The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will open with All is True directed by Kenneth Branagh on Friday, January 4, and close with Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford on Sunday, January 13. The Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, with a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, FLOS: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!La, Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals and more.
In All is True, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen star in Branagh’s intimate, revelatory portrait of William Shakespeare in the last act of his life. His career over, he returns to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to encounter old ghosts, old loves, and his resentful family. Branagh is expected to attend.
Ladies in Black, set in Sydney in 1959, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Bruce Beresford takes us back to the heyday of glamorous upscale department stores, when a concierge met you at the door and clerks wore gloves. The film from Lumila Films stars Julia Ormond, Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Ryan Corr, Shane Jacobson and Alison McGirr. Beresford, Ormond, Taylor and McGirr are expected to attend.
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El Angel directed by Luis Ortega[/caption]
Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards. Malawi and Niger are first-time entrants.
Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.
The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
The 2018 submissions are:
Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;
Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director;
Argentina, “El Ángel,” Luis Ortega, director;
Armenia, “Spitak,” Alexander Kott, director;
Australia, “Jirga,” Benjamin Gilmour, director;
Austria, “The Waldheim Waltz,” Ruth Beckermann, director;
Bangladesh, “No Bed of Roses,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
Belarus, “Crystal Swan,” Darya Zhuk, director;
Belgium, “Girl,” Lukas Dhont, director;
Bolivia, “The Goalkeeper,” Rodrigo “Gory” Patiño, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Never Leave Me,” Aida Begić, director;
Brazil, “The Great Mystical Circus,” Carlos Diegues, director;
Bulgaria, “Omnipresent,” Ilian Djevelekov, director;
Cambodia, “Graves without a Name,” Rithy Panh, director;
Canada, “Family Ties,” Sophie Dupuis, director;
Chile, “…And Suddenly the Dawn,” Silvio Caiozzi, director;
China, “Hidden Man,” Jiang Wen, director;
Colombia, “Birds of Passage,” Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra, directors;
Costa Rica, “Medea,” Alexandra Latishev, director;
Croatia, “The Eighth Commissioner,” Ivan Salaj, director;
Czech Republic, “Winter Flies,” Olmo Omerzu, director;
Denmark, “The Guilty,” Gustav Möller, director;
Dominican Republic, “Cocote,” Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, director;
Ecuador, “A Son of Man,” Jamaicanoproblem, director;
Egypt, “Yomeddine,” A.B. Shawky, director;
Estonia, “Take It or Leave It,” Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo, director;
Finland, “Euthanizer,” Teemu Nikki, director;
France, “Memoir of War,” Emmanuel Finkiel, director;
Georgia, “Namme,” Zaza Khalvashi, director;
Germany, “Never Look Away,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;
Greece, “Polyxeni,” Dora Masklavanou, director;
Hong Kong, “Operation Red Sea,” Dante Lam, director;
Hungary, “Sunset,” László Nemes, director;
Iceland, “Woman at War,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director;
India, “Village Rockstars,” Rima Das, director;
Indonesia, “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts,” Mouly Surya, director;
Iran, “No Date, No Signature,” Vahid Jalilvand, director;
Iraq, “The Journey,” Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji, director;
Israel, “The Cakemaker,” Ofir Raul Graizer, director;
Italy, “Dogman,” Matteo Garrone, director;
Japan, “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda, director;
Kazakhstan, “Ayka,” Sergey Dvortsevoy, director;
Kenya, “Supa Modo,” Likarion Wainaina, director;
Kosovo, “The Marriage,” Blerta Zeqiri, director;
