News

Lawrence Kan’s newsroom drama In Broad Daylight leads the pack going into the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards with 16 nominations.

The feature, which follows an undercover journalist who exposes the abuse of residents in a nursing home, secured nods in all but three of the 19 categories. It marks the second feature by Kan and proved the fourth highest grossing local film in 2023.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

Also gaining multiple nominations was Nick Cheuk’s emotive drama Time Still Turns The Pages and Felix Chong’s financial crime extravaganza The Goldfinger, which secured 12 nods apiece, while Jack Ng...

Lui Lok (Aaron Kwok) became a police officer in order to uphold justice. But the rampant corruption within the police force made it impossible for him to remain independent. As a result, he decides to make a name for himself within the police force by controlling organized crime. (Source: Mubi)

Previously known as Theory of Ambitions, director-writer Philip Yung’s (Port of Call) true-crime drama is loosely based on the notorious “Four Great Sergeants” in 1960s Hong Kong. This movie boasts the first on-screen pairing of Hk megastars, Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung. The stellar cast also includes Michael Hui, Michael Chow, Elaine Jin, Tse Kwan-ho, Du Juan, Jessie Li and Patrick Tam Yiu-man. It finally received its world premiere at the 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival earlier in August this year, after a four year delay widely known to be due to Chinese censorship. Where the Wind...

When Edward Yang’s “A Brighter Summer Day” was released by Criterion on the European market in 2017, many cinephiles – at least those who did not own a region free-player – were able to enjoy a film many had praised over the years but only a few had actually seen. Even though Yang’s film is certainly not the only title which has become much sought after by film fans, for years after its release in 1991, “A Brighter Summer Day” was a title which one could only enjoy at festivals and selected screenings. Along with “Yi Yi” (2000), 2018 marked the year in which many film fans could enjoy two of the most significant titles within Asian cinema, news which Yang surely would have been delighted to hear given the amount of work he put into his films, but also considering their themes.

“A Brighter Summer Day” is screening at Five Flavours...

Family dramas have been used repeatedly in cinema to highlight generational gaps, in one of the most common, and frequently most intriguing “tendencies” of non-mainstream cinema. Documentarist turned filmmaker Yang Lina presents a movie in that fashion, by bringing together three generations of Chinese women whose relationships are mostly dominated by clash and tension.

“Spring Tide” is screening at Helsinki Cine Aasia

Guo Jianbo is a journalist specializing in social news, who, as the intro scene highlights, frequently deals with scandals. Her attitude, however, also brings her trouble, since her articles are not exactly of the popular type the audience wants, as a former classmate who is now her higher up repeatedly states. Jianbo is also the mother of a young daughter, Wanting, whom she raises alone, with the help of her mother, as her husband was killed in an accident. The mother, Ji Minglan, helps out in the local community after retirement,...

I consider movie as the next best thing to travel in getting to know a place, its culture and people. There is so much of China to be seen in the news and the only medium which could take you one step closer is cinema. I should say I was amply rewarded by director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide”. It got to a point where I started falling in love with the people of a foreign land. I was mesmerised and couldn’t pry my eyes away from the screen for a minute.

“Spring Tide” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

Ji Minglan (Elaine jin), her daughter Guo Jinbao (Hao Lei) and granddaughter Guo Wanting (Junxi Qu) all live in a small apartment. Minglan has not been able to forgive her divorced husband from thirty years ago. Jinbao has good memories of her father and attributes the affairs...

Yaro Abe’s celebrated manga series “Shin’ya Shokudo” had already been adapted into a Japanese television drama, two live-action films, a Korean and a Chinese TV series, before it also became a Chinese movie in 2019. Marking the directorial debut of Tony Leung Ka Fai, this time, the setting is placed in Shanghai, in another small, counter-only diner, which operates from midnight to 7 am.

The owner is a mysterious individual with a scar on his face, who runs his establishment without a set menu, but is always able to make any dish both regulars and passing customers desire. At the same time, Uncle, as everyone is calling the chef, is also eager to hear their stories and help them with their issues, occasionally even when his customers do not demand him to do so.

In that fashion, the movie presents the “adventures” of a number of individuals, and...

After impressing Hong Kong cinephiles with his debut, Stanley Kwan continued to explore the mentality of women through their interactions with men, an effort which led him to the international scene, as “Love Unto Waste” premiered at Locarno, before netting awards for Best Supporting Actress (Elaine Jin) and Best Screenplay from Hong Kong Film Awards.

