26 February 2010, (Hong Kong) Fresh off its Berlin Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay, Apart Together, by award-winning Chinese director Wang Quan'an, will be presented at the Awards Gala of the 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF). The Asian premierewill take place on the evening of 30 March 2010, directly after the annual HKIFF Awards Presentation Ceremony in the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Kowloon.
This year, Apart Together was also nominated for the 60th Berlin Film Festival’s coveted Golden Bear Award. Apart Together director Wang Quan'an, part of China's sixth generation of filmmakers, previously won the Golden Bear at the 2007 Berlin Festival for the unconventional love story Tuya's Marriage, set in the grasslands of Mongolia. It was the third Chinese movie ever to win the award.
Other premieres of Chinese films debuting at the 34th HKIFF include the ‘Father of Chinese Rock’ Cui Jian, who goes behind the camera for the first time directing the first half of Chengdu, I Love You. Alongside are two films from Taiwan by first-time directors: the Asian Premiere of Arvin Chen’s Berlin NETPAC Award Winner Au Revoir Taipei, executive produced by acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders; and Essay Liu with the World Premiere of Seven Days in Heaven.
Li Cheuk To, Artistic Director of the HKIFF commented, “The HKIFF has been known for discovering, recognising and promoting the best in Chinese cinema throughout its 33-year history. This year we continue to uphold our heritage by showcasing a broad selection of Chinese language films onto the world stage from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.”
The HKIFF is regarded as Asia’s leading platform to promote Chinese films at a local and global level through a number of initiatives. In addition to the Asian Premiere of Apart Together, eight Chinese language films from the Mainland will feature under a new section called “China Screenings” at the HKIFF Industry Screenings (HIS) to emphasize the growing strength of the film industry and culture on the Mainland.
The HIS is a collaborative initiative set up in 2007 between the HKIFF and the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) to offer market and industry access to new and quality Asian productions. Compared to only one Mainland film selected in 2009, the HIS this year reflects the growing quality and market interest in the Chinese language films.
The highlighted Chinese films at the 34th HKIFF and HIS are attached in the Appendix. The full Festival Programme, including the Opening Films and the key highlights for the 34th HKIFF is available at www.hkiff.org.
About HKIFF
The HKIFF is one of Asia’s most reputable platforms for filmmakers, film professionals and filmgoers from all over the world to launch new works and experience outstanding films.
The HKIFF is Asia's leading film showcase screening over 240 titles from more than 50 countries in 11 major cultural venues. The Festival is Hong Kong’s largest cultural event that reaches an audience of over 590,000 including 4,500 business executives who attend the Hong Kong Film and Television Market (FILMART), a concurrent event of the HKIFF held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The 34th HKIFF will be held from 21 March to 6 April 2010. General ticket sales will open for Citibank Priority Booking on February 25, 2010 and for the general public on February 28, 2010.
Committed to discovering new talent, the Festival premieres the breadth of Chinese cinema and showcases Asian talent. As a lifestyle event, festival-goers can enjoy world-class films, attend seminars hosted by leading filmmakers from around the world, visit film exhibitions, join celebration parties, and much more. For more information, please visit www.hkiff.org.
