Memory (Mexico/USA)
Award for Best Screenplay
Guillermo Calderón, Pablo Larraín – El conde (Chile)
Special Jury Prize
Green Border – Agnieszka Holland (Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium)
Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Talent
Seydou Sarr...
- 9/9/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As many predicted, the 80th annual Venice Film Festival bestowed its top prize, the Golden Lion, to Yorgos Lanthimos’ rapturously received “Poor Things.” The win furthers the film’s increasing Oscar buzz, powered by a performance from star Emma Stone that could bring her a second Oscar for Best Actress. The film will open in limited release from Searchlight on Dec. 8, then slowly roll out nationwide.
However, the leading actress prize went to Cailee Spaeny for her work in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” an intimate look at Priscilla Presley’s early courtship with Elvis Presley. (The film opens in theaters on Nov. 3.) Peter Sarsgaard won leading actor honors for his turn as a dementia-afflicted widower in Michel Franco’s “Memory,” opposite Jessica Chastain.
Matteo Garrone’s immigrant drama “Me Captain” captured two major awards, including the best director prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Young Actor/Actress Award for breakout star Seydou Sarr.
However, the leading actress prize went to Cailee Spaeny for her work in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” an intimate look at Priscilla Presley’s early courtship with Elvis Presley. (The film opens in theaters on Nov. 3.) Peter Sarsgaard won leading actor honors for his turn as a dementia-afflicted widower in Michel Franco’s “Memory,” opposite Jessica Chastain.
Matteo Garrone’s immigrant drama “Me Captain” captured two major awards, including the best director prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Young Actor/Actress Award for breakout star Seydou Sarr.
- 9/9/2023
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
The 2023 Venice Film Festival persevered despite a dimmed Hollywood presence, with much of the onscreen talent sitting this year’s Lido event out due to the strikes. There in Italy, however, were directors like Michael Mann, David Fincher, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Wes Anderson, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Richard Linklater, Sofia Coppola, and even Woody Allen to present their latest films and do the talking on behalf of their sidelined actors.
Saturday at the Sala Grande, the jury headed up by president Damien Chazelle revealed the winners of the 2023 competition awards. Jurors including Martin McDonagh, Jane Campion, and Mia Hansen-Løve saw 23 movies over the last week and a half, including Lanthimos’ raved-about “Poor Things,” Coppola’s well-liked “Priscilla,” Bertrand Bonello’s daring “The Beast,” Fincher’s assassin thriller “The Killer,” Bradley Cooper’s Oscar hopeful “Maestro,” Mann’s gripping “Ferrari,” and more.
Word on the Lido was highest for eventual Golden Lion winner “Poor Things,...
Saturday at the Sala Grande, the jury headed up by president Damien Chazelle revealed the winners of the 2023 competition awards. Jurors including Martin McDonagh, Jane Campion, and Mia Hansen-Løve saw 23 movies over the last week and a half, including Lanthimos’ raved-about “Poor Things,” Coppola’s well-liked “Priscilla,” Bertrand Bonello’s daring “The Beast,” Fincher’s assassin thriller “The Killer,” Bradley Cooper’s Oscar hopeful “Maestro,” Mann’s gripping “Ferrari,” and more.
Word on the Lido was highest for eventual Golden Lion winner “Poor Things,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 80th Venice Film Festival handed out its awards and Yorgos Lanthimos has clinched the top prize with his latest feature Poor Things, starring Emma Stone. Scroll down for the winners list.
The Greek filmmaker’s latest, which also stars Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, is based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name and follows Stone as Bella Baxter, a creation of the brilliant and unorthodox scientist played by Dafoe in an echo of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel Frankenstein. Ruffalo plays a slick and debauched lawyer.
Dedicating the award to his lead actress, Lanthimos said Poor Things wouldn’t exist “without Emma Stone.”
“This film is her in front and behind the camera,” he added.
Elsewhere, Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi took the Grand Jury Prize with Evil Does Not Exist, his follow-up to Drive My Car. Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny took the Best Actress prize...
