Impressions and critique from DL 2008

The 4th edition of Directors Lounge is now over.
Sabrina Small and Jacob Birken were writing about Directors Lounge 08, on a daily base.
Read here.
Posts on China program can be read too : Jump they say, China is Tired, China is Naked.

Directors Lounge 2008!

The program is online!

Directors Lounge 2008 7.-17. February 2008 Berlin

The fourth Directors Lounge Berlin will take place from 7. - 17. february, at the time of the 58th Berlin International Festival. Expect video art and experimental film from all flavors and parts of the world.
More than 250 international artists, specials, accompanied by DJs and VJs ensure ten cosmopolitan days and nights..

Special on China : Impressions of China.

This fresh selection of Chinese works gives another look on the independent production from Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing today, showing various styles and impressions. It consists of 3 programs. Program 1, "Memory and Urban Development" focuses on the effects of the rapid change on all levels in contemporary China and mixes documentary, experimental, video art, fiction. Program 2, "Short Stories : Attitudes and Expressions", deals with the relationships between the individual and the group, between individuals, between men and women. They display a certain attitude and way of thinking that city youngsters adopt.
In addition to these programs, a performance video and a video installation will be screened.

Directors Lounge 2008

• The fourth Directors Lounge Berlin will take place from 7. - 17. february, at the time of the 58th Berlin International Festival. Expect video art and experimental film from all flavors and parts of the world. Several curated programs, specials, accompanied by DJs and VJs ensure ten cosmopolitan days and nights..
Once again we will offer a hideaway, a relaxed space for filmmakers, videoartists and everybody interested in experimental forms of cinema and videoart.

• The screenings are followed by nights of music and specials. The Lounge as a club, the spot to dance the night away.

• As the name suggests – Directors Lounge will always be a meetingpoint, a place to have a drink and to lounge around with other friendly lizards

7 - 17th february 2008 Berlin Mitte, Friedrich Str. 112A

daily from 6 pm - open end

Directors Lounge 2008

A special on China will be presented.

SIFF - Shanghai International Film Festival

SIFF 2007.6.16-24
website

Nominees of 10th SIFF Asian New Talent Awards are as follows :

Bliss by Sheng Zhiming (China)
Synopsis:
This is a story about a family living beside the river. Like all the other families, every member of the family seems close to each other, but in fact they are miles apart, and everyone have a secret that they cannot share....

Saigon Eclipse by Othello Khanh (Vietnam)
Synopsis:
Kieu, a beautiful and talented actress, is starring in a film directed by Kim, an American/Vietnamese who has come back to Vietnam to become a part of the new wave of Vietnamese film culture. The film is being produced by her Uncle Henry and her mother Ba Tu. It is a seemingly wonderful situation until the fragile family balance is disrupted when Kieu falls in love with her director, and Uncle Henry’s mounting gambling debts shut down production of the film...

On The Wings of Dreams by Golam Rabbany Biplob (Bangladesh)
Synopsis:
Mid-thirties young man Kabiraj is only a canvasser who sells ointments and allied herbal medicines in the village weekly markets by canvassing the virtues of the products. One evening Kabiraj returns home with a second-hand trouser with a number of pockets for his son Ratan. His wife finds some foreign currency notes in its pocket while she was washing the trouser. They think that these currency notes to be of great value and huge money, but they are ignorant of how to exchange them...

The Cold Flame by Yang Shufeng (China)
Synopsis:
In 1944, Sister Maria from France turned the church established by her missionary father into a temporary hospital for wounded soldiers. After a cruel battle with Japanese, KMT Captain XUE Youfang was sent to the hospital with serious injuries. There he met DU Jingxuan, a girl of 14 years old, who came here for shelter with her younger brother. The life without parents forced to act mature. She protected herself with lies and distance from others. Du gradually became attracted to Xue who was still in coma.…

The Case by Wang Fen (China)
Synopsis:
Dasam and his wife own a small guesthouse in an ancient town at the foot of the Snow Mountain. His wife is a bit plump and not beautiful, and she takes good care of him like his mother did before. One morning, Dasam comes across a case which is floating along the river and, upon opening it, is astonished to find it filled with the frozen body parts of a woman. Around the same time, a strange couple arrive at the guesthouse...

The Touch of Fate by Pan Chih-yuan (Taiwan)
Synopsis:
Da Yu, a 15-year-old boy, likes to loiter in this lonely city. He has no emotions and doesn’t know how to express his feelings, just because he is a so-called unwelcome problem student. One day, facing the insult of teacher, Da Yu fights back with violence. Accidentally, he meets A Li and Lao Liao, and begins a life between two fingers...

The Crossword Monologues by Hideaki Kataoka (Japan)
Synopsis:
If you took the inner thoughts, or monologues, of various strangers living in different parts of the world and lined them up as if in a crossword puzzle, these monologues could eventually create a conversation. Zoé, Sakura, Jennifer, Maria form a conversation through their monologues though they live different time and space...

Denias, Singing On The Cloud by John De Rantau (Indonesia)
Synopsis:
This movie is based on a true story of real struggle of a boy named DENIAS, who came from Aroanop, a small village at Jayawijaya Mountain in western Papua Island.

