Creative Artists Agency has signed on to represent fast-rising Taiwanese actress Wu Ke-Xi. Wu was most recently seen as the co-star of mystery thriller “The Bold, The Corrupt, The Beautiful.”
The U.S. based agency, which has a growing business in Greater China, will represent her globally. It will also help her cross over to the West while continuing to solidify her presence in the Chinese-speaking cinema industry.
With a background in hip-hop and dance, Wu (aka Patty Wu) began an acting career some 10 years ago, and now has a range of film and TV roles in Asia.
She is best known as the muse of Midi Z, for whom she has made three completed features and two shorts. The Myanmar-born director who has taken on Taiwanese citizenship and has become a darling of the international art-house circuit thanks to his gritty takes on life in his native country.
Wu...
The U.S. based agency, which has a growing business in Greater China, will represent her globally. It will also help her cross over to the West while continuing to solidify her presence in the Chinese-speaking cinema industry.
With a background in hip-hop and dance, Wu (aka Patty Wu) began an acting career some 10 years ago, and now has a range of film and TV roles in Asia.
She is best known as the muse of Midi Z, for whom she has made three completed features and two shorts. The Myanmar-born director who has taken on Taiwanese citizenship and has become a darling of the international art-house circuit thanks to his gritty takes on life in his native country.
Wu...
- 12/3/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Being the biggest of its kind in Asia, the Busan International Film Festival offers an excellent showcase for emerging talents from the vast and vastly varied continent. Premiering in the regionally focused section “A Window on Asian Cinema”, the alluring, densely-packed dramatic thriller The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful makes a case for genre filmmaking in Taiwan, a country audiences worldwide probably associate with the lyrical, contemplative imagery of Hou Hsiao-hsien or Tsai Ming-liang . Thanks in no small part to a sizzling female ensemble (actressexuals: take note), director Ya-che Yang’s third feature shows a snappier side of the island and thoroughly entertains.
Set in the indeterminate past in the tropical metropolis Kaohsiung, the story centers around Madame Tang (Kara Wai) – who ostensibly runs an antiques dealership but mainly acts as a go-between for dirty businessmen and crooked politicians – and her two daughters Ning (Ke-Xi Wu) and Chen...
Set in the indeterminate past in the tropical metropolis Kaohsiung, the story centers around Madame Tang (Kara Wai) – who ostensibly runs an antiques dealership but mainly acts as a go-between for dirty businessmen and crooked politicians – and her two daughters Ning (Ke-Xi Wu) and Chen...
- 10/22/2017
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
This is the Pure Movies review of The Road to Mandalay, directed by Midi Z and starring Kai Ko and Ke-Xi Wu. We’re not wanting for tragedy at the moment, but it certainly seems like we could use a lesson or two in basic compassion. The tide of violent xenophobia masking itself as nationalist sentiment is perhaps the most niggling, pervasive example of this, and discussions on the issue frequently reduce the subjects to, at best, political pawns and, at worst, something resembling subhuman. It’s a minor miracle, then, that The Road to Mandalay is able to so delicately, so convincingly etch a human face onto an issue so abstracted and politicised.
- 10/9/2017
- by Joshua Glenn
- Pure Movies
June 20–22, 2017‘The heart of Paris beats for film industry’
Industry Week is the professional part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
This label includes the Us in Progress and Paris Coproduction Village. Together they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed
Paris Coproduction Village Unveils Its Selection
Organized by Les Arcs European Film Festival within the frame of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival Industry Week, Paris Coproduction Village is made up of professional meetings and is also a financing platform for feature projects selected worldwide.
For its fourth edition, which will take place June 20–22, 2017 in Paris, the following projects have been selected:
“Amparo” by Simón Mesa Soto; 2016 — short film
“Madre” Official Competition Cannes, AFI Iff, Chicago Iff; 2014 — short film
“Leidi” Golden Palm Cannes, Best UK Short Award London Short Ff, Chicago Iff, Edinburgh Iff) produced...
Industry Week is the professional part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival.
This label includes the Us in Progress and Paris Coproduction Village. Together they offer 24 film projects at different stages, from development to post production. More than 200 professionals from the industry, producers, international sellers, distributors, etc. are welcomed
Paris Coproduction Village Unveils Its Selection
Organized by Les Arcs European Film Festival within the frame of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival Industry Week, Paris Coproduction Village is made up of professional meetings and is also a financing platform for feature projects selected worldwide.