The Greek filmmaker’s latest, which also stars Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, is based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name and follows Stone as Bella Baxter, a creation of the brilliant and unorthodox scientist played by Dafoe in an echo of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel Frankenstein. Ruffalo plays a slick and debauched lawyer.
Dedicating the award to his lead actress, Lanthimos said Poor Things wouldn’t exist “without Emma Stone.”
“This film is her in front and behind the camera,” he added.
Elsewhere, Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi took the Grand Jury Prize with Evil Does Not Exist, his follow-up to Drive My Car. Priscilla breakout Cailee Spaeny took the Best Actress prize...
- 9/9/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The winners of the 2023 Venice Film Festival are being announced this evening (September 9).
The 80th Venice Film Festival comes to a close today with the awards ceremony, held at the Sala Grande in the Palazzo del Cinema.
Starting at 7pm Cet (6pm BST), viewers can watch the ceremony live in the video above; Screen will be updating this page with the winners as they are announced.
Scroll down for the latest winners
The ceremony will be hosted by Italian actress Caterina Murino, who also hosted the opening ceremony on August 30. A Competition jury led by Damien Chazelle will award eight prizes,...
The 80th Venice Film Festival comes to a close today with the awards ceremony, held at the Sala Grande in the Palazzo del Cinema.
Starting at 7pm Cet (6pm BST), viewers can watch the ceremony live in the video above; Screen will be updating this page with the winners as they are announced.
Scroll down for the latest winners
The ceremony will be hosted by Italian actress Caterina Murino, who also hosted the opening ceremony on August 30. A Competition jury led by Damien Chazelle will award eight prizes,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, a fantastical feminist fable starring Emma Stone as a woman reanimated by a Frankenstein-style Victorian scientist (Willem Dafoe), has won the Golden Lion for best film at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.
The Hollywood Reporter critics praised the film — which includes a potentially career-defining performance by star Emma Stone as Isabella Baxter, the woman who struggles to understand the restrictive patriarchy of the world around her, and then proceeds to dismantle it.
In his acceptance speech, Lanthimos said it took a long time to make the movie, his first since 2018 Oscar winner The Favourite, “until the world, until our industry, was ready for this film.” He singled out Stone for praise.
“Above all, this film is the central character of Isabella Baxter, this incredible creature, and she wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone, another incredible creature. This film is her, in front and behind the camera.
The Hollywood Reporter critics praised the film — which includes a potentially career-defining performance by star Emma Stone as Isabella Baxter, the woman who struggles to understand the restrictive patriarchy of the world around her, and then proceeds to dismantle it.
In his acceptance speech, Lanthimos said it took a long time to make the movie, his first since 2018 Oscar winner The Favourite, “until the world, until our industry, was ready for this film.” He singled out Stone for praise.
“Above all, this film is the central character of Isabella Baxter, this incredible creature, and she wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone, another incredible creature. This film is her, in front and behind the camera.
- 9/9/2023
- by Scott Roxborough and Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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
Lucky Number Seven: The Grabbing Hands Grab All They Can in Lee Hong-Chi’s Debut
Working as both a crime film (non-gangster former life) and drama-soaked poetic rendering of suspended time, there is plenty to admire in the directorial debut of fresh-faced Taiwanese actor turned filmmaker Lee Hong-Chi. Best known for his turns in Cities in Last Things and Long Day’s Journey into the Night (both 2018 films), Love Is A Gun certainly borrows in terms of aestheticism and murky crime world parameters in what amounts to be a moody, yet light portrait. Co-written along with Lin Cheng Hsun, the film proposes a snapshot of how economic strains for this pocket of Taiwanese youth is the nouveau death scrolling — an empty collective existence not concerned with tomorrow and in some cases crushed with mounting debt.…...