Latvia, “To Be Continued,” Ivars Seleckis, director;
Lebanon, “Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki, director;
Lithuania, “Wonderful Losers: A Different World,” Arunas Matelis, director;
Luxembourg, “Gutland,” Govinda Van Maele, director;
Macedonia, “Secret Ingredient,” Gjorce Stavreski, director;
Malawi, “The Road to Sunrise,” Shemu Joyah, director;
Mexico, “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, director;
Montenegro, “Iskra,” Gojko Berkuljan, director;
Morocco, “Burnout,” Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, director;
Nepal, “Panchayat,” Shivam Adhikari, director;
Netherlands, “The Resistance Banker,” Joram Lürsen, director;
New Zealand, “Yellow Is Forbidden,” Pietra Brettkelly, director;
Niger, “The Wedding Ring,” Rahmatou Keïta, director;
Norway, “What Will People Say,” Iram Haq, director;
Pakistan, “Cake,” Asim Abbasi, director;
Palestine, “Ghost Hunting,” Raed Andoni, director;
Panama, “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name,” Abner Benaim, director;
Paraguay, “The Heiresses,” Marcelo Martinessi, director;
Peru, “Eternity,” Oscar Catacora, director;
Philippines, “Signal Rock,” Chito S. Roño, director;
Poland, “Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski, director;
Portugal, “Pilgrimage,” João Botelho, director;
Romania, “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians,” Radu Jude, director;
Russia, “Sobibor,” Konstantin Khabensky, director;
Serbia, “Offenders,” Dejan Zecevic, director;
Singapore, “Buffalo Boys,” Mike Wiluan, director;
Slovakia, “The Interpreter,” Martin Šulík, director;
Slovenia, “Ivan,” Janez Burger, director;
South Africa, “Sew the Winter to My Skin,” Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, director;
South Korea, “Burning,” Lee Chang-dong, director;
Spain, “Champions,” Javier Fesser, director;
Sweden, “Border,” Ali Abbasi, director;
Switzerland, “Eldorado,” Markus Imhoof, director;
Taiwan, “The Great Buddha+,” Hsin-Yao Huang, director;
Thailand, “Malila The Farewell Flower,” Anucha Boonyawatana, director;
Tunisia, “Beauty and the Dogs,” Kaouther Ben Hania, director;
Turkey, “The Wild Pear Tree,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “Donbass,” Sergei Loznitsa, director;
United Kingdom, “I Am Not a Witch,” Rungano Nyoni, director;
Uruguay, “Twelve-Year Night,” Álvaro Brechner, director;
Venezuela, “The Family,” Gustavo Rondón Córdova, director;
Vietnam, “The Tailor,” Buu Loc Tran, Kay Nguyen, directors;
Yemen, “10 Days before the Wedding,” Amr Gamal, director.
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From vicious, life destroying phone scams to balletic battles between equally corrupt cops and yakuza, the 17th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (
BuyBust[/caption]
Closing Night is the world premiere of Erik Matti’s BuyBust from the Philippines. On the surface, it is structured like an action film in the vein of The Raid, with superstar Anne Curtis and MMA world champion Brandon Vera as narcs taking down a drug kingpin against insurmountable odds over one unrelenting rainy night. The film employed 309 stuntmen and features a wildly ambitious three minute, one cut action scene. Being a Matti film, it also offers a searing perspective on the ongoing drug war and broader issues of political corruption. The director and stars will attend the screening.
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Men on the Dragon[/caption]
The Centerpiece is the world premiere of Sunny Chan’s Men on the Dragon, starring Francis Ng and Jennifer Yu. Always central to the festival’s DNA, Hong Kong cinema demonstrates the resiliency of an industry whose identity is easily blurred with Mainland China, but on which it also exerts a considerable influence and provides storytelling expertise and craftsmanship. The film is a quintessential underdog story about a group of blue collar workers who reluctantly join their company’s dragon boat team. A directorial debut of a veteran Hong Kong screenwriter, Chan’s film is being presented one year after NYAFF had a special focus on firsttime directors from the territory. Chan and actress Jennifer Yu will be among the attending guests.
