[caption id="attachment_25167" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.[/caption]
150 films from 60 different countries have been selected to be screened at the 28th
Stockholm International Film Festival that takes place from the November 8th to the 19th.
A third of the films in this year’s festival program are directed by first-time filmmakers, the festival is also joined by legends such as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave.
After a long and successful Hollywood-career 80 year old Vanessa Redgrave makes her debut as a director with the documentary
Sea Sorrow. The film focuses on the global refugee crisis and is a part of this years Spotlight – Change.
This years Visionary Award recipient is the director Pablo Larraín. Larraín is the director behind the Academy Award-nominated
Jackie (2016); he is now attending the Stockholm Film festival with his latest film
Neruda.
The premiere movie of this year’s film festival is the critically acclaimed film
The Shape Of Water by the director behind the Academy Award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro also won the Gold Lion at the
Venice Film Festival earlier this year.
A selection of other films that will be screened are:
Thelma by Joachim Trier,
Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino,
The Party by Sally Porter,
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri by Martin McDonagh and last but not least
Downsizing by Alexander Payne.
Stockholm International Film Festival – Program 2017
Stockholm XXVIII Competition
A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano (Italy, France, USA, Germany, 120 min)
Ava by Léa Mysius (France, 106 min)
Beach Rats by Eliza Hittman Co (USA, 95 min)
Beast by Michael Pearce (Great Britain, 107 min)
Falling by Marina Stepanska (Ukraine, 105 min)
Gabriel And The Mountain by Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa (Brazil, France, 127min)
God’s Own Country by Francis Lee (Great Britain, 104 min)
I Am Not A Witch by Rungano Nyoni (Great Britain, France, 92 min)
Insyriated by Philippe Van Leeuw (Belgium, France, Liban, 85 min)
Jeune Femme by Léonor Serraille (France, 97 min)
King Of Peking by Sam Voutas (USA, Australia, China, 88 min)
La familia by Gustavo Rondón Córdova (Venezuela, Chili, Norway, 82 min)
Los Perros by Marcela Said (Chile, France, 94 min)
No Date, No Signature by Vahid Jalilvand (Iran, 100 min)
One Thousand Ropes by Tusi Tamasese (New Zealand, 98 min)
The Rider by Chloé Zhao (USA, 105 min)
Son of Sofia by Elina Psikou (Bulgaria, France, Greece, 105 min)
Where The Shadows Fall by Valentina Pedicini (Italy, 95 min)
Stockholm XXVIII Documentary Competition
A Gray State by Erik Nelson (USA, 93 min)
Copwatch by Camilla Hall (USA, 99 min)
For Ahkeem by Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest (USA, 89 min)
The Force by Peter Nicks (USA, 93 min)
Lots of Kids, A Monkey, And A Castle by Gustavo Salmerón (Spain, 90 min)
The New Radical by Adam Bhala Lough (USA, 120 min)
Step by Amanda Lipitz (USA, 83 min)
Tarzan’s Testicles by Alexandru Solomon (Romania, France, 107 min)
This is Congo by Daniel McCabe (Democratic Republic of Congo, USA, Canada, 91 min)
This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous by Barbara Kopple (USA, 91 min)
True Conviction by Jamie Meltzer (USA, 84 min)
The Venerable W by Barbet Schroeder (France, Switzerland, 100 min)
Stockholm Impact
Cardinals by Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley (Canada, 84 min)
The Last Verse by Ying`Ting Tseng (Taiwan, 100 min)
My Pure Land by Sarmad Masud (Great Britain, 92 min)
Searing Summer by Ebrahim Irajzad (Iran, 83 min)
Wild Roses by Anna Jadowska (Poland, 89 min)
Open Zone
A Fantastic Woman by Sebastián Lelio (Chile, USA, Germany, Spain, 104 min)
A Man Of Integrity by Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran, 117 min)
Amant Double by François Ozon (France, 110 min)
April’s Daughter by Michel Franco (Mexico, 102 min)
Based On A True Story by Roman Polanski (France, 110 min)
Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino (Italy, France, 130 min)
Free And Easy by Jun Geng (Honk Kong, 97 minutes)