Working as both a crime film (non-gangster former life) and drama-soaked poetic rendering of suspended time, there is plenty to admire in the directorial debut of fresh-faced Taiwanese actor turned filmmaker Lee Hong-Chi. Best known for his turns in Cities in Last Things and Long Day’s Journey into the Night (both 2018 films), Love Is A Gun certainly borrows in terms of aestheticism and murky crime world parameters in what amounts to be a moody, yet light portrait. Co-written along with Lin Cheng Hsun, the film proposes a snapshot of how economic strains for this pocket of Taiwanese youth is the nouveau death scrolling — an empty collective existence not concerned with tomorrow and in some cases crushed with mounting debt.…...
- 9/4/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
This concert film chronicles the final performance of the Oscar-winning Japanese composer of ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’.
London and Paris-based outfit Film Constellation has boarded world sales on Neo Sora’s Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
The concert film chronicles the final performance of Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning Japanese composer of The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, who died on March 28 aged 71. It will premiere out of competition at Venice on September 5. A first-look image from the film can be seen above.
Featuring just Sakamoto and his piano,...
London and Paris-based outfit Film Constellation has boarded world sales on Neo Sora’s Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus, ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
The concert film chronicles the final performance of Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning Japanese composer of The Last Emperor and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, who died on March 28 aged 71. It will premiere out of competition at Venice on September 5. A first-look image from the film can be seen above.
Featuring just Sakamoto and his piano,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
"Don't cross the line. You can't just do anything for money." Screen Daily has debuted a promo trailer for a Taiwanese indie film titled Love Is a Gun, marking the feature directorial debut of Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-Chi. The film is premiering at the 2023 Venice Film Festival in a few weeks in the sidebar Critics' Week section (aka Sic) - they describe the film as "a dark, painful, fierce neo-noir, after Lee Chang-Dong, Diao Yinan, Wong Kar Wai." It follows a young man who is determined to start afresh after getting out of jail, but his turbulent past comes back to haunt him, including a gun of which he cannot get rid of. It's another crime thriller, but this trailer reveals a more colorful, vibrant side to it along with its switch between light & dark themes. The film also stars Lee Hong-chi, with Lin Ying Wei, Zheng Qing Yu, Lin Ke Ren,...
- 8/15/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The title is Taiwan-born actor Lee Hong-Chi’s directorial debut.
Screen can unveil the first trailer for Taiwan-born actor Lee Hong-Chi’s directorial debut Love Is A Gun, which is set to premiere in Venice.
The drama, also starring and written by Lee, is about a young man who is determined to start afresh after getting out of jail, but his turbulent past comes back to haunt him, including a gun of which he cannot get rid.
It will be in competition in Venice’s Critics’ Week, which describes this debut work as “a dark, painful, fierce neo-noir, after Lee Chang-Dong,...
Screen can unveil the first trailer for Taiwan-born actor Lee Hong-Chi’s directorial debut Love Is A Gun, which is set to premiere in Venice.
The drama, also starring and written by Lee, is about a young man who is determined to start afresh after getting out of jail, but his turbulent past comes back to haunt him, including a gun of which he cannot get rid.
It will be in competition in Venice’s Critics’ Week, which describes this debut work as “a dark, painful, fierce neo-noir, after Lee Chang-Dong,...
- 8/15/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
‘Love Is A Gun’ set to play in competition in Critics’ Week at Venice.
Chinese sales agent Parallax Films has boarded actor Lee Hong-Chi’s directorial debut Love Is A Gun, ahead of its premiere at Venice, and Liang Ming’s Carefree Days, the opening film of San Sebastian’s New Directors strand.
Love Is A Gun, also starring and written by Lee, follows a young man who is determined to start afresh after getting out of jail, but his turbulent past comes back to haunt him, including a gun of which he cannot get rid.
It will premiere in...
Chinese sales agent Parallax Films has boarded actor Lee Hong-Chi’s directorial debut Love Is A Gun, ahead of its premiere at Venice, and Liang Ming’s Carefree Days, the opening film of San Sebastian’s New Directors strand.
Love Is A Gun, also starring and written by Lee, follows a young man who is determined to start afresh after getting out of jail, but his turbulent past comes back to haunt him, including a gun of which he cannot get rid.
It will premiere in...
- 8/11/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...
