The "Essence of Film Festivals" screening unit of the Shanghai International Film Festival was founded in 2019 and was warmly welcomed by the audience as soon as it was launched. This unit hopes to bring together the latest award-winning or selected films from major film festivals around the world, so that the audience can appreciate the latest world film trends in the first place. This year's Shanghai International Film Festival "Film Festival Essence" unit has a huge amount of films, and today I will introduce the first part to you - these masterpieces are from the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival and other well-known international film festivals. They are:
The two-hour, exciting opening film of the Tokyo International Film Festival, "The Lost Dog: Part I" and "The Lost Dog: The Last Part"; "Quentin, India" surprised the Rotterdam Film Festival's "Pebbles"; the costume romantic comedy "Emma" starring the heroine of "Rear Wing Abandoned Soldier"; Kazakhstani director Adil Khan Yerkyanov was shortlisted for "Urbsen" and "Yellow Cat" at the Tallinn and Venice Film Festivals, respectively; the feminist film "Shepherd and the Seven Songs" shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival. Iranian director Barami won "Wilderness of the Wilderness" for best film in the Horizon section of the Venice Film Festival; "Children on the Motorcycle", which was shortlisted for the best Argentine film unit at the Mataburata International Film Festival; and "The Thief who Stole a Motorcycle", which was selected for the Tokyo International Film Festival and pays homage to the Italian neorealist classic.
Let's take a look at their respective details:
Defeated Dogs: Part 1
Underdog: Part One
-2020-
Highlights: The Japanese version of "Rocky" created by the original team of "Love of 100 Yuan"
Professional boxer Suetonaga Akira has become a "defeated dog" who is sparred and beaten in the boxing ring, but he still can't forget the glory of the past; young boxer Ryuta Omura is talented but has unknown secrets; Miyagi, a third-rate artist who bears the pressure of "star second generation", stands in the boxing ring in order to fight for popularity... Director Wu Zhengqing and his old partner screenwriter Adachi Gentry once again joined hands to gather the original team of "Love of 100 Yuan" to create this boxing platform sad song that can be called the Japanese version of "Rocky". The film features a unique personality of powerful actor Mirai Moriyama, film and television singer Tatsumi Kitamura, and actor Atsuko Maeda's husband, Ryo Yotsuchi, competing on the same stage.
Defeated Dogs: The Last Part
Underdog: Part Two
Highlights: Fist to flesh five-hour boxing theme masterpiece
The talented Ryuta Omura was accidentally injured due to entanglement, and his career was in crisis, and a battle with idol Sueyaga became his greatest spiritual sustenance. In the final boxing ring, the two burned themselves out and bloomed with the brightest brilliance. Director Wu Zhengqing filmed this epic masterpiece dedicated to the losers in nearly five hours of the above and next episodes, starring Mirai Moriyama and Kitamura Craftsman Hai after professional training, their shape and boxing skills are almost fake and real, in the final twenty minutes of boxing duels, the acting skills and boxing skills are played to the fullest, which is addictive. The film is the opening film of the 2020 Tokyo International Film Festival and was named the fourth place in the top ten of the year in the "Film Shunbao".
pebbles
Pebbles
-2021-
Highlights: "Indian Quentin" stunning Rotterdam's first work
In an abject poor and dry region of India lives a father and son who embark on a brief search for relatives... This is a newcomer's new work that won the Golden Tiger Award for Best Film in the competition section of the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2021. The director who dropped out of school because of poverty in his childhood, Vinosji P.S. from the DVD shop to the film road step by step, this debut film in the form of barefoot road film to show the reality of southern India, with the simplest way to explore the beauty and poetry of nature, the film narrative without losing humor, the creation of a hot atmosphere can also arouse the audience and the character empathy, feel how poor children stubbornly and silently remain innocent.
Emma
Emma.
Highlights: The costume romantic comedy starring the heroine of "Rear Wing Abandoned Soldiers"
The latest version of "Emma" performed by Anya Taylor-Joy, who became popular because of "Rear Wing Abandonment", together with actor Johnny Flynn and British veteran drama bone Bill Nye, tells the story of four pairs of men and women's crush, wrong love, misunderstanding, hatred, entanglement and consummation. The film's elaborate costumes and palatial verdant estates are particularly chic captured by 4K HD cameras. The actors restore the playful lines of the original author, Jane Austen, leading the contemporary audience to immerse themselves in it, showing a hint of the absurdity of the old era. This sweet comedy that explores the source of true love and promotes growth and lighthearted joy has won two nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Best Costume Design.
Urbson
Ulbolsyn
Highlights: Tough women single-handedly fight evil men
The girl, Urbson, tries to earn money to send her sister abroad to college, but her sister is kidnapped, and Urbson has to go into the den alone. Young Kazakh director Adil Khan Yarkyanov has been very creative in recent years, and for the past three years, he has maintained the pace of two films per year and thus made a name for himself in the international film world. Advocating equal rights for men and women, he used a documentary-style approach in this film to record and criticize the bad habit of male superiority and inferiority in rural Kazakhstan. The film has a small production cost and a short time, but it can invite a large number of local villagers to appear on camera, and skillfully depict the opposition between modern and traditional concepts with black humor, and was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 2020 Tallinn Night Film Festival.
