A new film festival titled “Chinese Cinema Today” will be held in Japan and will screen 15 Chinese films, including four that will be screened for the first time in Japan. The program will run from November 22nd to December. The show will be held at Tokyo’s Cinelibre Ikebukuro on December 12 before moving to Osaka, highlighting both commercial hits and festival favorites from mainland China’s growing film industry.
The festival consists of four different sections. The director of “Deep Focus” will shine a special spotlight on artist and director Chiu Jing-zhen, screening three of his films: “Madame” and “Mr. Zhongzhen.” Zhang Believes” and “A New Old Play.” This will be the first time that a special screening of Chiu’s works will be screened in Japan.
The Chinese Hits section features recent commercial successes, including the thriller “Hidden Blade,” directed by Cheng Er and starring Tony Leung and Wang Yibo. The film marks Chen’s return after seven years. “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Post Truth,” starring Yong May, winner of the Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film Festival, will also be screened.
In the Chinese New Wave category, director Tsai Jie’s “Bent Time”, which attracted attention at the Busan International Film Festival, “Good Autumn Mommy”, directed by Chen Shizhong, starring Shu Qi, and “Carefree”, directed by Liang Ming, were selected. Up-and-coming talent such as “Hibi” is attracting attention. The film was screened at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The playback selection includes “Art College 1994” (Berlin Competition), “Gone with the Boat” (winner of the Best Asian New Screenplay Award in Shanghai), “Ripples of Life” directed by Wei Shujun (Tokyo Filmex Competition), Here are some highlights from the recent festival circuit, including Gu Xiaogang’s Ripples of Life (Tokyo FILMeX Competition). “The Abode of the Fuchun Mountains” (Cannes Critics Weekly closing film), “Birds of the Suburbia” (Locarno) directed by Qiu Sheng, and “Journey to the West”, Beijing Film Academy’s graduation film that was recognized at Asian film festivals.
Qiu is a mainland Chinese contemporary artist who has exhibited widely in China and abroad. Experimenting with cinematic language, he has produced six independent documentaries and a standalone fiction film, A New Old Play, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival and won the Hong Kong International Film Festival. He won the best film award at the festival for Firebird (he is currently nearing completion of his second feature-length fiction film, Fuxi, which is scheduled to be completed next year).
