China’s Pingyao International Film Festival To Open With ‘Only The River Flows’, Close With World Premiere Of ‘Football On The Roof’
China’s Pingyao International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its seventh edition (October 11-18), which will open with Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows and close with the world premiere of Fei Yu’s Football On The Roof.
Wei’s 1990s-set noir thriller, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes film festival, is also one of 11 titles competing in Pingyao’s Hidden Dragons competition for emerging Chinese filmmakers. Football On The Roof tells the story of a female soccer team fighting against the odds in the remote mountains of Yunnan province.
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The Hidden Dragons line-up also includes Geng Zihan’s A Song Sung Blue, which premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight, along with world premieres including Hao Feihuan’s Records Without Words, Li Binbin’s The Night Rain South Township and Yang Pingdao’s A Romantic Fragment (see full line-up below).
Pingyao has also announced the 12 films selected for the Crouching Tigers competition for debut, second and third features from international filmmakers, which includes Cannes Camera d’Or winner Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An; Belgium’s Oscars submission Omen, directed by Baloji; Last Shadow At First Light, from Singapore’s Nicole Midori Woodford; Ama Gloria, from France’s Marie Amachoukeli; and In Flames from Pakistan’s Zarrar Kahn.
Nine films have been selected as Galas for the festival including Marco Bellocchio’s Kidnapped, Cedric Kahn’s The Goldman Case, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two, Amanda Nell Eu’s Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes, and the world premiere of Liu Miaomiao’s The Time Of A Flower.
Other sections in the festival include Special Presentation, which will screen Algerian historical drama The Last Queen and Guo Ke’s The Coming Days, along with the Made In Shanxi section for new works by filmmakers in the province where the festival is located.
Founded by leading Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, the festival is held in the ancient walled city of Pingyao, which is close to Jia’s home town Fenyang. Lin Xudong serves as artistic director of the festival with Marco Mueller as chief artistic consultant for the international programme.
The festival managed to keep going during the pandemic as an in-person event, without international guests, although last year’s edition was postponed due to Covid outbreaks and eventually took place in January this year.
In addition to encouraging collaboration between Chinese and international filmmakers, the festival has an industry platform to support emerging Chinese filmmakers through programmes including Pingyao Project Promotion.
Pingyao International Film Festival 2023 Line-up:
Hidden Dragons:
Only The River Flows (China)
Dir: Wei Shujun
Asian Premiere
Carefree Days (China)
Dir: Liang Ming
Asian Premiere
Borrowed Time (China)
Dir: Choy Ji
Asian Premiere
A Song Sung Blue (China)
Dir: Geng Zihan
Asian Premiere
Day Tripper (China)
Dir: Chen Yanqi
Asian Premiere
Records Without Words (China)
Dir: Hao Feihuan
World Premiere
The Night Rain South Township (China)
Dir: Li Binbin
World Premiere
A Romantic Fragment (China)
Dir: Yang Pingdao
World Premiere
Dance Still (China)
Dirs: Qin Muqiu, Zhan Hanqi
World Premiere
Till Love Do Us Part (China)
Dir: Li Ran
Asian Premiere
With Or Without You (China)
Dir: Feng Yi
World Premiere
CROUCHING TIGERS:
Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell (Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain)
Dir: Pham Thiên An
China Premiere
àma Gloria (France)
Dir: Marie Amachoukeli
China Premiere
Last Shadow At First Light (Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Slovenia, Indonesia)
Dir: Nicole Midori Woodford
Asian Premiere
Empty Nets (Germany, Iran)
Dir: Behrooz Karamizade
Asian Premiere
Hounds (Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
Dir: Kamal Lazraq
Asian Premiere
In Flames (Pakistan, Canada)
Dir: Zarrar Kahn
China Premiere
Behind The Mountains (Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
Dir: Mohamed Ben Attia
China Premiere
City Of Wind (France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar)
Dir: Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir
China Premiere
The Saint (Argentina)
Dir: Agustín Carbonere
Asian Premiere
Omen (Belgium, Netherlands, Democratic Republic Of Congo)
Dir: Baloji
Asian Premiere
Calm In The Canopy (Czech Republic)
Dir: Michal Hogenauer
World Premiere
Killing The Violet (Japan)
Dir: Zhang Yu
World Premiere
GALAS:
The Time Of A Flower (China)
Dir: Liu Miaomiao
World Premiere
Kidnapped (Italy, France, Germany)
Dir: Marco Bellocchio
China Premiere
Pictures Of Ghosts (Brazil)
Dir: Kleber Mendon?a Filho
China Premiere
Eureka (France, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Mexico)
Dir: Lisandro Alonso
China Premiere
Fremont (US)
Dir: Babak Jalali
Asian Premiere
The Goldman Case (France)
Dir: Cédric Kahn
China Premiere
Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two (India)
Dir: Mani Ratnam
China Premiere
Disco Boy (France, Italy, Belgium, Poland)
Dir: Giacomo Abbruzzese
Chinese Mainland Premiere
Tiger Stripes (Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar)
Dir: Amanda Nell Eu
Chinese Mainland Premiere
MADE IN SHANXI:
An Actress With A Name (China)
Dir: Wong Hing-Ki
World Premiere
Corner With Hope (China)
Dir: Kang Jiaxiang
World Premiere
Ask The Mountain (China)
Dir: Xu Lei
World Premiere
Disaster Observer (China)
Dir: Wu Xiaoyong
World Premiere
Tell Them I Flew Away (China)
Dir: Lee Xiupeng
World Premiere
Eraser (China)
Dir: Li Jin
World Premiere
The Second Breath (China)
Dir: Shen Youjia
World Premiere
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