Gisslan by Rezo Gigineishvili (Russian Federation, Georgia, Poland, 103 min)
Have A Nice Day by Liu Jian (China, 75 min)
Ice Mother by Bohdan Sláma (Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, 105 min)
Mr. Long by Sabu (Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Germany, 129 min)
On The Beach At Night Alone by Hong Sang`Soo (South Korea, 101 min)
Our Time Will Come by Ann Hui (Honk Kong, 130 min)
Radiance by Naomi Kawase (Japan, France, 101 min)
Thelma by Joachin Trier (Norway, France, 109 min)
The Shape Of Water by Guillermo del Toro (USA, 119 min)
The Wandering Soap Opera by Raúl Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento (Chile, 80 min)
The Workshop by Laurent Cantet (France, 113 min)
American Independents
Band Aid by Zoe Lister`Jones (USA, 94 min)
The Boy Downstairs by Sophie Brooks (USA, 91 min)
Brigsby Bear by Dave McCary (USA, 100 min)
Crown Heights by Matt Ruskin (USA, 99 min)
The Endless by Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson ( USA, 111 min)
The Florida Project by Sean Baker (USA, 115 min)
Gemini by Aaron Katz (USA, 93 min)
Ingrid Goes West by Matt Spicer (USA, 97 min)
Kings by Deniz Gamze Ergüven (France, Belgium, 86 min
Life And Nothing More by Antonio Méndez Esparza (USA, 113 min)
The Lovers by Azazel Jacobs (USA, 98 min)
Keep The Change by Rachel Israel (USA, 94 min)
Most Beautiful Island by Ana Asensio (USA, Spain, 80 min)
Permanent by Colette Burson (USA, 97 min)
Sollers Point by Matthew Porterfield (USA, France, 101 min)
Who We Are Now by Matthew Newton (USA, 99 min)
Icons
Battle Of The Sexes by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Great Britain, USA, 121 min)
Breathe by Andy Serkis (Great Britain, 117 min)
Downsizing by Alexander Payne (USA, 135 min)
The Final Journey by Nick Baker`Monteys (Germany, 100 min)
Final Portrait by Stanley Tucci (USA, 90 min)
Hannah by Andrea Pallaoro (France, 80 min)
The Hero by Brett Haley (USA, 96 min)
Let The Sunshine In by Claire Denis (France, 94 min)
The Party by Sally Potter (Great Britain, 71 min)
Reinventing Marvin by Anne Fontaine (France, 115 min)
Rodin by Jacques Doillon (France, 119 min)
Suburbicon by George Clooney (USA, 105 min)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri by Martin McDonagh (USA, UK, 115 min)
You disappear by Peter Schønau Fog (Denmark, 118 min)
Wonder Wheel by Woody Allen (USA, 101 min)
Discovery
Axolotl Overkill by Helene Hegemann (Germany, 94 min)
Daybreak by Gentian Koçi (Albania, Greece, 85 min)
Disappearance by Ali Asgari (Iran, Qatar, 88 min)
Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! by Felipe Bragança (Brazil, Netherlands, France, Paraguay, 108 min)
If You Saw His Heart by Joan Chemla (France, 86 min)
Killing Jesus by Laura Mora (Colombia, Argentina, 100 min)
Menashe by Joshua Z Weinstein (USA, 82 min)
Oh Lucy! by Atsuko Hirayanagi (Japan, USA, 97 min)
The Testament by Amichai Greenberg (Israel, 88 min)
Vazante by Daniela Thomas (Brazil, Portugal, 116 min)
Documania
Chavela by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi (USA, 90 min)
Dina by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini (USA, 101 min)
Hondros directed by Greg Campbell (USA, 93 min)
The Paris Opera by Jean`Stéphane Bron (France, 110 min)
Return Of A President – After The Coup In Madagascar by Lotte Mik`Meyer (Denmark, South Africa, France, Madagascar, 78 min)
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana (Canada, 103 min)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda by Stephen Nomura Schible (USA, 102 min)
Served Like A Girl by Lysa Heslov (USA, 93 min)
Shadowman by Oren Jacoby (USA, 83 min)
Take Every Wave: The Life Of Laird Hamilton by Rory Kennedy (USA, 118 min)
Walk with me by Max Pugh and Marc J. Francis (Great Britain, 94 min)
Twilight Zone
A Day by Sun`Ho Cho (South Korea, 90 min)
Blade Of The Immortal by Takashi Miike (Japan, 140 min)
The Cured by David Freyne (Ireland, Great Britain, France, 95 min)
Double Date by Benjamin Barfoot (Great Britain, 90 min)
Les Affamés by Robin Aubert (Canada, 100 min)
Jailbreak by Jimmy Henderson (Cambodia, 92 min)
Lowlife by Ryan Prows (USA, 98 min)
