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.
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 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 ShujunAsian Premiere
Carefree Days (China)Dir: Liang MingAsian Premiere
Borrowed Time (China)Dir: Choy JiAsian Premiere
A Song Sung Blue (China)Dir: Geng ZihanAsian Premiere
Day Tripper (China)Dir: Chen YanqiAsian Premiere
Records Without Words (China)Dir: Hao FeihuanWorld Premiere
The Night Rain South Township (China)Dir: Li BinbinWorld Premiere
A Romantic Fragment (China)Dir: Yang PingdaoWorld Premiere
Dance Still (China)Dirs: Qin Muqiu, Zhan HanqiWorld Premiere
Till Love Do Us Part (China)Dir: Li RanAsian Premiere
With Or Without You (China)Dir: Feng YiWorld Premiere
CROUCHING TIGERS:
Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell (Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain)Dir: Pham Thiên AnChina Premiere
Àma Gloria (France)Dir: Marie AmachoukeliChina Premiere
Last Shadow At First Light (Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Slovenia, Indonesia)Dir: Nicole Midori WoodfordAsian Premiere
Empty Nets (Germany, Iran)Dir: Behrooz KaramizadeAsian Premiere
Hounds (Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)Dir: Kamal LazraqAsian Premiere
In Flames (Pakistan, Canada)Dir: Zarrar KahnChina Premiere
Behind The Mountains (Tunisia, Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)Dir: Mohamed Ben AttiaChina Premiere
City Of Wind (France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar)Dir: Lkhagvadulam Purev-OchirChina Premiere
The Saint (Argentina)Dir: Agustín CarbonereAsian Premiere
Omen (Belgium, Netherlands, Democratic Republic Of Congo)Dir: BalojiAsian Premiere
Calm In The Canopy (Czech Republic)Dir: Michal HogenauerWorld Premiere
Killing The Violet (Japan)Dir: Zhang YuWorld Premiere
GALAS:
The Time Of A Flower (China)Dir: Liu MiaomiaoWorld Premiere
Kidnapped (Italy, France, Germany)Dir: Marco BellocchioChina Premiere
Pictures Of Ghosts (Brazil)Dir: Kleber Mendonça FilhoChina Premiere
Eureka (France, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, Mexico)Dir: Lisandro AlonsoChina Premiere
Fremont (US)Dir: Babak JalaliAsian Premiere
The Goldman Case (France)Dir: Cédric KahnChina Premiere
Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two (India)Dir: Mani RatnamChina Premiere
Disco Boy (France, Italy, Belgium, Poland)Dir: Giacomo AbbruzzeseChinese Mainland Premiere
Tiger Stripes (Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar)Dir: Amanda Nell EuChinese Mainland Premiere
MADE IN SHANXI:
An Actress With A Name (China)Dir: Wong Hing-KiWorld Premiere
Corner With Hope (China)Dir: Kang JiaxiangWorld Premiere
Ask The Mountain (China)Dir: Xu LeiWorld Premiere
Disaster Observer (China)Dir: Wu XiaoyongWorld Premiere
Tell Them I Flew Away (China)Dir: Lee XiupengWorld Premiere
Eraser (China)Dir: Li JinWorld Premiere
The Second Breath (China)Dir: Shen YoujiaWorld Premiere
