From Chinese dissident filmmakers to government-funded films, you can find it all at Busan, Asia’s biggest film festival. In the weeks leading up to the event, What’s on Weibo’s Gabi Verberg provides an overview of the Chinese nominees. This week: part I.

On the 4th of October, the 23th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea will roll out its red carpet to open this year’s film festival season in Asia. With the screening of 323 films from 79 countries, it is one of Asia’s biggest international film festivals, with China as one of the main suppliers of films.

Popular sections of the festival include:

– ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’, which showcases new and representative films by Asian filmmakers;

– ‘New Current’, which features the first or the second work by future directors of Asian cinema; and

– ‘Wide Angle‘, an assembly of documentaries, short films, Cinekid, and showcases.

It is these three sections in which most Chinese directors received their nominations.

In the upcoming weeks, we will provide you with more in-depth information on the Chinese films nominated for the festival. Please note that most of these films have not been officially released yet, so it might take some time before the (subtitled) films are available for all audiences.

This week, we will introduce to you to the first five of the Chinese nominees.

1. Savages (Xuěbào 雪暴)

China Mainland

Genre: Drama, Action, Crime, Suspense

Selected in the category: New Currents

Director: Siwei Cui (崔斯韦)

Weibo hashtag: #雪暴# (240.000+ views)

Premiere: October 2018, Busan International Film Festival

Starring: Chen Chang (张震), Nini (倪妮), Fan Liao (廖凡), Jue Huang (黄觉), Hua Liu (刘桦), Guangjie Li (李光洁), Taili Wang (王太利), Xiaojun Yue (岳小军), Yicong Zhang (张弈聪)

About the Director:

Siwei Cui is best known for his successes as a screenwriter. In 2009, he got nominated for best screenplay at the Chinese Film Media Awards, and for best script at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival for his work Crazy Racer (疯狂的赛车). Other works he wrote include The Island ( 一出好戏), which is selected in the A Window on Asian Cinema section at this year’s Busan Film Festival, and No Man’s Land (无人区). Siwei Cui once before directed a film in 2013 in cooperation with Zusong Lü (吕祖松) named Piano Trojan (钢琴木马). Savages will be his second work as a director.

Storyline:

Set against the backdrop of a desolate mountain village in the midst of a snow storm, a confrontation between the police and a criminal gang goes down.

Why you should watch it:

It is interesting to see how a relatively unexperienced director assembled so many well-known actors, including Nini (20 million followers on Weibo), Guangjie Li (5.51 million followers on Weibo), Jue Huang (3.73 million followers on Weibo) and Chen Chang (1.69 million followers on Weibo).

2. Vanishing Days (Mànyóu 漫游)

China Mainland

Genre: Drama

Selected in the category: New Currents

Director: Xin Zhu (祝新)

Premiere: October 2018, Busan International Film Festival

Main Characters: Yan Jiang (姜郦), Jing Huang (黄菁), Yan Chen (陈燕), Xiaoxing Li (李小杏), Haiqing Luo (骆海清), Jiehe Lu (卢嘉禾), Jiajun Zhao (赵家俊)

About the Director:

The young director Xin Zhu was born in 1996 and recently graduated from the Film and Television Department of the China Academy of Art. His first short film Community (午山社区) was nominated for an Exploration Award at the Amphibia Youth Film Festival (双栖青年影展). Other works of Xin Zhu are the short films A Folk Song (山野之歌) and Homesick (嘉年华). Vanishing Days is Xin Zhu’s first feature film.

Storyline:

The film is set in a crazy hot summer in 2009. Li Senlin struggles with her essay project, when Aunt Qiuqiu suddenly pays a visit. Reality and memory entangle as her aunt recalls a strange homicide case on a deserted island, while everyone else seems more concerned about the heat.

Why you should watch it:

Xin Zhu is amongst the youngest directors at the Busan Film Festival, and instead of professionals, Xin casted amateur actors for this film. The blog Deep Focus also mentions director Xin Zhu when they talk about the start of ‘a new wave’ of Chinese directors – those born after 1995. Xin Zhu uses an unclear tone to, presumably, let the viewers again experience the feeling of novelty, surprise, and doubt we had when we were younger. The film is full of mismatched stories, dreams and fantasy.