The Merciless by Sung`Hyun Byun (South Korea, 120 min)
Ugly Nasty People by Cosimo Gomez (Italy, France, 87 min)
The Villainess by Byung`Gil Jung (South Korea, 129 min)
Spotlight
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk (USA, 99 min)
Human Flow by Ai Wei Wei (Germany, 140 min)
More by Onur Saylak (Turkey, 115 min)
This Is Our Land by Lucas Belvaux (France, Belgium, 118 min)
Wasted! The Story Of Food Waste by Anna Chai and Nari Kye (USA, 85 min)
Zagros by Sahim Omar Kalifa (Belgium, 100 min)
Stockholm XXVIII Short Film Competition
A Gentle Night by Qui Yang (China, 15 min)
Aria by Myrsini Aristidou (Cyprus, France, 14 min)
Atelier by Elsa María Jakobsdóttir (Denmark, 30 min)
Bonboné by Rakan Mayasi (Lebanon, Palestine, 15 min)
Hombre by Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz (Chile, 21 min)
Into the Blue by Antoneta Kusijanovic (Croatia, Slovenia, 22 min)
Kudzu by Connor Simpson (USA, 15 min)
Lost Property Office by Daniel Agdag (Australia, 10 min)
Marlon by Jessica Palud (France, Belgium, 19 min)
The Ogre by Laurène Braibant (France, 10 min)
Retouch by Kaveh Mazaheri (Iran, 20 min)
Signature by Kei Chikaura (Japan, 13 min)
Superpower Girl by Soo`Young Kim (South Korea, 24 min)
Time To Go by Grzegorz Mołda (Poland, 15 min)
You Will Be Fine by Céline Devaux (France, 15 min)
Special Event
Neruda by Pablo Larraín (Chile, Argentina, France, Spain, USA, 107 min)
Varg by Frida Kempff and Erik Andersson (Sverige, 11 min)
Sea Sorrow by Vanessa Redgrave (Great Britain, 74 min)
Surprise film
1 Km Film
Förebilder by Elin Övergaard (Sweden,13 min)
In Love by Ville Gideon Sörman (Denmark, 29 min)
Intercourse by Jonatan Etzler (Sweden, 10 min)
Mephobia by Mika Gustafsson (Sweden, 24 min)
Min Homosyster by Lia Hietala (Sweden,15 min)
Push It by Julia Thelin (Sweden, 8 min)
Skuggdjur by Jerry Carlsson (Sweden, 21 min)
Stay Ups by Joanna Rytel (Sweden, 11 min)
Stranded by Viktor Johansson (Sweden, 11 min)
Turkkiosken by Bahar Pars (Sweden, 7 min)
Image: Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER. Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights ReservedRead more
Bad Genius[/caption]
The 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will take place from June 30 to July 13 at the Film Society and July 14 to 16 at the SVA Theatre. North America’s leading festival of popular Asian cinema will showcase 57 feature films, including 3 International Premieres, 21 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, and 15 films making their New York City debuts.
This year, all three of NYAFF’s Gala screenings are brilliant reinventions of the thriller genre. The Opening Gala will be the International Premiere of Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Bad Genius, the first Southeast Asian film to open the festival, with the director and stars in attendance. In this exhilarating high school thriller, straightA students Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) and Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul) stage a heist that will undermine the U.S. university entrance system after they lose their own scholarships. The Centerpiece Gala of the festival will be the North American Premiere of Mikhail Red’s Birdshot, a continuation of the festival programmers’ efforts to champion films from Southeast Asia, and the Philippines in particular. The Closing Gala is the U.S. Premiere of Jung Byunggil’s The Villainess, fresh from its Midnight screening in Cannes. The adrenaline soaked action film stars Kim Okvin as a ruthless female assassin trained in China who starts a new life with South Korea’s Intelligence Agency.
New to NYAFF in 2017 is the Main Competition section, featuring seven diverse works by first or second time directors that are all having their North American premieres at the festival. Competing are Bad Genius (Thailand), Birdshot (Philippines), A Double Life (Japan), The Gangster’s Daughter (Taiwan), Kfc (Vietnam), Jane (South Korea), and With Prisoners (Hong Kong). The competition jury will be announced at a later date, with winners revealed on the festival’s final night at Film Society of Lincoln Center on July 13.