For Horowitz by Kwon Hyung-jin (South Korea)
Synopsis:
Kim Ji-soo is a 30-year-old single woman. She is suffering from an inferiority complex rooted in an unfulfilled dream to become a famous pianist like Vladimir Horowitz. Ji-soo acquires a small piano studio in the outskirts of Seoul to make a living. But one day, she bumps into a strange boy, Gyung-min, and realizes that he’s a musical genius with an absolute pitch.

Veyil (Hot Sun Light) by Gurunathan Vasanthabalan (India)
Synopsis:
Murukesan likes watching movie in theatre, but one day he was caught by his father red-handed from the theatre after he bunks school. The child is severely punished and he runs away from home after taking money and jewels. He is taken in a theatre and slowly the theatre becomes his home. He falls in love with Thankam a beautiful girl, but their love story doesn’t have a happy ending.

The Asian film nominees of 10 SIFF Jin Jue Awards are as follows :

The Knot by Yin Li (China)
Eye in the Sky by Yau Nai-Hoi (Hong Kong)
Radio Star by Lee Joon-ik (South Korea)
Love and Honor by Yoji Yamada (Japan)
Bizan by Isshin Inudou (Japan)
The Go Master by Tian Zhuangzhuang (China)
Shanghai Red by Oscar Luis Costo (China / USA)

Cannes....

Naomi Kawase received the Grand Prize for her film, The Mourning forest (Mogari no mori, Japan) and Jeon Do-yeon received Best Actress Award for Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea).

Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang-dong, with Jeon Do-Yeon, Song Kang-Ho. 2007. South Korea.

synopsis : Sin-ae moves with her son Jun to Miryang, the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to come to herself and set out on new foundations, another tragic event overturns her life.
link to festival's page.

The Mourning Forest by Naomi Kawase, with Shigeki Uda, Machiko Ono, Makiko Watanabe, Kanako Masuda, Yohichiro Saito, 2007, Japan.

synopsis : Shigeki lives in a small retirement home. He feels comfortable and happy here with the other residents and the gentle and caring hospital staff. Machiko, one of the home’s staff pays special attention to him. However she is secretly haunted by the loss of her child. After celebrating Shigeki’s birthday Machiko decides to take him for a drive in the countryside. Making their way along the scenic back-roads the car is forced into a ditch by a land-slide and it is here that they embark on their journey of discovery together. As Shigeki determinedly heads off into the forest, Machiko has no choice but to follow. After two exhausting days trudging through the dense wood they finally arrive at Shigeki’s wife’s tomb.

link to festival's page.

The Prix France-Culture is awarded yearly by French national public radio during the Cannes Festival to a filmmaker for career achievement. The 2007 prize went to Cambodian Rithy Panh "for the intensity of his work and his commitment to the presentation of Cambodia's cinematographic memory." Charlotte Rampling was president of the jury.


Cannes website.

some updates

- A review on Directors Lounge 2007 written by Klaus W. Eisenlohr can be read on Rich Film site (with pics too).

- A review on the special programme of Chinese documentaries proposed by Fragments at The Festival of Asian Cinema of Tours can be found on the blog (in French, written by Delphine).

- "Fragments" presents Outside a documentary by Wang Wo in Nantes (France) on Tuesday 17th. The film was presented at Directors Lounge 2007 (Focus on China Doc) and at The Festival of Asian Cinema of Tours.
More here.
The film shows scenes of daily life in the streets of Beijing that were taken between 2001 and 2005. Thanks to their combination, these trivial scenes constitute an accute observation on the urban Chinese society today, the city, its organization and its development, its implications and the consequences of the social-economic mutations of China, but also the everyday life of ordinary people, the left-side, the migratory workers, the passer-bys, the individuals...

A review on the film will be soon online.

HK Inter. Film Festival - Results of the Winners

The awards... Concerning the Asian awards, it seems to be the same ones that got them !

The 2nd Fresh Wave Short Film Competition
Grand Prize, “Merry X’mas” / Directed by Jevons Au

Signis Award
Winner, “The Italian” / Directed by Andrei Kravchuk from Russia
Special Mention, “Fresh Air” / Directed by Andrei Kravchuk from Hungary
and “The Island” / Directed by Pavel Lounguine from Russia

FIRPRESCI Winner
“Betelnut” Directed by Yang Heng from China

Humanitarian Awards for Documentary
Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary
“Nanking” Directed by Bill Gunttetag and Dan Sturman from USA

Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Documentary
“Potosi, The Journey” Directed by Ron Havilio from Israel/France

The Asian Digital Competition
Golden Digital Award
“Love Conquers All” Directed by Tan Chui-mui from Malaysia

Silver Digital Award
“Betelnut” Directed by Yang Heng from China

Asian Film Award (HK) - The Results

Asian Film Award

On March 20, 2007, the Hong Kong International Film Festival will roll out the red carpet for the Asian Film Awards (AFA)....

website

The Results :

Best Film - The Host (South Korea)
Other nominees: Curse of the Golden Flower (Chinese mainland / Hong Kong), Exiled (Hong Kong), Love and Honor (Japan), Opera Jawa (Indonesia / Austria), Still Life (Chinese mainland)

Best Director - JIA Zhangke (Still Life - Chinese mainland)
Other nominees: Hong Sang-soo (Woman on the Beach - South Korea), Jafar PANAHI (Offside - Iran), Johnnie TO (Exiled - Hong Kong), TSAI Ming-liang (I Don't Want to Sleep Alone - Taiwan / France / Austria), Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL (Syndromes and a Century - Thailand / Austria / France)