For its fourth edition, which will take place June 20–22, 2017 in Paris, the following projects have been selected:
“Amparo” by Simón Mesa Soto; 2016 — short film
“Madre” Official Competition Cannes, AFI Iff, Chicago Iff; 2014 — short film
“Leidi” Golden Palm Cannes, Best UK Short Award London Short Ff, Chicago Iff, Edinburgh Iff) produced...
- 6/14/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Israeli drama scores key deal.
Israeli drama Scaffolding, which premiered in Cannes Film Festival’s Acid strand this month, has had its France distribution rights snapped up by Les Acacias.
Sales agent New Europe Film Sales struck the deal on the title, which follows an impulsive troublemaker who forges a special connection with his literature teacher before an unexepected tragedy occurs.
Screen’s review called the film “a sharply drawn study of the father-son dynamic”.
The film is the debut feature from director Matan Yair, who also penned the screenplay. It stars Asher Lax.
Scaffolding was produced by Gal Greenspan and Roi Kurland of Green Productions in co-production with Stanislaw Dziedzic of Film Produkcja and United King.
It was supported by the Israeli Film Fund and the Polish Film Institute. In 2016, the project won the first pitching prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
New Europe is also reporting that further deals and festival selections are in...
Israeli drama Scaffolding, which premiered in Cannes Film Festival’s Acid strand this month, has had its France distribution rights snapped up by Les Acacias.
Sales agent New Europe Film Sales struck the deal on the title, which follows an impulsive troublemaker who forges a special connection with his literature teacher before an unexepected tragedy occurs.
Screen’s review called the film “a sharply drawn study of the father-son dynamic”.
The film is the debut feature from director Matan Yair, who also penned the screenplay. It stars Asher Lax.
Scaffolding was produced by Gal Greenspan and Roi Kurland of Green Productions in co-production with Stanislaw Dziedzic of Film Produkcja and United King.
It was supported by the Israeli Film Fund and the Polish Film Institute. In 2016, the project won the first pitching prize at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
New Europe is also reporting that further deals and festival selections are in...
- 5/31/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
12 international projects to presented at event in Paris this June.
Ryota Nakano, Sharon Bar-Ziv and Mauro Mueller will be among the directors presenting projects at the fourth edition of the Paris Co-production Village in June, aimed at connecting international filmmakers with French partners.
Organised by the team behind the Les Arcs European Film Festival this year’s village runs June 20-22. It takes place within the framework of the Champs Elysées Film Festival’s industry week which also includes Us in Progress showcase.
Swiss-born New York-based director Mauro Mueller is bringing Fingerplay about a jaded middle-aged woman whose life is given fresh meaning after a mentally-challenged young man enters her life.
Israeli film-maker Sharon Bar-Ziv’s will present Love Your Neighbor about a single mother who finds herself at odds with her Jewish-Orthodox neighbours who want to take-over her flat.
It is Bar-Ziv’s second film after her well-received debut Room 514 about a young female soldier who puts...
Ryota Nakano, Sharon Bar-Ziv and Mauro Mueller will be among the directors presenting projects at the fourth edition of the Paris Co-production Village in June, aimed at connecting international filmmakers with French partners.
Organised by the team behind the Les Arcs European Film Festival this year’s village runs June 20-22. It takes place within the framework of the Champs Elysées Film Festival’s industry week which also includes Us in Progress showcase.
Swiss-born New York-based director Mauro Mueller is bringing Fingerplay about a jaded middle-aged woman whose life is given fresh meaning after a mentally-challenged young man enters her life.
Israeli film-maker Sharon Bar-Ziv’s will present Love Your Neighbor about a single mother who finds herself at odds with her Jewish-Orthodox neighbours who want to take-over her flat.
It is Bar-Ziv’s second film after her well-received debut Room 514 about a young female soldier who puts...
- 5/22/2017
- ScreenDaily
The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful is in post-production.
Taipei-based sales company MandarinVision has picked up the international rights to The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful, the third feature from Taiwanese filmmaker Yang Ya-che following Orz Boys and Gf*Bf.