Billie, a model who always wears sunglasses and asks to borrow money from men, and her two friends, Jade Screen Lau, an actress, and Jane Chiu, a singer, have come to Hong Kong from Taiwan, in order to become famous. One night at a karaoke bar, they meet Tony Cheung, the playboy son of a rice wholesaler, who is accompanied by Miss Chung, a girl who works at his company and seems to have a thing for him. Despite the fact that the meeting is rather eventful, with Tony getting drunk and...

“Mother Tongue,” a suspense thriller directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Mike Figgis starts shooting in Hong Kong this week. It stars and is produced by actor-singer-producer Josie Ho.

Figgis and Ho will hold a start-of production ceremony Wednesday at Hong Kong’s Shaw Studios. Production is expected to last until April with the completed film having set a tentative release schedule in January 2022.

Ho plays two characters. The first is an award-winning actress who is involved in a relationship with a younger woman played by Minami (“Battle Royale”) while in search of her long lost daughter, behind her partner’s back. She also plays the actress’s bitter sister.

Bruce Wagner penned the script and Ho is producing the film together with Conroy Chan, with whom she co-founded film entertainment 852 Films. “Mother Tongue” also stars Julian Sands (“A Room With A View”), Elaine Jin (“Mad World”) and Canon Nawata...

I consider movie as the next best thing to travel in getting to know a place, its culture and people. There is so much of China to be seen in the news and the only medium which could take you one step closer is cinema. I should say I was amply rewarded by director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide”. It got to a point where I started falling in love with the people of a foreign land. I was mesmerised and couldn’t pry my eyes away from the screen for a minute.

“Spring Tide” is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival

Ji Minglan (Elaine jin), her daughter Guo Jinbao (Hao Lei) and granddaughter Guo Wanting (Junxi Qu) all live in a small apartment. Minglan has not been able to forgive her divorced husband from thirty years ago. Jinbao has good memories of her father and attributes the affairs she...

Stars: Nien-Jen Wu, Issei Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Su-Yun Ko, Adrian Lin | Written and Directed by Edward Yang

Taiwanese writer-director Edward Yang’s final film starts with an ironically schmaltzy piano score playing over a scene of a slightly dismal wedding. It immediately sets the arch, bittersweet tone of the film to come.

A couple of hours into this intimate three-hour picture you might think you’re becoming used to Yang’s beautifully precise compositions and bold use of colour, but then he’ll pull something new and evocative out of the hat – a desperate midnight telephone call shot entirely in silhouette, for example – and you’ll remember you’re watching the twilight work of a master.

For all its stillness and its characters’ lack of impetus, it’s a fast-moving film. Its dry humour might lack punchlines, but the scenes themselves are punchy. It’s a family drama employing a very loose narrative,...

Hong Kong has selected first-time director Wong Chun's Mad World for the foreign-language film category at the 90th Academy Awards.

The drama, which explores mental illness and the lack of living space in modern metropolises, was a winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards earlier this year. The film boasts the award-winning performances from veteran actors Elaine Jin and Eric Tsang.

The project was particularly a local success as it was funded by the “First Feature Film Initiative” of the Hong Kong Film Development Fund.

Mad World tells the story of a bipolar patient’s attempt to adapt...

Trivisa scoops five awards including best film, while Mad World takes best new ditrector prize.Scroll Down For Full List Of Winners

Hong Kong’s new wave of filmmakers scored big at the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night, where films from first-time directors walked off with most of the major prizes.

Johnnie To-produced crime drama Trivisa (pictured) was the big winner of the night, scooping five awards including best film and best director for its three first-time co-directors - Jevons Au, Frank Hui and Vicky Wong. The film, about a trio of notorious gangsters, also won best actor for Gordon Lam’s performance, best screenplay and best editing.

Wong Chun’s Mad World, also a first-time effort, picked up three awards, including best new director, best supporting actor for Eric Tsang’s performance and best supporting actress for Elaine Jin. The film tells the story of a former stockbroker living with his father (Tsang...