- 7/29/2023
- MUBI
Two UK features play in competition at event’s 38th edition.
Venice Critics’ Week has selected seven features for its main competition, including two from the UK - Hoard by Luna Carmoon and Sky Peals by Moin Hussain.
Scroll down for full line-up
Hoard is the debut feature from Carmoon, a Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022,. It is produced by Loran Dunn (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2017), Helen Simmons (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2018) with Andy Starke, and stars Hayley Squires, Joseph Quinn (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2018) and Saura Lightfoot Leon.
Hoard is backed by the BFI and BBC Film, which also supported development,...
Venice Critics’ Week has selected seven features for its main competition, including two from the UK - Hoard by Luna Carmoon and Sky Peals by Moin Hussain.
Scroll down for full line-up
Hoard is the debut feature from Carmoon, a Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022,. It is produced by Loran Dunn (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2017), Helen Simmons (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2018) with Andy Starke, and stars Hayley Squires, Joseph Quinn (Screen Star of Tomorrow 2018) and Saura Lightfoot Leon.
Hoard is backed by the BFI and BBC Film, which also supported development,...
- 7/24/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
“God Is a Woman,” a doc by Swiss-Panamanian filmmaker Andrés Peyrot about Pierre Dominique Gaisseau’s 1975 journey to Panama to make a film on the island-dwelling Kuna people — whose women play a unique and sacred role — will open the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week.
The section’s out-of-competition opener reconstructs the legend of this film that was passed down from the elders to the new Kuna generation, but never made it to the screen. Gaisseau, a French explorer and filmmaker who won an Oscar in 1961 for the doc “The Sky Above, the Mud Below,” lived with the Kuna people on a Panamanian island for a year and filmed their most intimate ceremonies. He then promised to return with the film, but never did. He ran out of funding and a bank confiscated his reels, which Peyrot unearthed 50 years later.
Films in the Venice Critics’ Week competition comprise “About Last Year,...
The section’s out-of-competition opener reconstructs the legend of this film that was passed down from the elders to the new Kuna generation, but never made it to the screen. Gaisseau, a French explorer and filmmaker who won an Oscar in 1961 for the doc “The Sky Above, the Mud Below,” lived with the Kuna people on a Panamanian island for a year and filmed their most intimate ceremonies. He then promised to return with the film, but never did. He ran out of funding and a bank confiscated his reels, which Peyrot unearthed 50 years later.
Films in the Venice Critics’ Week competition comprise “About Last Year,...
- 7/24/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Venice Critics’ Week has announced the line-up for its 38th edition, running August 30 to September 9 alongside the Venice Film Festival.
The seven competition titles include UK director Moin Hussain’s debut feature Sky Peals about a lonely man working the night shifts at a motorway service station with little human contact or connection. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, Adam finds himself piecing together a complicated image of a man that he never really knew and uncovers details of his life that he struggles to comprehend.
Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-Chi’s will also unveil his directorial debut Love Is A Gun about a petty criminal whose attempts to build a quiet life following his release from prison are upended by the reappearance of his former boss, his debt-ridden mother and an old friend.
The competition titles will compete for the €5,000 Grand Prize and the €3,000 Audience Award. The selection...
The seven competition titles include UK director Moin Hussain’s debut feature Sky Peals about a lonely man working the night shifts at a motorway service station with little human contact or connection. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, Adam finds himself piecing together a complicated image of a man that he never really knew and uncovers details of his life that he struggles to comprehend.
Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-Chi’s will also unveil his directorial debut Love Is A Gun about a petty criminal whose attempts to build a quiet life following his release from prison are upended by the reappearance of his former boss, his debt-ridden mother and an old friend.
The competition titles will compete for the €5,000 Grand Prize and the €3,000 Audience Award. The selection...
- 7/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
(Welcome to Movies Are Gay, a Pride Month series where we explore the intentional, or accidental, ways Lgbtqia+ themes, characters, and creatives have shaped cinema.)