Currently in post-production, the film revolves around the “white gloves” deal-making between businessmen and politicians in Chinese business culture, which is rarely discussed in local cinema.
The film’s cast includes Hong Kong actress Kara Wai, who recently won best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Happiness, Wu Ke-Xi (The Road To Mandalay) and Vicky Chen.
Headed by former Atom Cinema executive Desmond Yang, MandarinVision is also selling Who Killed Cock Robin, which marks Cheng Wei-Hao’s second film following horror hit The Tag-Along.
The Taiwanese company is also handling two films that are nominated for best narrative feature at this year’s Taipei Film Awards – Huang Hsin-yao’s The Great Buddha...
Taipei-based sales company MandarinVision has picked up the international rights to The Bold, The Corrupt And The Beautiful, the third feature from Taiwanese filmmaker Yang Ya-che following Orz Boys and Gf*Bf.
Currently in post-production, the film revolves around the “white gloves” deal-making between businessmen and politicians in Chinese business culture, which is rarely discussed in local cinema.
The film’s cast includes Hong Kong actress Kara Wai, who recently won best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Happiness, Wu Ke-Xi (The Road To Mandalay) and Vicky Chen.
Headed by former Atom Cinema executive Desmond Yang, MandarinVision is also selling Who Killed Cock Robin, which marks Cheng Wei-Hao’s second film following horror hit The Tag-Along.
The Taiwanese company is also handling two films that are nominated for best narrative feature at this year’s Taipei Film Awards – Huang Hsin-yao’s The Great Buddha...
- 5/19/2017
- ScreenDaily
Author: Steven Neish
With immigration currently dominating world politics it is hard to watch The Road to Mandalay, a film that starts with an illegal border crossing from Burma to Thailand, without thinking it inherently political. As pragmatist Lianqing (Wu Ke-xi) is punted across a river, packed into a van and deposited on the streets of Bangkok without issue or complaint, migration has never seemed more manageable or mundane. It’s certainly a far cry from the sensational and desensitising newsreel footage of the European migrant crisis or human trafficking busts, with reports of people drowning off the Greek coast or being left for dead in the back of a lorry. It would be wrong, however, to overestimate Lianqing’s chances of success or underestimate the risks that still face her.
The real struggle, as is so often the case, has less to do with infiltrating a country than it...
With immigration currently dominating world politics it is hard to watch The Road to Mandalay, a film that starts with an illegal border crossing from Burma to Thailand, without thinking it inherently political. As pragmatist Lianqing (Wu Ke-xi) is punted across a river, packed into a van and deposited on the streets of Bangkok without issue or complaint, migration has never seemed more manageable or mundane. It’s certainly a far cry from the sensational and desensitising newsreel footage of the European migrant crisis or human trafficking busts, with reports of people drowning off the Greek coast or being left for dead in the back of a lorry. It would be wrong, however, to overestimate Lianqing’s chances of success or underestimate the risks that still face her.
The real struggle, as is so often the case, has less to do with infiltrating a country than it...
- 2/24/2017
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
2016 was another great year for Asian cinema, although S. Korean films were the ones that, once more, stood at the epicenter of international interest, particularly due to Park Chan-wook’s comeback and the box office success of films like “The Wailing” and “Train to Busan.” Japan followed with a number of box office successes of its own, headed by “Your Name” and the new Godzilla film, although indie cinema had a very interesting year also.
Chinese language films also had a very interesting year, with “Ten Years” spawning enormous amount of controversy. Slowly though, filmmakers from other Asian countries, not as well known as the aforementioned, seem to present masterpieces of their own.
With a focus on diversity, here are the best Asian films of 2016, in random order. (Some of the films premiered in 2015, but I took the liberty to include them, since they mostly circulated in 2016).
Inside Men
Inside Men...
Chinese language films also had a very interesting year, with “Ten Years” spawning enormous amount of controversy. Slowly though, filmmakers from other Asian countries, not as well known as the aforementioned, seem to present masterpieces of their own.
With a focus on diversity, here are the best Asian films of 2016, in random order. (Some of the films premiered in 2015, but I took the liberty to include them, since they mostly circulated in 2016).
Inside Men
Inside Men...