Seven films will battle in the second edition of the festival’s relaunched Main Competition: Shiraishi Kazuya’s Blood of Wolves (Japan), Nam Ron’s Crossroads: One Two Jaga (Malaysia), Naito Eisuke’s Liverleaf (Japan), Dong Yue’s The Looming Storm (China), Sunny Chan’s Men on the Dragon (Hong Kong), Jeon Gowoon’s Microhabitat (South Korea), and Treb Monteras’s Respeto (Philippines). Six of the seven films are receiving their North American premieres at NYAFF, with one world premiere. Four of the competition titles are debut films, reflecting the festival’s ongoing support for new directors.
This year, the festival presents two Star Asia Awards:
South Korea’s Kim Yunseok is best known to North American audiences for his role as the grizzled excop in 2008 serial killer thriller The Chaser. A decade on, he stands firmly in the top tier of his country’s leading men. Like his contemporaries Song Kangho and Choi Minshik, he came late to movies after a background in theater. Jang Joonhwan’s powerful drama 1987: When the Day Comes screens, in which Kim plays the frightening head of South Korea’s anticommunist bureau, hellbent on holding back the country’s democracy movement.
Chinese filmmaker Jiang Wu’s career has bridged independent cinema and mainstream success for 25 years. Two decades ago, he was at the forefront of a new populist independent cinema about big city life that transformed modern Chinese cinema with Zhang Yang’s Shower. He has worked with Zhang Yimou (To Live), Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), Jia Zhangke (A Touch of Sin), and Herman Yau (Shock Wave). Xin Yukun’s part noir, part western Wrath of Silence will screen in tribute, in which his terrifying nouveau riche mining magnate falls into a trap of his own design.
The Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Japan’s Harada Masato, a former U.S.based film critic. He is most recognizable to Western viewers for his role as the villain Mr. Omura opposite Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. Since his debut in 1979, he has positioned himself as one of Japan’s most unique and important directors. While he has worked in nearly every genre, he is best known for tackling societal issues such as teenage prostitution, illegal immigrants, and the role of the media. Screening in the festival are his dark classic gem Kamikaze Taxi on 35mm, the recent Kakekomi (2016), a period piece about female empowerment, and his most recent historical epic Sekigahara, about the oneday battle in 1600 that defined modern Japan.
The Screen International Rising Star Asia Award recipient will be announced at a later date.
The Hong Kong Panorama, backbone of the festival’s programming, returns with nine features, including two world premieres: Sunny Chan’s debut Men of the Dragon and Antony Chan’s comeback House of the Rising Sons. Antony Chan is an original member of The Wynners, the popular teenidol band of the 1970s that launched the careers of megastars Alan Tam and Kenny Bee. Chan, the band’s drummer, returns to the director’s chair after 26 years to present a vibrant biopic that avoids hagiography. Highlighting the miracles of motion and irresistible kinetic force that are the signature of Hong Kong cinema, is a threefilm Dante Lam tribute, and an actionpacked thriller run on July 4: Jonathan Li’s debut The Brink, Oxide Pang’s The Big Call, and Wilson Yip’s Paradox. Also screening is Chapman To’s family drama set in the world of karate, The Empty Hands starring Stephy Tang.
The China section continues to take a more central role. One year ago, NYAFF committed to supporting the new generation of firsttime directors emerging in Asia with the Young Blood series, focusing on Hong Kong; this year the festival shifts to Mainland China. Once again, the films are heady and diverse in subject matter, including Hunanset, raindrenched serialkiller thriller The Looming Storm, Inner Mongoliaset sexagenarian drama Old Beast (produced by Chinese auteur Wang Xiaoshuai), and the razorsharp Northeastern comedy Looking for Lucky, which revolves around a man, his father, and a missing dog. The Chinese film industry is changing fast, and trends are best reflected in where new directors are taking it. We also present films about the shifting rules of romance: Dude’s Manual and The ExFiles 3: The Return of the Exes.
