Silent Mist (2017)

  • First 15 Films Revealed for 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam

    [caption id="attachment_24746" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Florida Project The Florida Project[/caption] International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) revealed the first 15 films selected for its 47th edition, among which are Sean Baker’s The Florida Project and Guillermo del Toro’sThe Shape of Water. Other selections include work by Wang Bing, Constantin Popescu and Alexey Fedorchenko. The festival will take place from January 24 to February 4, 2018. IFFR celebrates film art from all over the world and continues to present its programme in four sections, each with its own distinct character: Bright Future (including the Hivos Tiger Competition and the Tiger Competition for Short Films); Voices; Deep Focus and Perspectives. Short films are strongly represented throughout the festival. Also among the first titles are the international premieres of La fleurière by Ruben Desière (Belgium/Slovakia) and The Bottomless Bag by Rustam Khamdamov (Russia). Other festival highlights include Wang Bings Golden Leopard winning Mrs. Fang; Les garçons sauvages by French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico; Zhang Miaoyan’s Silent Mist (China/France); and the world premiere of the short film project with history in a room filled with people with funny names 4 by Korakrit Arunanondchai (USA/Thailand/South Africa/UK). The first 15 films confirmed for the 47th IFFR:

    BRIGHT FUTURE

    The Flower Shop (La fleurière), Ruben Desière, Belgium/Slovakia, international premiere The Wild Boys (Les garçons sauvages), Bertrand Mandico, France All You Can Eat Buddha, Ian Lagarde, Canada, European premiere

    VOICES

    Anna’s War, Alexey Fedorchenko, Russia, European premiere Pororoca, Constantin Popescu, Romania/France Silent Mist, Zhang Miaoyan, China/France, European premiere

    VOICES/Limelight

    The Florida Project, Sean Baker, USA The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro, USA

    DEEP FOCUS

    The Bottomless Bag, Rustam Khamdamov, Russia, international premiere Mrs. Fang, Wang Bing, Hong Kong/France/Germany Marquis of Wavrin, from the manor to the jungle (Marquis de Wavrin, du manoir à la jungle), Grace Winter, Luc Plantier, Belgium

    SHORT FILM

    Glimpse, Artur Zmijewski, Poland/Germany I Have Nothing to Say, Ying Liang, Taiwan/Hong Kong with history in a room filled with people with funny names 4, Korakrit Arunanondchai, USA/Thailand/South Africa/UK, world premiere

    MID-LENGTH

    The Worldly Cave, Zhou Tao, China, European premiere

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  • 10 Asian Films Nominated for Busan International Film Festival 1st Kim Jiseok Award

    [caption id="attachment_24686" align="aligncenter" width="905"]Ash l LI Xiaofeng Ash l LI Xiaofeng[/caption] The 22nd Busan International Film Festival has selected 10 official candidates for Kim Ji-seok Award.  The Busan International Film Festival newly established the ‘Kim Ji-seok Award’ to honor the late Kim Ji-seok who passed away earlier this year after devoting his life’s career to discovering young Asian directors and supporting the growth of Asian cinema. Unlike the New Currents section introducing the first or second film of up-and-coming Asian directors, Kim Jiseok Award nominees are selected from films produced by active and skilled Asian directors. Among 10 world premiere films in A Window on Asian Cinema, the section for new films of Asian directors and most-talked films, 2 finalists will be chosen through the jury’s examination and awarded 10,000 USD each. Kim Jiseok Award is to remember Kim Ji-seok, one of the founding members of the Busan International Film Festival and one of its first Program Directors who dedicated himself to fostering new Asian films and encouraging up-and-coming Asian directors for over 20 years, as well as a leading individual who worked hard to establish the festival identity as the hub of Asian cinema. To preserve the meaning of the Award, Kim Jiseok Award Jury consists of Asian film professionals who maintained close relationship with the late program director and contributed to the globalization of Asian cinema. Film critics Tony Rayns, Darcy Paquet and a representative Indonesian filmmaker Garin Nugroho will serve as first jurors for the Kim Jiseok Award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. The 22nd Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 12, 2017 to October 21, 2017. 2017 Kim Jiseok Award Nominees (Title in Alphabetical order) Ash l LI Xiaofeng A medical student, a steelworker, and two murders. Two men reemerge a decade after a young police investigator fails to solve the case, one a success and one saddled with miseries. Unable to leave the past behind, the group of men head towards redemption—or damnation. The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful l YANG Ya-Che An ambitious businesswoman who is trying to play the government and industry off each other for personal gain finds herself in trouble after an ingenious plan backfires, leading to murder, and becomes a deadly catalyst that could destroy the life and family she set out to protect. The Carousel Never Stops Turning l Ismail BASBETH About a man who never forgets his late wife, newlyweds at a zoo, three girls who travel across the countryside, a prostitute who contemplates her escape, a woman who seeks her mother’s murderer, two farmers who protest against the eviction done by the government, and about a car that witnesses everything. Goodbye Kathmandu l Nabin SUBBA Nepal’s brutal civil war wages on during the winter of 2004, three separate characters look for success, identity and love in Kathmandu during a historic upheaval. Amar returns from the US to start a business. Mangal is torn between tradition and rock music, while Robin is pressured to join the Gurkhas. In the Shadows l Dipesh JAIN Is Khuddoos trapped within old Delhi’s city walls, in his own mind, or both? That’s the central question in this psychological thriller, in which a lonely man obsesses over the people he watches on hidden cameras, and a boy he fears is in danger. Malila: The Farewell Flower l Anucha BOONYAWATANA Former lovers Shane and Pich navigate a break-up, a wife, child, death, and a terminal illness to reunite, separate and reunite in one final transcendent time. Malila is a film about healing, acceptance, guilt, forgiveness, and the ability to understand life’s uncertainties. The Scythian Lamb l YOSHIDA Daihachi A government-sponsored program brings six strangers to Uobuka, a small town by the sea. Tsukisue is the pleasant and efficient city official who is in charge of the program. A body is discovered after Tsukisue learns the shocking truth. Silent Mist l ZHANG Miaoyan Danger lurks in the fog that hovers over the winding paths of a canal town in modern-day Southern China. Mysterious incidents occur after an old man arrives. At night a rapist seeks his prey while in daylight a wealthy businessman threatens humble shopkeepers. Smaller and Smaller Circles l Raya MARTIN When a dead boy from a poor community is found on a trash heap, nobody cares to notice. Forensic specialist Father Gus Saenz investigates as more pre-teen bodies turn up in a Manilla dump site. Based on an award-winning Filipino novel. Wilderness l KISHI Yoshiyuki Shinjuku in 2021 is the wilderness, where Shinji, an abandoned child, and Clipper, from an abusive home, hone their boxing skills as a way to find their identities. Opposites except for their shared loneliness, the two ultimately make a connection in the ring.

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