- 1/3/2017
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: UK outfit Day For Night has acquired the Venice and Locarno titles.
Midi Z’s The Road To Mandalay and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s By The Time It Gets Dark have both been picked up for UK theatrical distribution by indie outfit Day For Night.
The Road To Mandalay premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. It marks the fourth film from Myanmar-born Taiwanese director Midi Z (Ice Poison, City Of Jade).
Starring Wu Ke-Xi and Kai Ko, the film tells the story of two Burmese illegal immigrants seeking a better future over the border in Thailand. France’s Urban Distribution International is handling international sales.
Read: Venice buzz title: Midi Z talks biggest production to date ‘The Road To Mandalay’
By The Time It Gets Dark premiered at this year’s Locarno Film Festival and also played at the BFI London Film Festival.
It marks the second feature of Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong. The film follows...
Midi Z’s The Road To Mandalay and Anocha Suwichakornpong’s By The Time It Gets Dark have both been picked up for UK theatrical distribution by indie outfit Day For Night.
The Road To Mandalay premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. It marks the fourth film from Myanmar-born Taiwanese director Midi Z (Ice Poison, City Of Jade).
Starring Wu Ke-Xi and Kai Ko, the film tells the story of two Burmese illegal immigrants seeking a better future over the border in Thailand. France’s Urban Distribution International is handling international sales.
Read: Venice buzz title: Midi Z talks biggest production to date ‘The Road To Mandalay’
By The Time It Gets Dark premiered at this year’s Locarno Film Festival and also played at the BFI London Film Festival.
It marks the second feature of Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong. The film follows...
- 12/23/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
A sad, but realistic story
The story revolves around Lianqing, a Burmese woman who takes the trip from her country to Thailand, through rivers, forests, checkpoints and much bribing. In her trip, she meets a young man named Guo, who seems to like her, helping her from the moment they meet. Lianqing has some Burmese friends in Thailand, who give her a place to live and help her find a job. Initially they take her to large company, but they cannot hire her because she does not have legal papers. Eventually, she ends up washing dishes in a small restaurant for a very meager pay. She manages however, and even sends some money back home. Guo is still around, trying to persuade her to work at the factory he works, but she declines.
After some time, one of her roommates who seems to have a nervous breakdown, after losing her job,...
The story revolves around Lianqing, a Burmese woman who takes the trip from her country to Thailand, through rivers, forests, checkpoints and much bribing. In her trip, she meets a young man named Guo, who seems to like her, helping her from the moment they meet. Lianqing has some Burmese friends in Thailand, who give her a place to live and help her find a job. Initially they take her to large company, but they cannot hire her because she does not have legal papers. Eventually, she ends up washing dishes in a small restaurant for a very meager pay. She manages however, and even sends some money back home. Guo is still around, trying to persuade her to work at the factory he works, but she declines.
After some time, one of her roommates who seems to have a nervous breakdown, after losing her job,...
- 11/17/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
We've all heard, or read, an innumerable amount of horror stories about immigrants from third-world countries coming to North America and Europe. The Road to Mandalay shows us that even the seemingly small hop from Myanmar to Thailand can feel like the crossing of an immeasurable gap. The path is fraught with border guards who demand ever-escalating payment, and things don't get much better once you're ostensibly 'home-free.' Our heroine, Lianqing (Wu Ke-Xi) is automatically indebted to a young man and fellow refugee, Guo (Ko Kai), when he offers her his front seat spot over the back-end of a decidedly sketchy-looking truck. When the duo—along with several other rough travellers—arrive in Bangkok, she tries to repay him with home-cooked Burmese sundries and verbal gratitude....
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/31/2016
- Screen Anarchy
For 10 years, Five Flavours Film Festival has been presenting the best cinema from Asia, its meanings and contexts. Initially, the Festival focused solely on Vietnamese films, but it evolved to become a yearly review of the cinema of East and Southeast Asia, the only such event in the country.
The 10th edition is held in Warsaw, on November 16-23 (Muranów and Kinoteka cinemas), and in Wrocław on November 18-24 (New Horizons Cinema).
This year’s edition of Five Flavours is the biggest in history – it presents over 40 productions. The program combines artistic and commercial cinema, allowing the audience to experience the best Asian films have to offer. On the one hand, there are the intimate stories with a social angle, on the other – fresh, innovative blockbusters, filled with the sheer joy of cinematic creation, attracting millions of viewers in their homelands.