Best Actor - SONG Kang-ho (The Host - South Korea),
Other nominees: CHANG Chen (The Go Master - Chinese mainland), RAIN (JUNG Ji-hoon) (I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK - South Korea), Shahrukh KHAN (DON - India), Andy LAU (A Battle of Wits - Hong Kong / Chinese mainland / Japan / South Korea, WATANABE Ken (Memories of Tomorrow - Japan)

Best Actress - NAKATAI Miki (Memories of Matsuko - Japan)
Other nominees: GONG Li (Curse of the Golden Flower - Chinese Mainland / Hong Kong), KIM Hye-soo (Tazza: The High Rollers - South Korea), LIM Soo-jung (I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK - South Korea), MIYAZAWA Rie (Hana - Japan), Zhang Ziyi (The Banquet - Chinese mainland / Hong Kong)

Best Screenwriter - Mani HAGHIGHI (Men at Work - Iran)
Other nominees: HONG Sang-soo (Woman on the Beach - South Korea), OISHI Tetsuya, KANEKO Shusuke (Death Note: The Last Name - Japan), SOHN Jae-gon (My Scary Girl - South Korea), Prabda YOON (Invisible Waves - Thailand / The Netherlands / South Korea / Hong Kong), ZHANG Cheng, YUE Xiaojun, NING Hao (Crazy Stone - Chinese mainland / Hong Kong)

Best Cinematographer - KIM Hyung-goo (The Host - South Korea)
Other nominees: Andrew LAU, LAI Yiu-fai (Confession of Pain - Hong Kong / Chinese mainland), LIAO Pen-jung (I Don't Want to Sleep Alone - Taiwan / France / Austria), Sayombhu MUKDEEPROM (Syndromes and a Century - Thailand / Austria / France), WANG Yu (The Go Master - Chinese mainland)

Best Poduction Designer - Tim YIP (The Banquet - Chinese mainland / Hong Kong)
Other nominees: CHO Keun-hyun (Forbidden Quest - South Korea), KUWAJIMA Towako (Memories of Matsuko - Japan), Patrick TAM, Cyurs HO (After This Our Exile - Hong Kong), WADA Emi (The Go Master - Chinese mainland)

Best Composer - Rahayu SUPANGGAH (Opera Jawa - Idonesia / Austria)
Other nominees: JEOG Yong-jin (Woman on the Beach - South Korea), Peter KAM (Isabella - Hong Kong), IM Giong (Still Life - Chinese mainland), TERASHIMA Tamiya (Tales from Earthsea - Japan)

Best Editor - Lee CHATAMETIKOOL (Syndromes and a Century - Thailand / Austria / France)
Other nominees: KIM Sun-min (The Host - South Korea), Angie LAM (Dog Bite Dog - Hong Kong / Japan), PARK Gok-ji, JEONG Jin-hee (A Dirty Carnival - South Korea), Patrick TAM (After This Our Exile - Hong Kong)

Best Visual Effects - The Orphanage (The Host - South Korea)
Other nominees: Angela BARSON, CHUNG Chi-hang (Curse of the Golden Flower - Chinese mainland, Hong Kong), DTI (Digital Tetra Inc.), ETRI (The Restless - South Korea), OHYA Tetsuo, KAMIYA Makoto, ONOUE Katsuro (The Sinking of Japan - Japan), YANAGAWASE Masahide (Memories of Matsuko - Japan)

Asian Box-Office Star - Andy LAU

Cinema du Réel - Prizes

Cinéma du Réel (Paris)

- Cinéma du Réel Grand Prize, with the support of Procirep : SANTIAGO by João Moreira Salles (Brazil)
- Short film Prize : LE BRUIT DU CANON by Marie Voignier (France)
- Joris Ivens Prize: EN LO ESCONDIDO (Ceux qui attendent dans l’obscurité) by Nicolas Rincón Gille (Belgium)
- Scam International Prize : MAXI XUEXIAO (L’Ecole de cirque) by Guo Jing and Ke Dingding (China)
et à AND THEREAFTER II (Et après II), de Hosup Lee (Corée du Sud).

See previous post related to it : here

[Fragments] - Screening of Chinese Films

March 21st - April 2nd 2007
8th edition of Asian Cinema festival of Tours (France). A selection of Chinese documentaries will be presented on Sunday, April the 1rst 2007.

14:15 : People of the Yangtze River (chang jiang shang de ren), Wei Tie, 2005, 28 '.
14:50 : Carriage (che xiang), Xu Xin, 2004, 18 '.
15:45 : Outside (wai mian), Wang Wo, 2005, 86 '.

More info here.

Cinema du Réel - Paris

Cinéma du Réel, International Documentary Film Festival 9-18 March 2007, Paris. 29th edition

Since its creation in 1978 by the Bibliothèque publique d’information, Cinéma du réel has developped into a major documentary film festival, a reference event in which the public as well as the professionals discover new films and new filmmakers, in which today’s documentary filmmaking confronts with the best of documentary cinema history. Workshops and special events complete a program supported by a numerous and enthusiastic audience.

