After three years, the 13th Beijing International Film Festival finally returned to April. This year, we will continue last year's Hong Kong film splendor, and in collaboration with the Hong Kong International Film Festival, we will once again launch the "Light and Shadow Wave – New Driving Force for Hong Kong Films" section funded by Creative Hong Kong, and select 6 Hong Kong films to share with the audience of the Beijing Film Festival.
Including 4 Hong Kong films' latest masterpieces "On the Way to the Hospital", "Outdated Festival", "Flowing Water and Flowers", "Origin Sin" and 2 4K restoration classic films "If Heaven Has Love" and "Fallen Angel", hoping to bring fans a different spring scene in the old and new light and shadow.
It is especially worth mentioning that this "Light and Shadow Wave" unit designed a total of 3 post-screening exchange sessions, "On the Way to the Hospital", "Flowing Water and Flowers" and "Origin Sin" were all attended by the Hong Kong main creative team, which is a rare opportunity and should not be missed!
Stills from "On the Way to the Hospital"
Among them, the film "On the Way to the Hospital" just completed its world premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in early April, and was also the closing film of this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival. Just over half a month later, mainland film fans had the opportunity to enjoy this work, which is indeed fresh and precious. This film is directed by Zhuo Yunzhi, written by Qiu Litao, starring Gu Tianle, You Xuexiu, and Yuan Lilin, with a golden lineup and a warm story, with the profession of "120 first responders" that is rarely paid attention to as the main line, telling the touching father-daughter relationship and friendship.
Director Zhuo Yunzhi has been in the film for many years and has lived in the film industry as an actor, screenwriter and director. Gu Tianle is different from the past, jumping out of the serious image in his usual action movies, and Su Yuexian, who previously played his daughter in "Tomorrow's War", continues the father-daughter relationship, interpreting the single father who is struggling in his career and family. In this screening, "On the Way to the Hospital" will be unveiled as the opening film of the "Light and Shadow Wave" unit, and director Zhuo Yunzhi and actor You Xuexiu attended the post-screening event to communicate with the audience.
Stills from "Outdated, Holiday"
"Obsolete Festival" has also received good reviews, and the film won the honor of audience vote in the "Hidden Dragon Unit" of the recent Pingyao International Film Festival, and has easily exceeded 10 million box office since its local release in Hong Kong. Director Zeng Qinghong has been shortlisted for major film festivals in the past with his short film works, and "Outdated Festival" is his feature film debut.
The story comes from the director's own experience, and the title of the film "Festival" is a pun, taking the festive quarrels and disintegration between three generations on the day of the winter solstice as a family node, accompanied by a documentary image style, which perfectly restores the variety of East Asian families. In the movie, fans will see veteran powerful actors Xie Junhao and Mao Shunjun on the same stage, and at the same time, there are also popular boy group Mirror group members Lu Juan, Lu Hanting, Tan Shanyan, Yuan Lanlin and other actors joining, the lineup is wonderful, the opportunity must not be lost.
A still from "Flowing Water and Falling Flowers"
"Flowing Water and Falling Flowers" directed by Jia Shengfeng is starring Zheng Xiuwen, with foster families as the main axis, recording the psychological journey of a couple who lost their children after becoming foster parents under the dual pressure of economy and emotions. The film subverts the traditional definition of "family", so that blood is no longer the only bond that holds the family together, and children come and go, and the mood of foster parents is constantly emptied and rebuilt.
According to actress Zheng Xiuwen, she herself was deeply moved by the script, starred in the film with zero pay, and sang the theme song "I lived like this for a day", and she was nominated for the Hong Kong Film 9 times before and won the 10th nomination again for her superb acting skills in "Flowing Water and Flowers". After this screening event, director Jia Shengfeng and male protagonist Lu Junguang will attend the screening to communicate with fans and friends on the spot, overflowing the wonderful screen to be read.
"Origin Sin" stills
"Origin Crime" is different from the above three films that focus on warmth, and in addition to blood and family affection, it also gathers psychological, suspenseful, crime and other genre elements, which is quite commercial. Under the suspenseful shell of constantly tracing the true cause of the mother's death, the film tells a touching and warm story, while subverting the definition of good and evil, it also explores social issues such as supporting the elderly and dying patients to face death.
The film is directed by Shum Jiayan, golden statue actor Ren Dahua, powerful actor Wu Zhuoxi and film star Chen Zixuan co-starring, and this film is also the posthumous work of the famous Hong Kong filmmaker Zeng Jiang, he plays the dying old man with cancer in the film often shows people with a positive attitude to life, and also leaves us the last warmth of the filmmaker Zeng Jiang on the big screen.
Actor Zeng Jiang
The film successfully won four awards such as Best Film and Best Actor at the 9th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival not long ago. In this screening event, we also invited director Cen Jiayan, actress Chen Zixuan, and producer Huang Yongfeng to attend the post-screening event, and welcome everyone to enjoy the exchange.
At this point, I believe you will find that most of the above four new films are related to family kinship, whether it is the father-daughter relationship in "On the Way to the Hospital" and the contradiction and reconciliation between the three generations of "Outdated and Holiday"; Or the non-blood reorganization of the family in "Flowing Water and Falling Flowers" and the maintenance problem that is difficult to generalize in "Origin Sin", in the final analysis, they all focus on the core of the most primitive common emotion of human beings - "love", hoping that through the screen, the audience and friends can find their own inner comfort and warmth in this screening.
A still from "If there is love"
In addition to seeing the new works of Hong Kong films, the two classic works in this exhibition are 4K restoration, and we hope to bring everyone back to the classics with the best projection media. Among them, the 4K screening of "If Love in Heaven" is the premiere of Chinese mainland, in addition to reliving the beautiful beauty and beautiful love of Andy Lau and Wu Qianlian on the big screen, this screening is also a common tribute to the late filmmaker director Chen Musheng and actor Wu Mengda in the film.
A still from "Fallen Angel"
Wong Kar-wai's "Fallen Angel" is unique in its unique image style, and this time it will also be presented on the Chinese mainland big screen for the first time with a new restored version in 4K. The film wraps love and alienation in the casualness of streaming, which makes people immerse themselves in the mysterious atmosphere of the city, like a dream. The film gathers Liming, Li Jiaxin, Jin Chengwu, Yang Caini, and Karen Mok to compose the screen brilliance together.
The new and old take over, and the unique charm of Hong Kong movies will always be remembered and rediscovered. In this sunny April, I look forward to gathering with fans and friends to celebrate the Hong Kong film feast!