Three
This diversity is already visible in the choice...
The 10th edition is held in Warsaw, on November 16-23 (Muranów and Kinoteka cinemas), and in Wrocław on November 18-24 (New Horizons Cinema).
This year’s edition of Five Flavours is the biggest in history – it presents over 40 productions. The program combines artistic and commercial cinema, allowing the audience to experience the best Asian films have to offer. On the one hand, there are the intimate stories with a social angle, on the other – fresh, innovative blockbusters, filled with the sheer joy of cinematic creation, attracting millions of viewers in their homelands.
Three
This diversity is already visible in the choice...
- 10/28/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Upcoming 27th edition to open with Asian premiere of Dain Iskandar Said’s Interchange on November 23.
The 27th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) has unveiled its full line-up, comprising 161 titles from 52 countries across 13 sections.
The selection includes 16 world premieres, nine international premieres and 18 Asian premieres.
Among them are new features by masters such as Garin Nugroho, Lav Diaz, Tran Anh Hung, Naomi Kawase, Fruit Chan, Anurag Kashyap, Reha Erdem, Trinh Minh-ha, Kirill Serebrennikov, Kelly Reichardt and Ken Loach, many of whose earlier works were previously screened at the festival, according to programme director Zhang Wenjie.
In addition to the masters, Wenjie adds that a number of new filmmakers from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Mongolia, Japan, Nepal, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Latin America, Taiwan, Singapore and the Us are featured across various sections.
10 Asian films are vying for the Silver Screen Awards, including the world premieres of Abdulla Mohammed Saad’s Live From Dhaka and Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo...
The 27th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) has unveiled its full line-up, comprising 161 titles from 52 countries across 13 sections.
The selection includes 16 world premieres, nine international premieres and 18 Asian premieres.
Among them are new features by masters such as Garin Nugroho, Lav Diaz, Tran Anh Hung, Naomi Kawase, Fruit Chan, Anurag Kashyap, Reha Erdem, Trinh Minh-ha, Kirill Serebrennikov, Kelly Reichardt and Ken Loach, many of whose earlier works were previously screened at the festival, according to programme director Zhang Wenjie.
In addition to the masters, Wenjie adds that a number of new filmmakers from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Mongolia, Japan, Nepal, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Latin America, Taiwan, Singapore and the Us are featured across various sections.
10 Asian films are vying for the Silver Screen Awards, including the world premieres of Abdulla Mohammed Saad’s Live From Dhaka and Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo...
- 10/27/2016
- ScreenDaily
Director Midi Z went to unusual lengths on his love story about Burmese immigrants in Thailand, the first co-production between Taiwan, France, Germany and Myanmar.
The Road To Mandalay marks the first outing at the Venice Film Festival (Aug 31 - Sept 10) for Myanmar-born, Taiwan-based director Midi Z, whose reputation is fast on the rise. His last two films, Ice Poison (2014) and documentary City Of Jade (2016), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The Road To Mandalay is the sole Chinese-language narrative film playing at Venice this year. The main characters are Burmese-Chinese who speak the Chinese Yunnan dialect, like Midi Z himself.
According to the director, the Burmese believe there are three ways to escape poverty, “One is to become a drug smuggler, one is to work in the jade mines and the third is to smuggle yourself into another country.”
While his previous films have addressed the above issues in one way or another, The Road To Mandalay features...
The Road To Mandalay marks the first outing at the Venice Film Festival (Aug 31 - Sept 10) for Myanmar-born, Taiwan-based director Midi Z, whose reputation is fast on the rise. His last two films, Ice Poison (2014) and documentary City Of Jade (2016), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The Road To Mandalay is the sole Chinese-language narrative film playing at Venice this year. The main characters are Burmese-Chinese who speak the Chinese Yunnan dialect, like Midi Z himself.
According to the director, the Burmese believe there are three ways to escape poverty, “One is to become a drug smuggler, one is to work in the jade mines and the third is to smuggle yourself into another country.”
While his previous films have addressed the above issues in one way or another, The Road To Mandalay features...
- 8/31/2016
- ScreenDaily
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