This year a special programme in the non-competitive section with the latest Jia Zhangke's film, Dong (and special screenings with Still-life) and Le Papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise (Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers) by Rithy Panh, is planned. Both will be present too.

website

Asian films at the International Competition section :
- Aki Ra’s Boys (Lynn Lee, James Leong, Singapore, 2007)
A museum in Cambodia, exhibiting the ravages of land mines. Here, tourists can fearlessly relive the images of war, touch the instruments of death (mines, grenades, shells, fragmentation bombs) and marvel at man’s limitless ingenuity in the matter. Their guides are youngsters who have been maimed by these explosives. For these children, Aki Ra has become their family, providing a home where they can fulfil themselves, learn, play, and live their youth to the full despite being handicapped. website
- An Actor Prepares (Kanu Behl, India, 2006)
Amit builds castles in the air. He has one sole ambition: to become an actor and break into Bollywood. But no matter how often he rehearses the lines of his favourite films, does physical exercise, goes to auditions, calls the film studios, nothing works out for him. The appointment that would launch his career is not forthcoming. But his time is running short: his parents cannot afford to keep him indefinitely. A soothsayer predicts his success, but not before five or six years...
- And Thereafter II (Hosup Lee, South Korea, 2006)
Ajuma was a war bride of an American GI in South Korea. She followed her husband to the USA. She is now a widow. She speaks English reluctantly, likes gambling to the local casino. When interviewed, she responds bluntly to the filmmaker. Although he shelters behind the ironic tone of his captions, his “character” always wins. In many ways, And Thereafter II is reminiscent of Shohei Imamura’s History of Post-War Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess. The fundamental likeness lies in the affection linking the filmmaker to his character, with the result that he is no longer the witness of a story he recreates for us, but a central character of his narrative. His heroine is not a deep-buried memory, but rather part of a forgotten history.
- Giac mo la cong nhan (Worker’s Dreams) (Phuong Thao Tran, Vietnam, 2006)
Each morning, thousands of country girls who have come to seek their fortune in Hanoi set out on foot from the suburbs wending their way through the cars and motorcycles. They are off to work or in search of a job in the El Dorado of the booming Japanese-run factories. Neither the sinister picture these young women paint of globalisation, nor their ordeals dampen their determination or their appetite for life. Convinced of their rights and strengthened by their sense of justice, they set out to conquer this globalised world with their indignation, an unshakeable confidence and a certain mischievousness. website
- Kien (Dao Thanh Thung, Vietnam,2006)
Kien was expelled from the Hanoi Fine Arts College, as he was HIV positive. Painting has become his refuge. His friends try to express their compassion, but suffering cannot be shared. “If we cry in the same glass, our tears do not mingle.” The film is like these friends, convinced that if people knew Kien’s story they would no longer reject him, that their attitude to his HIV would change and that, if his suffering were better understood, it would be somewhat alleviated. Kien agrees to tell his story, but only off camera. Kien refuses the filmmaker’s tears. It is only when the filmmaker realises his approach is mistaken that, step by step, the film like the phoenix rises out of the ashes and comes face to face with its real subject. website
- Match Made (Mirabelle Ang, Singapore, 2006)
On the one hand, the poverty of the Vietnamese peasants and, on the other, the dynamism of Asian capitalism. These two ingredients are at the root of a flourishing trade in Ho Chi Minh Ville: the marriage agencies. There, the rich Chinese from Singapore or Taiwan can buy a wife to match their needs. The agency takes everything in hand, from recruiting village girls through to the “auditions” in a hotel room, from the administrative formalities to the wedding ceremony, from compensation for the parents to the fresh young bride’s passport, from the medical certificate to the souvenir photos.
- Maxi xuexiao (Circus School) (Guo Jing & Ke Dingding, China, 2006)
The Shanghai Circus School is a state-run school where the kids work hard. The trapeze, tightrope, and acrobatics... in the wings, the magic of the show gives way to reality, one in which body and mind undergo relentless training. Suffering is embedded in the physical exercises, the daily routine, the diet, and an iron discipline. The children find it difficult to put up with this barrack-style existence, which reflects more their parents’ wishes, or resignation, than their own aspirations. At the end of the line, for the little trapeze artist and the young gymnast, comes success. Yet, is it all really worth it? The camera’s unswerving eye follows the children and teachers, who are pursued by an “obligation to reach results” largely inspired by “values” tinged with nationalism, and by “competition” management. website
- Senkyo (Campain) (Kazuhiro Soda, Japon, 2006)
No-one understands what pushed this “dynamic businessman” (in the stamp and coin trade) to enter politics. Neither does one learn much more about his three-point “programme” (more nurseries?). All that counts is that his name and party be endlessly repeated, “because beyond three seconds, the electors remember nothing you tell them”. The candidate has not only to assume his own campaign expenses, but also unflinchingly bear his lieutenants’ reprimands and humiliations: he never does anything well! The film nonetheless finds its “Jiminy Cricket” in the candidate’s wife. While agreeing to assist her husband and play the perfect, not-yet-desperate housewife, she offers consistent resistance, which finally breaks out into open rebellion and “speaking some home truths”. website

HK International Film Festival

The 31st HK International Film Festival 20.3-11.4.2007

site

The fetsival opens with Eye in the Sky by Yau Nai-hoi with Tony Leung Ka Fai, Simon Yam, Kate Tsui, Maggie Siu and Lam Suet and with I am a Cyborg, but that's Ok by Park Chan-wook on the 19th.
The other Galas will present The Go Master by Tian Zhuangzhuang (Gala Awards) and Bubble Fiction : Doom or Bust by Baba Yasuo (Gala Premiere). A focus on Herman Yau and a special programme on Li Han Hsiang (see) are also planned.