I try not to be one of those people that operate as if any instance of two men showing care and compassion for one another is inherently homoerotic because it's that line of thinking that makes it difficult for straight men to actually express genuine emotions and allows the patriarchy to continue to destroy us all. That said, Tequila (Chow Yun-fat) and Alan (Tony Leung) of John Woo's brilliant "Hard Boiled" are so in love they have to shoot guns about it. The final film Woo would make before he went to Hollywood, this pinnacle of Gun-Fu tells the story of one cop reeling from the loss of his partner and another working deep undercover that join forces to take down a corrupt group...
I try not to be one of those people that operate as if any instance of two men showing care and compassion for one another is inherently homoerotic because it's that line of thinking that makes it difficult for straight men to actually express genuine emotions and allows the patriarchy to continue to destroy us all. That said, Tequila (Chow Yun-fat) and Alan (Tony Leung) of John Woo's brilliant "Hard Boiled" are so in love they have to shoot guns about it. The final film Woo would make before he went to Hollywood, this pinnacle of Gun-Fu tells the story of one cop reeling from the loss of his partner and another working deep undercover that join forces to take down a corrupt group...
- 6/4/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Chloë Grace Moretz leads us into the future with Prime Video’s “The Peripheral.”
The time-traveling series is based on author William Gibson’s bestselling sci-fi novel, and is adapted for the screen by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the creators of “Westworld.” The show premieres October 21 on Prime Video.
In the vein of “The Matrix” and “Total Recall,” “The Peripheral” introduces viewers to another dimension: but this time, it’s a voyage into the future, not an alternate past. The cast includes Jack Reynor, Gary Carr, Eli Goree, Louis Herthum, JJ Feild, T’Nia Miller, Charlotte Riley, Alexandra Billings, Adelind Horan, Alex Hernandez, Katie Leung, Julian Moore-Cook, Melinda Page Hamilton, Chris Coy, and Austin Rising.
Per an official synopsis, “The Peripheral” centers on Flynne Fisher (Moretz), a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious,...
The time-traveling series is based on author William Gibson’s bestselling sci-fi novel, and is adapted for the screen by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the creators of “Westworld.” The show premieres October 21 on Prime Video.
In the vein of “The Matrix” and “Total Recall,” “The Peripheral” introduces viewers to another dimension: but this time, it’s a voyage into the future, not an alternate past. The cast includes Jack Reynor, Gary Carr, Eli Goree, Louis Herthum, JJ Feild, T’Nia Miller, Charlotte Riley, Alexandra Billings, Adelind Horan, Alex Hernandez, Katie Leung, Julian Moore-Cook, Melinda Page Hamilton, Chris Coy, and Austin Rising.
Per an official synopsis, “The Peripheral” centers on Flynne Fisher (Moretz), a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The animated film Nimona, scrapped following the shutdown of Blue Sky Studios amid Disney’s acquisition of Fox, has landed at Netflix, with Chloë Grace Moretz (Mother/Android), Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and Eugene Lee Yang (Spring Bloom) set to star. The adaptation of Nd Stevenson’s New York Times bestselling graphic novel—originally to have been directed by Patrick Osborne, but now being helmed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Spies in Disguise)—will debut on the streamer in 2023.
In the LGBTQ+-themed Nimona, Knight Ballister Boldheart (Ahmed) is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Moretz), a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is an inclusive story about the labels we assign to people...
In the LGBTQ+-themed Nimona, Knight Ballister Boldheart (Ahmed) is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Moretz), a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is an inclusive story about the labels we assign to people...
- 4/11/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Scribe Sheldon Turner & His Vendetta Productions Board Amazon College Football Feature ‘Work Horses’
Exclusive: Up in the Air Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winning scribe Sheldon Turner has boarded Amazon’s football drama Work Horses in what is a complete reinvention of the project. He will produce with Jennifer Klein via their company Vendetta Productions.
The project, which is being directed by Emmy winning American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson filmmaker Anthony Hemingway, was announced in November 2018 exclusively by Deadline. Work Horses takes an inside look into the world of high-stakes, big time college football, and follows a newly hired head coach as he confronts systematic corruption and the routine abuse of athletes within the sport. We hear it’s been billed as The Insider meets Friday Night Lights.