Yellow cat
Yellow Cat
Highlights: Kazakhstan's version of "The Male and Female Thief"
He owns a girl, a gun and a dream to build a movie theater at the top of a hill. However, he took the girl and the gun and went on the road to escape. As a prolific Kazakh director Adil Khan Yerkyanov's affectionate tribute to film history, the film unfolds in the form of short and chic chapters, through a large number of wide-angle shots to capture the rugged wasteland and gentle meadows of Kazakhstan, at the same time, the strong and authentic "fan shadow style" also takes the audience back to the past time. The film was shortlisted for the "Horizon" section of the 2020 Venice Film Festival and the competition section of the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
Shepherd Girl and Seven Songs
The Shepherdess
and the Seven Songs
Highlights: Snow Mountain Goddess Song Festival
In Kashmir, Lyra, a shepherd girl, is known for her beauty, wandering between her newlywed husband and the little powerful policeman, using beauty and scheming to fight for freedom. The film is based on traditional Indian folk songs and is divided into seven chapters, including "Marriage Song". Indian director Singh blends women's quest for power into the divinity of sacred mountains and folk beliefs, bringing a unique exotic atmosphere through folk song minor tunes and folk customs. As the plot progresses, the gritty heroine insists on using her wisdom to fight for independence, and the process is bumpy but wonderful. The film was shortlisted for the "Meet" competition at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, and Singer won the Best Director in the Rookie Film Competition Section of the Hong Kong International Film Festival 2020 for this film.
Wilderness of the Wilderness
The Wasteland
What to watch: The aesthetics of destruction in black and white images
A ruined brick factory in the middle of nowhere is about to close, and the administrator, Robra, is torn between the unpaid workers and the boss, and he is a good old man who is willing to live and die with the broken brick factory and not seek a way out. Iranian director Ahmed Balami's work is reminiscent of Bella Tarr's Satan Tango, which uses black and white images, push-pull and traverse long shots and different perspectives to repeat the same plot, while paying tribute to the previous directors and works, depicting the national and cultural contradictions between iran's various ethnic groups, as well as class antagonism and exploitation above this thousand-year feud. The film won best film in the horizon section of the 2020 Venice Film Festival and the Fibizi International Film Critics Award.
Kids on the motorcycle
The Kids in the Bikes
What to watch: The youthful love of the crime block
Julie and Laudy are lovers of green plum bamboo horses, and the sudden pregnancy disrupts their relationship and stirs up the already uneventful family and neighborhood life. The film is set in Córdoba in 2013, where young people at the bottom live a closed life in a social environment where crime is frequent and strict law enforcement coexists. The film is ostensibly about the story of underage pregnancy and abortion, but behind it reveals class segmentation and social oppression. The two young actors who play couples in the film have remarkable acting skills, which not only perform the sweetness and warmth of "Juno", but also show the hardships and helplessness of high-pressure life. The film was shortlisted for Best Argentine Film at the 2020 Mataburata International Film Festival.
People who steal motorcycles
The Bike Thief
What to watch: The takeaway brother's long search for a car
After the motorcycles they depend on were stolen, the Romanian-American delivery man embarked on a car hunt for himself and his family. Obviously, this film is a tribute to the Italian neorealist classic "The Bicycle Thief". The director moved the story stage to contemporary London, in addition to focusing on the hard life of British immigrants, the film also constructed a complex underlying ecology in just over seventy minutes, directly attacking the cruel social reality. The film was selected for the 2020 Tokyo International Film Festival. It is worth mentioning that Anna Maria Marlinka, who plays the wife of the protagonist in the film, has participated in many popular American dramas such as "Mars Times" and won the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress.
Stay tuned to us and be the first to grasp the blockbuster list of the 2021 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Note: In case of change in the film schedule, the actual schedule shall prevail.
2021 Shanghai International Film Festival film list summary
Tribute to the Master 丨 Ennio Morricone
Wilderness Darts 丨 Dusk Double Darts 丨 Gold Three Darts 丨 Western Past丨 Investigation of an Unquestionable Citizen 丨 Iron Mask Selfless 丨 Youguo Station
Tribute to the Master 丨Micros Janso
Oratorio 丨 Grooming 丨 Grooming No. 2 丨 Grooming No. 3 丨 Hopeless People 丨 Red Army and White Army 丨 Silence and Shouting
4K fix
Beautiful Torture 丨 Woman Rhymes 丨 Mints 丨 Godfather 3 丨 Ruan Lingyu 丨 Rouge Buckle 丨 Can't Let Loose a Lifetime 丨 Gamera Big Monster Aerial Showdown