Asian Digital Competition

Betelnut (Yang Heng, China) see
Mid-Afternoon Barks (Zhang Yaodong, China) see
The Elephant and the Sea (Woo Ming-jing, Malaysia) see
Love conquers all (Tan Chui-mui, Malaysia) see
Things we do when we fall in Love (James Lee, Malaysia) see
Tuli (Auraeus Solito, Philippines) see
The Woven Stories of the other (Sherad A. Sanchez, Philippines) see
No Regret (Leesong Hee-il, South Korea) see

Humanitarian Awards for Documentaries
Asian films :
Homeless FC (James Leong, Lynn Lee, HK) see
The Bimo Records (Yang Rui, China) see
Final Score (Soraya Nakasuwan, Thailand) see

Reality Bites

Long Way You Run (Mark Chan, China) link
Who is Haoran ? (Yang Yishu, China) link
Tarachime (Naomi Kawase, Japan) link
Campaign (Soda Kazuhiro, Japan) link
Village People Radio Show (Amir Muhammad, Malaysia) link
Stories from the North (Uruphong Raksasad, Thailand) link
a.k.a Nikki S. Lee (Nikki S. Lee, USA) link

Chinese Renaissance

The Obscure (Lu Yue, China) see
Bliss (Sheng Zhi Min, China) see
The Case (Wang Fen, China) see
Luxury Car (Wang Chao, China) see
The Other Half (Ying Liang, China) see
Thirteen Princess Trees (Lu Yue, China) see
Tuya's Marriage (Wang Quanan, China) see

Indie Power

Dark Matter (Chen Shi-Zheng, USA) see
One Way Street on a Turntable (Anson Mak, HK) see
The Basement (Liu Hao, China) see
Distance (Wei Tie, China) see
Ma Wu Jia (Zhao Ye, China) see
Raised from Dust (Gan Xiaoer, China) see
Refrain (Cui Zi'en, China) link
Xi'An Story (Fruit Chan, HK/China) link
Look of Love (Ueoka Yoshiharu, Japan) link
Before we Fall in Love Again (James Lee, Malaysia) link
Dancing Bells (Deepak Kumaran Menon, Malaysia) link
Autohistoria (Raya Martin, Philippines) link
Geo-Lobotomy (Kim Gok, Kim Sun, South Korea) link
The Last Dinning Table (Roh Gyeong-tae, South Korea) link

Crossing Boundaries ; Fiction and Documentary in Contemporary Chinese Cinema

Before the Flood (Li Yifan, Yan Yu) link
Dong/Still Life (Jia Zhangke) link

Hong Kong Panorama

Undercover (Billy Chung) link
A Mob Story (Herman Yau) link
Tickets (Brian Hung, Nishio Hiroshi..) link
August Story (Yan-yan Mak) link
Dog bite Dog (Cheang Poo-soi) link
Exiled (Johnnie To) link
Wo Hu (Marco Mak) link
After this Our Exile (Patrick Tam) link
Heavenly Mission (James Yuen) link
Confession of Pain (Andrew Lau, Alan Mak) link
Protégé (Derek Yee) link
The Postmodern Life of my Aunt (Ann Hui) link

Asia Film Financing Forum

Asia Film Financing Forum

website

The Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) has announced its selection of 25 Asian film projects. With veteran and up-and-coming filmmakers from all across Asia participating, HAF is a co-production market that brings together filmmakers and financiers with a mission to facilitate co-productions and co-ventures.

Organized by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) and co-organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Hong Kong, Kowloon & New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association Ltd. (MPIA), the Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum will take place from 20 - 22 March 2007 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, opening with the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Asia's leading entertainment market, Hong Kong FILMART. HAF expects to welcome approximately 600 film professionals comprising of international film financiers, bankers, producers, buyers, film funding bodies and distributors.

．25 Film Projects selected for HAF 2007 (20 - 22 March 2007)
．Project selection comprises of a mixture of local and Asian projects from 8 territories

To download the Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) Project Book : here
To see the list of the 25 film projects : here
To name a few :
At The End of Daybreak (HO Yuhang, Malaysia)
Bema's Tear (Francis Ng, HK/Mainland China)
Blown by The Typhoon (YING Liang, Mainland China)
The Good, the Bad and the Weird (KIM Jee-Woon, South Korea)
The Last Hour (Lou Ye, Mainland China)
Night-fragrant Flower (KORE-EDA Hirokazu, Japan)
Now Showing (PANG Ho Cheung, HK)
One Night in Beijing (Zhang Yuan, Mainland China)
Palace Days (Xu Jinglei, Mainland China)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Red Rose and White Rose (Mabel Cheung, HK)
Shuang Xiong Hui (Jia Zhangke, HK/Mainland China)
Tea of the Desert (LU Yue, Mainland China)
Tokyo Sonata (KUROSAWA Kiyoshi, Japan/Hong Kong/The Netherlands)

Golden Bear to Tuya's Marriage

Chinese film Tuya's Marriage (Tu ya de hun shi ) by Wang Quan'an received the Golden Bear of Best Picture this year's Berlin Film Festival.