Multi-stranded crime drama Trivisa was the big winner at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards tonight, bagging five gongs including Best Film, Best Actor for Gordon Lam and Best Director for the trio Jevons Au, Frank Hui and Vicky Wong. The film also won Best Screenplay and Best Editing. Wong Chun was named Best New Director for Mad World, which also won awards for Eric Tsang and Elaine Jin in the Best Supporting categories, while Kara Hui gave a passionate, heartfelt acceptance speech after winning the Best Actress award for Happiness. Elsewhere, Soi Cheang’s The Monkey King 2 won for Visual Effects and Costume Design & Make Up, the Wong Kar Wai scripted See You Tomorrow won for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The nominees for the 11th Annual Asian Film Awards were announced last week.

The ceremony is to be held in Hong Kong after a long stint in Macau. The reason for this changeover is to pay homage to the 20th anniversary since the handover of Hong Kong. This year, 34 films received nominations. Out of those 34, 21 are of Chiniese-origin, and 20 are South Korean, making South Korean films the second most nominated.

Some of the best releases of 2016 are up against each other this year. Park Chan Wook’s, “The Handmaiden,” although it did not receive a nod for best film nor best director, it did receive a levy of other nominations including: best supporting actress (Moon So-ri), best newcomer, best screenplay, best editing, best costume design, and best production design. Another strong Korean film up for several awards is “Train to Busan.” This outrageously popular zombie-horror film is up for five...

Plot : Based on a real life murder case where a dismembered corpse of a murdered 16-year-old prostitute girl was found in Hong Kong in 2008

‘Port of Call‘ stole the show in the acting categories at the recent Hong Kong Film Awards, Coming away with 7 awards including a Best Actor win for ‘Aaron Kwok’

35th Hong Kong Film Awards

Best Screenplay Philip Yung Won Best Actor Aaron Kwok Won Best Actress Jessie Li Won Best Supporting Actor Michael Ning Won Best Supporting Actress Elaine Jin Won Best New Performer Michael Ning Won Jessie Li Nominated Best Cinematography Christopher Doyle Won...

Controversial , low-budget dystopian Ten Years took the top honors at the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday.

A local box office hit made up of five vignettes set in 2025, where locals are persecuted for speaking Cantonese not Mandarin.

Amidst increasing fears of mainland pressure and interference in Hong Kong and some cinemas refusing to screen the film, its success was a surprise even to the producers themselves.

Andrew Choi, one of the producers for the film, said “The meaning of this prize is that it shows Hong Kong still has hope. It reminds us that we could have courage to be creative. I would like to thank everyone who has watched it.”

According to the Guardian, this film with a budget of Hk$500,000 ($64,000) has earned Hk$6m, but its run stopped despite still playing to packed theatres.

State broadcaster, CCTV, pulled out from broadcasting the ceremony live unlike previous years,...

The ceremony broadcast was banned in mainland China, reportedly due to the nomination of the politically-charged dystopian drama.Scroll down for the full list

Port Of Call emerged as a big winner with seven prizes from the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards, while controversial local independent production Ten Years was declared best film and The Taking Of Tiger Mountain’s Tsui Hark took best director.

Port Of Call, which came into the night with the most nominations at 13, pulled off a clean sweep of all the acting prizes: best actor for Aaron Kwok (his first Hkfa win), best actress for newcomer Jessie Li, best supporting actress for Elaine Jin, as well as best new performer and best supporting actor, both of which for Michael Ning.

The crime thriller also won best screenplay for writer-director Philip Yung and best cinematography for Christopher Doyle.

However, the biggest award of the evening went to Ten Years, which beat heavyweights...

Superb filmmaking! Edward Yang's chronicle of the children of Chinese exiles in Taiwan follows one teen's strange story of accidental delinquency, muted romance and pervasive violence in a closed society fed on American Rock 'n' Roll and Cold War militarism. Almost exactly as long as Gone With the Wind, Yang's intimate epic is one of those 'best movies ever' that few Americans have heard of. A Brighter Summer Day Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 804 1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 236 min. / Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 22, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Chen Chang, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang, Elaine Jin, Chuan Wang, Han Chang, Hsiu-Chiung Chiang, Stephanie Lai, Chi-tsan Wang, Lawrence Ko, Chih-Kang Tan, Ming-Hsin Chang, Chun-Lung Jung, Hui-Kuo Chou. Cinematography Hui Kung Chang, Longyu Zhang Film Editor Po-Wen Chen Written by Hung Hung, Mingtang Lai Produced by Wei-yen Yu Directed by Edward Yang

Reviewed by...