More now than ever, Hong Kong cinema is at the core of the festival’s programming: faithful to its Chinatown origins, this year’s edition celebrates the best filmmaking from the Special Administrative Region with a central Hong Kong Panorama section, commemorating the 20th anniversary of its establishment, with major support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York. Over the past two decades, Hong Kong cinema has continuously influenced and inspired many filmmakers in Asia and in the world. This year’s lineup proves the originality and excellence of its production is intact: from a powerful condemnation of life inside the territory’s juvenile detention centers (With Prisoners), to a wartime epic about resistance heroes during the Japanese occupation (Our Time Will Come), to a tale of corruption and redemption set in the underbelly of 1960s Hong Kong (Dealer/Healer), the films bear testimony to the city’s rich cinema history.
The core of the panorama will be a special (and first of its kind) focus on the exciting new generation of directors, titled Young Blood Hong Kong. As part of the 20th anniversary, the festival is looking to the future of Hong Kong cinema, rather than its past: these recent Hong Kong directors are working in various genres, tackling a range of social issues, and paying homage to the film traditions they grew up with, from tenement dramas to vampire comedies. Meanwhile, NYAFF continues to bring established, major filmmakers from the region: Lawrence Lau, who, along with Ann Hui, is one of Hong Kong’s best neorealist directors, will be introducing his star studded crime action drama Dealer/Healer; the Panorama will spotlight the new generation from the region with guest filmmaker Wong Chun and screenwriter Florence Chan with Mad World, Derek Hui with This Is Not What I Expected, and Alan Lo with Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight. Other films by first time Hong Kong directors in this year’s lineup are Derek Tsang’s Soul Mate, Yan Pakwing and Chiu Sinhang’s Vampire Cleanup Department, and Andrew Wong’s With Prisoners.
The 2017 lineup also includes five LGBTQ themed films: two dramas with transsexual protagonists, Naoko Ogigami’s CloseKnit from Japan, and Cho Hyunhoon’s drama Jane from South Korea; two coming of age high school youth dramas, Ahn Jungmin’s Fantasy of the Girls from South Korea, and Leste Chen’s 2006 Eternal Summer from Taiwan, which merits a second look a decade on; and Lee Sangil’s wild and violent mystery thriller Rage, featuring Go Ayano (NYAFF 2016 Rising Star Asia awardee) as a homeless stranger invited into the home of a semi closeted salaryman (Satoshi Tsumabuki) as his live in lover.
Another highlight of this year’s festival are three films that celebrate Japan’s unique “Roman Porno” genre, each having their North American premieres: Aroused by Gymnopedies, Dawn of the Felines, and Wet Woman in the Wind. Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest film studio, is celebrating 45 years since they birthed the soft core Roman Porno genre (roman derives from the French word for novel). Invented to save a dying industry, they gave carte blanche to directors with minimal rules: keep it under 80 minutes with a sex scene every ten. This allowed for wild stream of consciousness works of both the highest and lowest caliber. Now, Nikkatsu has enlisted top contemporary talent for the Roman Porno Reboot Project, taking the provocative, envelope pushing format to a whole new level.
In addition to the festival’s screenings, the NYAFF awards a number of honorees each year, including this year’s recipients:
The 2017 NYAFF Lifetime Achievement Award goes to veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Kafai, who will attend a three film tribute, including Johnnie To’s Election, Longman Leung & Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 and Tsui’s Hark’s The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D. In a career spanning 35 years, Leung has worked with the iconic directors Li Hanhsiang, Wong Karwai, Stanley Kwan, and JeanJacques Annaud, and starred opposite the screen legends Jackie Chan, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Jet Li, and Fan Bingbing. Leung was arguably the first Hong Kong star to become an international heartthrob, in JeanJacques Annaud’s The Lover.
THe Star Asia Award recipient is Korean movie star Gang Dongwon, whose charisma and emotional investment in his performances gives his films a unique edge. His most iconic films include Lee Myungse’s Duelist, Park Jinpyo’s Voice of a Murderer, and Jang Hoon’s Secret Reunion. Last year, NYAFF presented two of his films, The Priests and A Violent Prosecutor, and in 2017, the festival will be joined by Gang to present a special screening of the magical fable Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned.
The Screen International Rising Star Asia Award will be given to Thailand’s Chutimon “Aokbab” Chuengcharoensukying. The 21 year old model, who is still a student at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, found fame last year in Thank You for Sharing, an eight minute, viral short about cyberbullying. The NYAFF is opening with her feature debut, Bad Genius, in which she stars as a high school student who masterminds an ambitious heist of the American university entrance exam system. It’s a demanding role, in which her quick witted character must navigate a complex moral universe where parents and teachers don’t always know best.