From Berlinale's site :
Living conditions are deteriorating for those who lead a rural existence in north-western Mongolia. China's industry is expanding - even into this inhospitable region - and the government is pressurising Monoglian shepherds to give up their nomadic way of life, move to the nearby towns and settle down as farmers.
Beautiful and self-confident Tuya refuses to leave her pastureland. She'd rather stay here with her disabled husband, two children and one hundred sheep, and continue to pursue a life of privation in the endless expanse of the steppe. But all the hard work begins to take its toll on Tuya. Her husband Bater tries to convince her to divorce him, but Tuya refuses to comply even with his wishes. One day, she falls ill and for the first time begins to consider a divorce, because this would enable her to find someone to help her to look after Bater, the two children and their one hundred sheep. However, none of her suitors are prepared to take on Bater - until Tuya's old classmate Baolier arrives on the scene. Having found a very nice nursing home for Bater, he persuades Tuya and the children to move to town. But, far away from the steppe and separated from his family, Bater finds it impossible to get used to life at the home. In desperation he slashes his wrists. When the news reaches Tuya, she realises that the time has come for her to act ...
Director Wang Quanan: "My mother was born in inner Mongolia, not far from the film's location. This is why I've always liked Mongolians, their way of life and their music. When I learned about the extent to which massive industrial expansion is turning the steppe into a desert, and how local administrators are forcing the shepherds to leave their homelands, I decided to make a film that would record their lifestyle before it all disappears forever."

[DL] The Program & everything else

Directors Lounge Directors Lounge tv DL 2007 magazine DL 2007 program



Program, timetable and everything...

Rotterdam Film Festival - awards

Love Conquers All by Tan Chui Mui (site) has been awarded at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the film received also a prize at Pusan 2006.

"The screenings have taken place, the discussions are over, and the awards are finally in. This year’s VPRO Tiger Awards jury, chaired by Toronto International Film Festival director Piers Handling, took an unusual decision to award the VPRO Tiger Awards to four films, rather than the usual three. On Friday night in de Doelen, Tan Chui Mui’s Love Conquers All, Pia Marais’ The unpolished, Claudio Assis’ Bog of Beasts and Morten Hartz Kapler’s AFR, were honoured by the 36th IFFR. To reach their decision, the jury saw 15 Tiger films by first or second-time directors. An impressive eight of these were world premieres, four were international premieres, three European premieres, and two had received HBF support. "

"LOVE CONQUERS ALL, a disturbing romance from Malaysia, is one of the two HBF-supported films. “Classical in style and structure, it is a film which speaks to the heart,” said the five-person jury in a joint statement... "

"Other awards announced Friday night included the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award, the FIPRESCI award and the KNF (Association of Dutch Film Critics) awards. NETPAC chose Hirosue Hiroyama’s tense psychological drama FOURTEEN, citing its “insight into psychology and generational barriers, and its bold analysis of a complex culture”. FIPRESCI selected Rafa Cortes’s YO, quoting its intense depiction of one man’s struggle to acquire an identity. The KNF (the jury of Dutch film critics) chose US filmmaker Nina Davenport’s OPERATION FILMMAKER, a documentary film which follows an aspiring film director in Baghdad. “The director is constantly challenging herself and the viewer to reconsider Western opinions on cultural differences,” states the KNF jury. The award enables the winning film to be subtitled in Dutch to help it achieve distribution in the Netherlands. "

website.

Focus on China Doc - Berlin

During the Berlinale, and the craziness of the big festival, there is a place where we can chill out, see some rare, unknown works, watch some different films by video-artists, independent filmmakers, talk with anybody until the morning, or stay silent in the corner if the mood is such, just simply have some good time and watch some good works from different parts of the world.

This year, there is a special on Chinese films. All the specials at Directors Lounge see here.
This special line-up comprises of several long features and short videos and illustrates the singularity and the richness of the independent Chinese documentary in a concise manner.





Presentation to download (in pdf file) in English , in French, in German.

Dream Walking (meng you) – Huang Wenhai (2005, 86 mn)
Beyond Sound (da yin) – Li Wake (2005, 30 mn)
People of the Yangtze River (chang jiang shang de ren ) – Wei Tie (2005, 28 mn)
Outside (wai mian) – Wang Wo (2005, 86 mn)
Paigu (paigu) – Liu Gaoming (2006, 106 mn)
Carriage (che xiang) – Xu Xin (2004, 18 mn)

info here

Berlinale

Berlin International Film Festival
website

From the Press Releases
Competition Section 2007
link
- Hyazgar (Desert Dream) by Zhang Lu, Republic of Korea/France (World Premiere)
- Ping guo (Lost In Beijing) by Li Yu, China (World Premiere)
- Sai bo gu ji man gwen chan a (I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok) by Park Chan-wook, Republic of Korea (International Premiere)
- Tu ya de hun shi (Tuya's Marriage) by Wang Quan'an, China (World Premiere)