Even if Monster Hunt were billed in America with “from Raman Hui, the supervising animator of everyone’s favorite DreamWorks player, the Gingerbread Man, and co-director of Shrek the Third, comes a magical adventure of man and beast” on the posters, it wouldn’t be enough. But that’s okay, because Hui didn’t make it for American audiences. Instead, it stemmed from a desire back in 2005 to make an animated film in China after spending so much time with Steven Spielberg‘s company learning the ropes. A decade later and the finished live-action-animated hybrid became the nation’s highest-grossing film ever (since beaten by Stephen Chow‘s The Mermaid). Not even the boast of this acclaim could make it a winner stateside, though. It’s simply too weird for western audiences.

That doesn’t mean it’s bad or indecipherable. Hui utilizes many of the same themes from the...

Monster Hunt was released today ( Jan 22 ) in North American cinemas .

The film was originally released in China on July 2015 in 3D and went on to be the highest grossing Chinese film of all time (earning in excess of 2.48 billion Yuan )

Voice Acting Cast

Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Jiang Wu, Elaine Jin, Wallace Chung, Eric Tsang, Sandra Ng

Synopsis

The film takes place in the distant past, where the Human race existed alongside the Monster race. They once shared the world in peace and harmony until the Humans drove the Monsters out from their lands, for they sought total dominion over their lands.

Recently, a civil war took place in the Monster Realm which resulted in the usurpation of the Monster King’s throne from a treacherous minister, who later sought the Monster Queen and her unborn baby, and the Monster Queen fled to the Human Realm.

The story begins with...

Yesterday the full line-up for the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival was announced, and this year's closing film is a director's cut of Philip Yung's Port Of Call. The director's last film, May We Chat, was an impressive look at compensated dating and teen prostitution in the city, and he has previously impressed audiences with films including Glamorous Youth and wrote last year's firefighter hit As The Lights Went Out as well as Juno Mak's Rigor Mortis.Port Of Call stars Aaron Kwok, Elaine Jin, Jessie Li, Michael Ning and Patrick Tam, and is described on the festival's official website thus:a teenage prostitute is murdered; her body cut up and flushed down the toilet, and her severed head thrown into Victoria Harbor. Director Philip Yung...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Today we have the trailer for the "33 Postcards" drama, starring Guy Pearce, Zhu Lin, Claudia Karvan, Elaine Jin, and Lincoln Lewis. Check it out below. Plot: Dean Randall (Pearce) has sponsored a young Chinese orphan Mei Mei for many years, when she arrives in Sydney out of the blue to thank him, their lives are changed forever. The new movie is directed by Pauline Chan (Little White Lies) and recently appeared at the Sydney Film Festival. At this point, there is no Us distributor on board. Trailer: If you cannot see the player, click here.

Chicago – Taiwan has an interesting cinematic history, as outlined in the strong interview with Asian-cinema critic Tony Rayns on the recently-released Blu-ray of Edward Yang’s “Yi Yi (A One and a Two…).” The country didn’t really have a film industry until the ’50s and then it was purely propaganda for the next several decades as China tried to win over the hearts of the residents after taking over from Japan. Consequently, the films of Taiwan have an interesting perspective on history and arguably the best film in the nation’s entire existence captures that perspective in the beloved “Yi Yi.”

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

Yang uses an epic running time (near three hours) to tell an intimate story, that of a family over the course of an average year. Starring the great Nianzhen Wu, one of the pioneers in the changing Taiwanese cinema in the ’70s, “Yi Yi” is a simple story,...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Limitless – Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro

The Lincoln Lawyer – Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe

Paul – Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen

Movie of the Week

Limitless

The Stars: Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro

The Plot: A copywriter (Cooper) discovers a top-secret drug which gives him super-human abilities.

The Buzz: Until recently, I couldn’t stand Bradley Cooper — and no, it wasn’t his role in A-Team that won me over, it was, hearkening back a decade, his role in the television series ‘Alias.’ Yes, I’m a total johnny-come-lately when it comes to that show, but I love it, and I love Bradley Cooper in it. He can act, I was surprised to see. His success with ‘Alias’ ultimately launched his career, and now, ten years later, here he is approaching A-list status, starring in a fine-looking action film,...