As previously reported two-time NFL Mvp Aaron Rodgers and ESPN analyst Desmond Howard will executive produce with Ryan Rottman. Hemingway will produce with ex-NFL and former Lsu receiver Abram Booty and Nate Raabe.
The project, which is being directed by Emmy winning American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson filmmaker Anthony Hemingway, was announced in November 2018 exclusively by Deadline. Work Horses takes an inside look into the world of high-stakes, big time college football, and follows a newly hired head coach as he confronts systematic corruption and the routine abuse of athletes within the sport. We hear it’s been billed as The Insider meets Friday Night Lights.
As previously reported two-time NFL Mvp Aaron Rodgers and ESPN analyst Desmond Howard will executive produce with Ryan Rottman. Hemingway will produce with ex-NFL and former Lsu receiver Abram Booty and Nate Raabe.
- 8/20/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Chloë Grace Moretz of "Kick-Ass" fame and Jack O’Connell ("Unbroken") will star as moronic, 1930's killers, bank robbers 'Bonnie And Clyde' in director Kiké Maillo's "Love Is A Gun", adapting author Jeff Guinn's novel "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story Of Bonnie And Clyde":
Marissa McMahon and Ashley Schlaifer of Kamala Films ("A Private War") are producing with Sean and Bryan Furst ("Daybreakers") for Skybound Entertainment.
The bank-robbers killed at least nine police officers and several civilians.
A snapshot of the couple found at an abandoned hide-out, with pistol-toting Bonnie smoking a cigar, was subsequently distributed to the press...
...positioning the unmarried outlaws on the national media scene, launching their brief careers as 'fun-loving' criminal 'social media' superstars.
Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting prison punk...
...but a steady stream of photographs kept the blood-thirsty media and Depression-era public wanting more.
Marissa McMahon and Ashley Schlaifer of Kamala Films ("A Private War") are producing with Sean and Bryan Furst ("Daybreakers") for Skybound Entertainment.
The bank-robbers killed at least nine police officers and several civilians.
A snapshot of the couple found at an abandoned hide-out, with pistol-toting Bonnie smoking a cigar, was subsequently distributed to the press...
...positioning the unmarried outlaws on the national media scene, launching their brief careers as 'fun-loving' criminal 'social media' superstars.
Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting prison punk...
...but a steady stream of photographs kept the blood-thirsty media and Depression-era public wanting more.
- 8/13/2019
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Chloë Grace Moretz of "Kick-Ass" fame and Jack O’Connell ("Unbroken") will star as moronic, 1930's killers, bank robbers 'Bonnie And Clyde' in director Kiké Maillo's "Love Is A Gun", adapting author Jeff Guinn's novel "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story Of Bonnie And Clyde":
Marissa McMahon and Ashley Schlaifer of Kamala Films ("A Private War") are producing with Sean and Bryan Furst ("Daybreakers") for Skybound Entertainment.
The dim-witted bank-robbers killed at least nine police officers and several civilians.
A snapshot of the couple found at an abandoned hide-out, with pistol-toting Bonnie smoking a cigar, was subsequently distributed to the press, positioning the unmarried outlaws on the national media scene, launching their brief careers as 'fun-loving' criminal superstars.
Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting punk...
...but a steady stream of photographs kept the media and the Depression-era public wanting more.
Marissa McMahon and Ashley Schlaifer of Kamala Films ("A Private War") are producing with Sean and Bryan Furst ("Daybreakers") for Skybound Entertainment.
The dim-witted bank-robbers killed at least nine police officers and several civilians.
A snapshot of the couple found at an abandoned hide-out, with pistol-toting Bonnie smoking a cigar, was subsequently distributed to the press, positioning the unmarried outlaws on the national media scene, launching their brief careers as 'fun-loving' criminal superstars.
Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting punk...
...but a steady stream of photographs kept the media and the Depression-era public wanting more.
- 5/1/2019
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
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