Films in the Forum 2007
link
- a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee by Nikki S. Lee, USA/Republic of Korea (IP)
- Ad Lib Night (Aju teukbyeolhan sonnim) by Lee Yoon-ki, Republic of Korea (IP)
- Campaign (Senkyo) by Kazuhiro Soda, USA/Japan (WP)
- Dol by Hiner Saleem,Iraqi Kurdistan Region/France/Germany (IP)
- Eye in the Sky (Gen zong) by Yau Nai Hoi, Hongkong, China (WP)
- Ichijiku no kao (Faces of a Fig Tree) by Momoi Kaori, Japan (IP)
- Kain no matsuei (Cain’s Descendant) by Oku Shutaro, Japan
- Mona Lisa (Meng Na Li Sha) by Li Ying, People’s Republic of China/Japan (WP)
- Tuli by Auraeus Solito, Philippines
- Village People Radio Show (Apa khabar orang kampung) by Amir Muhammad, Malaysia (WP)
Special screenings:
- Don by Farhan Akhtar, India

Panorama
Complete programme at the end of January,
link
for now :
From the Republic of Korea:
- Dasepo Sonyeo (Dasepo Naughty Girls) by E. J-Yong
- Haebyuneui Yoein (Woman on the Beach) by Hong Sangsoo
- Hu-hwae-ha-ji An-ah (No Regret) by Leesong Hee-il
From Taiwan:
- Ci-Qing (Spider Lilies) by Zero Chou

International Film Festival of Rotterdam

International Film Festival of Rotterdam (24.01 - 04.02)
website
Impressive line-up, many Asian films and especially from Malaysia and Philippines, countries from which the films will be surely very noticeable and distinguished this year in film festivals. Two filmmakers in focus : Abderrahmane Sissako and Johnnie To.

VPRO Tiger Awards Competition
- How is your fish today? by Xiaolu Guo, China 2006, international premiere
Road movie in which a scriptwriter and the protagonist in his film, a murderer, travelled to the most northerly point of China to meet each other eventually in silence. Fiction and reality flow together. link
- Ju-yon-sai (Fourteen) by Hirosue Hiromasa, Japan, 2006, international premiere
Sensitive and refined drama in which experiences from the puberty of a female teacher and a piano student reflected in the world of the younger generation they have contact with. link
- Love Conquers All by Tan Chui Mui, Malaysia, 2006, European premiere
Sensitive and unspoken mood sketch of the inner world of a young woman who falls into the hands of a big-city lover who turns out to be a pimp in Kuala Lumpur. link

Cinema of the Future: Sturm und Drang
- Betelnut by Yang Heng, China, 2006
Two kids share love, desire and boredom in a long hot summer on the banks of a river in Hunan, three hours by plane plus three hours by bus from Beijing. Even the camera doesn’t move… Yang Heng’s debut is beautifully photographed, wonderfully acted and ultra low budget. It has already won prizes in Pusan and Nantes. link and see here
- Autohystoria by Raya Martin, Philippines, 2007
Idiosyncratic and rather uneasy film by a great talent. A film like a dream. A work of art that is occasionally difficult to get hold of, with a tangible heart. link
- Balikbayan Box (work in progress) by Mes De Guzman, Philippines, 2007
A kid in the Filipino countryside. Everything is smaller and poorer than Cinema Paradiso, but the VHS cinema also appeals to the imagination. Innocence is soon lost and death is closer. Not everything is idyllic under the palm trees. link
- Before We Fall in Love Again (Nian ni ru xi) by James Lee, Malaysia 2006
Chang’s wife has disappeared and no one knows where she went. After a while, Tong drops by. He was her lover, but doesn’t know where she is either. In these circumstances, both men can’t think of anything better to do than compare experiences. Who was she really? Simple and subtle, occasionally ironic, but above all deeply romantic and melancholic. link
- Dancing Bells (Chalanggai) by Deepak Kumaran Menon, Malaysia, 2007
A girl really wants to learn to dance. Classical Indian dance. Isn’t easy if you grow up without a father in Brickfields, the rundown Indian district of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. And then your brother ends up going astray. Realistic in a way that the Italians have forgotten about. link
- Dog Days Dream (Hayabusa) by Ichii Masahide, Japan, 2006
A hot summer in a small apartment. A young couple with menial jobs they also lose. And no air conditioning. That is all this young Japanese director needs to make a very funny black comedy. link
- Driving with My Wife's Lover (Ane-eui aein-eul mannada) by Kim Tai-Sik, South Korea, 2006
Self-assured, fresh feature debut starts as a revenge-drama-cum-road-movie: deceived husband gets in the taxi of his wife’s lover one sweltering hot day. While the man hesitates about revealing his identity, the film changes its tone. Complex character study about trust, betrayal, desire and identity. link
- The Elephant and the Sea by Woo Ming Jin, Malaysia, 2007
An elephant has disappeared and its owner must live without it. The sea has withdrawn again, but the after-effects are tangible and visible. The inhabitants of a coastal village make the best of it, legally or not. A characteristic feature film. link
- The Matsugane Potshot Affair (Matsugane ransha jiken) by Yamashita Nobuhiro, Japan, 2006
Family tragedy, fraternal quarrel or crime story? The Matsugane Potshot Affair is all three. A curious collection of apparently independent plots comes together when a gold bar and a head are found in a small provincial town. Suspense, black humour and tragedy all in one. By the maker of Linda Linda Linda. link
- The Other Half (Ling yi ban) by Ying Liang, China, 2006
Xiaofen works as an assistant in a law firm, but has as many problems as her clients. The latest film in in vérité style by the talented Ying Liang, last year one of the major surprises in the Tiger Competition with Taking Father Home, is both socially and psychologically complex. The position of women in today’s China is examined. link
- Rain Dogs (Tai yang yu) by Ho Yuhang, Malaysia, Hong Kong, 2006 link
- Raised from Dust (Ju zi chen tu) by Gan Xiao'er, China, 2007
Like his debut, The Only Sons (IFFR 2004), Gan’s second film is set in a Christian community in rural China. With his sharp eye for landscape and his fellow countrymen, he manages to draw great emotional eloquence from a simple story about an impossible dilemma. Modest and spiritual. link
- Real Online (Ching teng jou hsien shih) by John Hsu, Taiwan, 2005
Hilarious virtual comedy. For the screening at the festival, the Chinese pirate copy of YouTube has been removed. Entirely in the spirit of the film that ignores every single law of film, and certainly any that decide whether something is nice or not. link
- Todo todo teros by John Torres, Philippines, 2006
Basically an artist is also a terrorist, the protagonist thinks in an unguarded moment. And if he is a terrorist after all, then he might just as well be one. Not an instant product, but an experimental feature in which diary material is brought together to form an intriguing puzzle. link
- Weed by Wang Liren, China, 2007
Echoes of Kieslovski’s Dekaloog sound in this inventive and strikingly stylised drama of decline. About a simple day-wage slave in the suburbs of Beijing who falls for the girl who lives opposite, even though everything points to the fact that her profession is not the most honourable. link

