Filmart 2021: The hot projects from Hong Kong and China | Features

China has just come off a record-breaking Lunar New Year period (February 11-17), during which box office reached $1.2bn (RMB7.8bn), up 32.5% over the same holiday period in 2019. Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 headed box office for most of the holiday, but Beijing Culture’s time travel drama Hi, Mom later pulled ahead, propelled by strong word-of-mouth. As of March 10, Hi, Mom had grossed $792m (RMB5.16bn) and Detective Chinatown 3 was on $681m (RMB4.44bn).

While China’s cinemas were open over Lunar New Year, albeit with some seating capacity and other Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, Hong Kong theatres only reopened on February 18 after closing in December 2020, due to a fourth wave of the virus, so missed the usually lucrative Christmas and Lunar New Year holiday periods. However, with the infection case load lowering and a vaccination programme being rolled out, the Hong Kong film industry is hoping it can return to some normality this year.

Production is back up and running in both Hong Kong and China, but the distribution pipeline is still feeling the impact of lengthy shutdowns last year. Most of the big-budget titles that are currently in production or post-production in China are being lined up for release either over summer or during the National Day holidays in October, with the emphasis on patriotic titles as this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

In Hong Kong, various government funding schemes are encouraging the production of independent dramas from new talent, such as Elisa’s Day, which received its world premiere at Osaka Asian Film Festival (March 5-14).

Anima

Dir. Cao Jinling
Filmed on location in the Moerdaoga National Forest in Inner Mongolia, Cao’s debut feature is set in the 1980s when China had just launched its programme of economic opening and development. The coming-of-age story follows a young man, who has grown up in the forest and struggles to fit into the new societal norms, as he sets out on a quest to protect the forest’s few remaining centuries-old trees. Wang Chuanjun (Saturday Fiction) and Qi Xi (So Long, My Son) head the cast of the film, which received its world premiere at last year’s Cairo International Film Festival. The crew includes Hou Hsiao-hsien collaborators Liao Ching-Sung (The Assassin), as executive producer and editor, cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bing and sound designer Tu Duu Chih. Contact: Gabrielle Rozing, Fortissimo Films 

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Dir. Wen Shipei
Currently in post-production, Wen’s debut feature is an atmospheric thriller hinging on the mystery surrounding the death of a man who is knocked over in a traffic accident but whose body is then found riddled with bullets. The cast features Taiwanese stars Eddie Peng and Sylvia Chang. It is produced by Dirty Monkey Studios, the Beijing-based studio of Chinese blockbuster filmmaker and producer Ning Hao. ARP Sélection has taken French rights. Wild Bunch is handling all world rights apart from China, France, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Contact: Wild Bunch

Chinese Doctors

Dir. Andrew Lau
Lau is reteaming with two stars from his 2019 blockbuster The…