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Appendix – Highlighted Chinese films at the 34th HKIFF & HIS
| Chinese Film |
Director |
Category |
Details |
Synopsis |
Apart Together |
Wang Quan’an |
Asian Premiere
HIS China
Screenings |
Date: 30 March
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Hong Kong
Cultural Centre
Date: 5 April
Time: 10:30am
Venue: Science Museum |
Apart Together is a fictional account of a group of Kuomintang soldiers returning home from Taiwan to Shanghai – reuniting with their families torn apart by China's civil war. |
Chengdu, I Love You |
Fruit Chan,
Cui Jian |
|
Date: 22 March
Time: 9:30pm
Venue: UA Cityplaza
Date: 3 April
Time: 12:45pm
Venue: Hong Kong City Hall |
A paean to the titular city, the two-part Chengdu, I Love You was commissioned after 2008’s deadly earthquake. Veteran musician Cui Jian makes his directorial debut with the futuristic first segment, 2029. Acclaimed director Fruit Chan helms the second part, titled 1976, about a manic young teahouse master who falls for his waitress during the Cultural Revolution. |
Au Revoir Taipei |
Arvin Chen |
Asian Premiere
HIS China
Screenings |
Date: 23 March
Time: 7:15pm
Venue: UA Langham Place
Date: 25 March
Time: 9:30pm
Venue: UA Cityplaza |
A lovesick teen, a retiring gangster, a wannabe thug and his trio of henchmen, a bookshop worker and a cop with a broken heart cross paths on one Taipei evening that changes their fates and fortunes, possibly forever. Executive produced by Wim Wenders, Au Revoir Taipei is one part caper comedy and one part bittersweet romance. |
Distant Thunder
(Yuan Lei) |
Zhang Jiarui |
World Premiere
HIS China
Screenings |
Date: 24 March
Time: 7:15pm
Venue: The Grand Cinema
Date: 28 March
Time: 10:30am
Venue: Hong Kong
Arts Centre |
Like any city in China, modern-day Chongqing is full of contrasts. Zhao Po, a geeky college student with good grades, comes from a humble background. But a traumatic past, coupled with his awkwardness around girls and an obsession with social status eventually leads him down a dark path. |
Judge (Touxi) |
Liu Jie |
|
Date: 24 March
Time: 5:15pm
Venue: The Grand Cinema
Date: 31 March
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: The Grand Cinema |
Zhuozhou, Hebei, 1997. The case of Qiu Wu, who stole two luxury cars, is presented to Judge Tian. The death penalty is a possibility for the criminal, but a recent change in the law may spare him. But Tian’s daughter was recently killed by a stolen vehicle. And a rich businessman is in desperate need of a new kidney. Conflicting interests, personal agendas and unorthodox favours make this case far from ordinary. |
| One Day |
Hou Chi-jan |
Asian Premiere
HIS China
Screenings |
Date: 23 March
Time: 12:30pm
Venue: UA Times Square
Date: 27 March
Time: 4:00pm
Venue: UA Times Square |
Nikki Hsieh and Bryan Chang are lovers that span time and space in Hou Chi-jan’s dreamlike romance. Known best for his Taiwanese exploitation cinema documentary, Taiwan Black Movies, Hou starts his whimsical, typically Taiwanese love story with a girl’s recurring dream about a boy trying to communicate across a distance. Later she meets a soldier who claims he will one day be her lover. |
| Seven Days in Heaven |
Essay Liu |
World Premiere
HIS China
Screenings |
Date: 28 March
Time: 9:00pm
Venue: Science Museum
Date: 3 April
Time: 9:00pm
Venue: Hong Kong
Arts Centre |
Lin Guo Yuan has just died. Over the seven days of the Taoist mourning ritual that follows, the impact on his son Da-zhi, daughter Mei, nephew Zhuang, sister-in-law Chin and Yi, the priest overseeing the ceremony is explored as each reflects on their relationship with the dead man. Coded in vivid colour, 7 Days in Heaven sees both the absurd comedy and heartbreaking emotion found in death. |
The Search
(Xun Zhao Zhi Mei
Geng Deng) |
Pema Tsedan |
|
Date: 26 March
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Science Museum
Date: 29 March
Time: 9:30pm
Venue: Hong Kong
Arts Centre |
Director Wanmacaidan (now Pema Tsedan), who last won the FIPRESCI prize at HKIFF with The Silent Holy Stones, has created a tribute to the rich tapestry of Tibetan people in The Search. This beautifully formalistic “film within a film” begins with a movie director trying to cast indigenous people for his adaptation of Prince Drime Kunden, a man who gave away his worldly possessions. Their long search finally yields a candidate for the Princess role, but she refuses to consent unless her absent boyfriend can be the Prince. |
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