The New Cinema from Japan lineup is represented by one of the festival’s largest contingents of directors yet. In addition to NYAFF’s tribute to veteran director Harada Masato, the festival is bringing a group that could be described as defining a “new wave” of Japanese cinema: Naito Eisuke with his circleofrevenge drama Liverleaf, Ogata Takaomi with experimental youth drama The Hungry Lion, Takeshita Masao with slowburn drama The Midnight Bus, and Kanata Wolf with his slacker debut Smokin’ on the Moon. Also attending is actor Emoto Tasuku who brings his mischievous charm to the protagonist of porn publishing odyssey Dynamite Graffiti. Other highlights include Sato Shinsuke’s crossgenerational superhero showdown Inuyashiki, Ueda Shinichiro’s meta zombie film homage One Cut of the Dead, and Yukisada Isao’s brutal youth drama River’s Edge.
There are ten films in the South Korean Cinema section. This year, femaledirected titles represent almost half of the NYAFF selection. They include Jeon Gowoon’s competition title Microhabitat, Yim Soonrye’s Little Forest, and Jeong Gayoung’s Hit the Night. Actress and director Jeong’s positioning of herself as a female Hong Sangsoo—she recently starred in and directed Bitch on the Beach—is itself a critique of the macho posturing of much of South Korean cinema.
The festival selected five films showcasing the uniqueness of Taiwan cinema and the strength of both its arthouse productions and its genre output. Of note is the North American premiere of gangster film Gatao 2: Rise of the King, poised comfortably between classic yakuza and triad movies from Japan and Hong Kong. In complete contrast is The Last Verse, which charts a romantic relationship through the turbulence of three presidential eras; it was directed by Tseng Yingting, one of Taiwan cinema’s freshest voices since Edward Yang.
This year’s program features the largest Southeast Asian Vanguard selection yet, representing a fifth of the festival lineup. This region is one of the most creative corners of Asia, which NYAFF continues to champion in the film selection and guest lineup. Outside of Asia, arguably no other film event has so fully committed to exploring Southeast Asian cinema, which is at the heart of the festival’s future. Six films from the Philippines, three films from Thailand, two films from Malaysia, and one film from Indonesia will screen.
The festival goes all in on the Philippines with the largest lineup in NYAFF since 2013. Three strong films examine the nation’s ongoing drug war: Mikhail Red’s Neomanila, about a “mother and son” death squad; Treb Monteras’ Respeto, set in the milieu of rap battles; and Erik Matti’s BuyBust. There will also be a special screening of Matti’s thriller On the Job. On opening night, NYAFF hosts the world premiere of Richard Somes’s brutal We Will Not Die Tonight, starring Erich Gonzales as a stuntwoman trying to survive a single night. On a lighter note, Irene Villamor’s blockbuster (anti)romance Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story) screens, also starring Anne Curtis from BuyBust.
There has been a recent Malaysian New Wave reflecting the country’s societal and political changes, and it is only now reaching our cinema screens. NYAFF presents two films that would never have seen the light before 2018: police corruption thriller Crossroads: One Two Jaga and black magic thriller Dukun. The latter is the longburied debut of top Malaysian director Dain Said, screening twelve years after its shoot was completed. Together with Brutal/Jagat (NYAFF 2016), these films hint at why Malaysian cinema is a territory to watch.
Southeast Asian Westerns: The links between the western genre and Japanese cinema are well documented, from remakes of Akira Kurosawa’s classics to Lee Sungil’s own remake of Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. But the western was also a genre embraced in Southeast Asia for decades, most recently with two Indonesian films: Mouly Surya’s Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (which opens in New York on June 22) and Mike Wiluan’s Buffalo Boys, which screens on the final day of the festival. Like their Northeast Asian counterparts (the Manchurian western), the genre offers tales of freedom and emancipation with Eastern heroes rising against their colonial oppressors. This year, Wisit Sasanatieng’s madcap Tears of the Black Tiger returns in a special 35mm screening.
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The Fantasia International Film Festival, celebrating its 22nd Anniversary in Montreal this summer, from July 12 to August 1, 2018, revealed the first wave of film titles, along with several special events. In addition to the festival, Frontières International Co-Production Market and Industry Rendez-Vous Weekend will be held July 19 to 22, 2018.
The festival’s full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced in early July. In the meantime, Fantasia.