Cinema of the World : Time and Tide
- After This Our Exile (Fu zi) by Patrick Tam, Hong Kong, 2006 link
- Anxiety (Gubra) by Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia, 2006 link
- The Bet Collector (Kubrador) by Jeffrey Jeturian, Philippines, 2006 link
- A Dirty Carnival (Bi-yeol-han geo-ri) by Yoo Ha, South Korea, 2006 link
- Forever Flows (Nirontor) by Abu Sayeed, Bangladesh, 2006 link
- Half Moon (Niwemang) by Bahman Ghobadi, Iran, Iraq, Austria, France link
- I Want to Dance (Kaishuiyaotang, guniangyaozhuang) by Hu Shu, China, 2007 link
- The Journey (Yatra) by Goutam Ghose, India, 2006
- Living in Fear (Song trong so hai) by Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam, 2006
- My Mother Is a Belly Dancer (See lai ng yi cho) by Lee Kung Lok, Hong Kong, 2006
- On the Wings of Dreams (Swopnodanay) by Golam Rabbany Biplob, Bangladesh, 2007
- Sankara by Prasanna Jayakody, Sri Lanka, 2006
- Squatterpunk (Iskwaterpangk) by Khavn, Philippines, 2007 link
- Stories from the North (Reanglao jak meangnue) by Uruphong Raksasad, Thailand, 2006 link
- Strawberry Shortcakes by Yazaki Hitoshi, Japan, 2007 link
- Summer Palace by Lou Ye, China, 2006 link
- Western Trunk Line (Xi gan dao) by Li Jixian, China, Japan 2006 link
- Zero Zone (Shoonya) by Arindam Mitra, India, 2007 link

Maestros : Kings & Aces
- Bakushi by Hiroki Ryuichi, Japan, 2007 link
- Dong by Jia Zhang-ke, China, 2006 link
- Hana (Hana yori mo naho) by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Japan, 2006 link
- Heremias (Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess) (Heremias (Unang Aklat: Ang Alamat ng Prinsesang Bayawak)) by Lav Diaz, Philippines, 2006 - 540' link
- I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Hei yan quan) by Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, France, Austria, 2006 link
- In the Shadow of the Dog (Nayi neralu) by Girish Kasaravalli, India, 2006 link
- M by Hiroki Ryuichi, Japan, 2006 link
- Offside by Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2006 link
- Opera Jawa by Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, Austria, 2006 link
- Paprika by Kon Satoshi, Japan, 2006 link
- Retribution (Sakebi) by Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Japan, 2006 link
- Scream of the Ants (Shaere Zobale-Ha) by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, India, France, 2006 link
- Still Life (Sanxia haoren) by Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong, China, 2006 link
- Syndromes and a Century (Sang sattawat) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand, France, Austria, 2006 link

Rotterdämmerung see here
- Aachi & Ssipak (Aachi wa Ssipak) by Joe Bum-Jin, South Korea, 2006
- Freesia (Freesia - Bullet over Tears) by Kumakiri Kazuyoshi, Japan, 2007
- The Host (Gue-Mool) by Bong Joon-Ho, South Korea, 2006
- Nightmare Detective (Akumu Tantei) by Tsukamoto Shinya, Japan
- No Mercy for the Rude (Ye-ui-up-nun-gut-deul) by Park Chul-Hee, South Korea, 2006

[Non-Asian] - FCDP

The 8th edition of the festival Cinemas Differents of Paris, from Decembre 08-17 organised by the CJC.
Many experimental films, different, underground films are to be screened. Several specials are proposed, including a focus on engaged or political (in a large sense) films. site

4 shorts already presented at Directors Lounge and which can be seen at Directors Lounge TV are selected and sheduled on Saturday night, part of the screening on engaged films.

The Holocaust Tourist (Jeremy Benstock, 2005)
Solo für Ramallah (Andreas Rost, 2005)
Still Life (M. Foxley, 2006)
Untitled # (Masha Godovannaya, 2005)