3. A Family Tour (Zìyóu xíng 自由行)

Taiwan/China Mainland/Hong Kong/Singapore/Malaysia

Genre: Drama

Selected in the category: A Window on Asian Cinema

Director: Liang Ying (应亮)

Premiere: 1st August 2018 on Locarno International Film Festival

Main Characters: Zhe Gong (宫哲), An Nai (耐安)

About the Director:

It’s not the first time Liang Ying attends an international film festival. In 2012, he was nominated for a Golden Leopard Award and won an award for best direction at the Locarno International Film Festival for his film When Night Falls (我还有话要说). It is this award-winning film that caused Liang Ying to flee the country after the government allgedly intimidated him and his family members to sell the government the rights of the film. Liang Ying refused, and then continued to live in exile in Hong Kong. A few years later, he won an award at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival for his work A Sunny Day (九月二十八日·晴) in the category Best Short Feature Film. Liang Ying’s other famous works include The Other Half (另一半), and Taking Father Home (背鸭子的男孩) – which both received nominations from film festivals worldwide.

Storyline:

The film revolves around Yang Shu, a Chinese director, who has been exiled from Hong Kong for making a film that offended the government. After 5 years, she desperately wants to reunite with her ailing mother who is visiting Taiwan and let her hold the grandson she misses.

Why you should watch it:

The story is semi-biographical from the director’s experiences since his exile from China in 2012. Variety wrote about the film: “[it is an] intelligently affecting story of exile and displacement,” and said it is “Ying Liang’s most highly polished film to date.” Indiewire called the film “heartbreaking.” The film was nominated for the Golden Leopard Award at the 71st Locarno International Film Festival.

4. The Enigma of Arrival (Dǐdá zhī mí 抵达之谜)

Mainland China

Genre: Crime

Selected in the category: A Window on Asian Cinema

Director: Song Wen (宋文)

Reads on Weibo: 35000 (#抵达之谜#)

Premiere: October 2018, Busan International Film Festival

Starring: Xian Li (李现), Borui Dong (董博睿), Xuan Gu (顾璇)

About the Director:

Some might know director Song Wen as the founder of FIRST International Film Festival, a festival for young directors, which celebrated its 12th edition this year. In 2015 Song Wen started his career as a producer and director. The Enigma of Arrival is his first work.

Storyline:

After many years, a group of high school friends reunites. They have not seen each other since the disappearance of Dondong, a girl they all secretly fancied. The circumstances of her disappearance cause the end of their friendship. Although a long time has passed, there are still things unspoken about what exactly happened during those crucial years.

Why you should watch it:

The main character in the film is played by the popular young actor Xian Li (李现), who currently has over 3.8 million followers on Weibo. He is best known for his roles in Chinese TV dramas such as Medical Examiner Dr. Qin. The second reason to watch this film is the contribution of Berlin Film Festival and The Golden Rooster award-winning producer Fei Xie (谢飞). He and Song Wen have been closely cooperating for this work for over three years.

5. Jinpa (Zhuàng Sǐle Yī Zhǐ Yáng 撞死了一只羊)

China Mainland

Genre: Drama

Selected in the category: A Window on Asian Cinema

Director: Pema Tseden (万玛才旦)

Weibo Reads: 340.000 (#撞死了一只羊#)

Premiere: 4th September 2018, Venice International Film Festival

Leading Actors: Jinpa (金巴), Genden Phuntsok (更登彭措), Sonam Wangmo (索朗旺姆)

About the Director:

Pema Tseden is an acknowledged director, screenwriter, producer and writer from Tibet. He started his career as a writer and started publishing stories in 1991. In the years that followed he published more than forty short stories in Tibetan and Chinese. His writing has been acknowledged with many awards. In 2002. he first entered the film industry as editor of the film The Silent Holy Stone (静静的嘛呢石) which received international attention. This is where Pema Tseden’s film career took off. His famous other works include The Search (寻找智美更登) and Tharlo (塔洛) which both received several nominations from in and outside China.

Storyline:

On a dusty highroad in Tibet, a truck-driver gives a young man a ride. As he chats with the hitchhiker, he notices a knife strapped to his leg…

Why you should watch it:

The film is an adaption of the short story Killer (杀手) by Cirenluobo (次仁罗布), and from a short story of the director himself. They are both rewarded writers from Tibet who give a rare glimpse into the lives of the Tibet people. Jinpa was shortlisted for this year’s 75th Venice International Film Festival in the Orizzonti section.

Stayed tuned for more! Meanwhile, also check out our must-see Chinese film list of 2017 here.

By Gabi Verberg

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