Snow Leopard
雪豹 Xuě Bào
by Pema Tseden, 2023, running time 120'.
An unexpected incident of a snow leopard breaking into the sheep pen of a local herder and killing nine rams not only causes a stir in the family, but also attracts a TV crew into the village...
————————————————
PEMA TSEDEN
a Tibetan director, screenwriter and author. Most of Pema Tseden’s films were shot in Tibetan language by Tibetan teams. Widely recognized as a pioneer of the Tibetan New Wave, Pema Tseden’s body of cinematic works includes The Silent Holy Stones, The Search, Old Dog, Tharlo, Jinpa and Balloon amongst others. His films have been selected at Venice FF, Locarno FF, TIFF and many other major international film festivals, winning over forty international prizes.
FILMOGRAPHY
SNOW LEOPARD, 2023
BALLOON, 2019
JINPA, 2018
THARLO, 2015
THE SACRED ARROW, 2014
OLD DOG, 2010
THE SEARCH, 2007
THE SILENT HOLY STONES, 2005
Growing Apart
何处生长 Hé Chù Shēng Zhǎng
by Long Lingyun, 2022, running time 90’.
An 18-year-old skater boy, Cheng Fei, discovers his half-sister, He Sheng, whom he never knew, and gradually unravels a family secret that has been hidden for years.
————————————————
LONG LINGYUN
She graduates from College Central Saint Martins with a MA degree in Performance Design and Practice. He is the director of cinematography of the Chilean feature film Still Life with Insects. He has worked for MTD, a pioneering theatre group in the UK, and has participated in the production of several multimedia interactive theatrical videos. He has worked for ELLE and VOGUE CHINA as video supervisor and commercial director and collaborated with brands such as Mercedes Benz, Chanel, L’Oréal, Avène, Bulgari, H&M, Westin Hotels among others.
FILMOGRAPHY
Growing Apart, 2022
Borrowed Time
人海同游 Ré Hǎ Tóng Yóu
by Choy Ji, 2023, running time 95’.
Italian Premiere
A sentimental journey between present and past that leads a woman on the eve of marriage to reconciliation with the father figure who left the family years earlier. Between the Cantonese hinterland and Hong Kong harbor, a subtly beguiling work that invites you to follow your heart.
————————————————
CHOY JI
He was born in 1988 in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China. His short films include Nature's Kids (2012), Recalling (2013), and A Piece of Time (2014). His works have won the Best Short Film in China Independent Film Festival, and have been selected for the Busan International Short Film Festival and the Tampere Film Festival. Borrowed Time is his first feature film.
FILMOGRAPHY
Borrowed Time, 2023
Good Autumn, Mommy
寻她 Xú Tā
by Chen Shizhong, 2023, running time 107’.
Italian Premiere
In a southern Chinese village devoted to sugarcane cultivation, young mother Fong-tai vigorously asserts her rights when her second-born daughter disappears soon after giving birth. A strongly feminist drama held up by a memorable performance by the splendid Shu Qi.
————————————————
CHEN SHIZHONG
A director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and a Guangdong native. He graduated from Shenzhen University in 2017. He obtained a full scholarship to attend Shanghai Vancouver Film School, majoring in cinematography. He was selected as one of the top five directors of CFDG Young Director Support Program in 2020.
As a writer-director, his previous works include short films Mr. Dong and His Gods, Little West Sky, The End of The Day, etc.
FILMOGRAPHY
Good Autumn, Mommy, 2023
Into The Mortal World
落凡尘 Luò Fán Chén
by Zhong Ding, 2024, running time 105’.
European Premiere
The newly acclaimed triumph of Chinese animation. Between irony and sentiment, this glowing production adapts and updates events and characters from the traditional fairy tale/mythological repertoire into a tale where divine and human figures team up to regain star power.
————————————————
ZHONG DING
Associate Professor of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, worked for EUROCOM DEVELOPMENTS LTD.
He has been officially included in the “80 Years of Chinese Animation Outstanding Works Collection” by China Animation Association; the best scriptwriter of Golden Dragon Award; served as the scriptwriter and director of the mascot series of animated films of the 16th Asian Games; the best instructor of Beijing Film Academy's Jin Chen Award; the best applied animation gold medal of Xiamen Animation Festival's Golden Dolphin Award.
FILMOGRAPHY
Into The Mortal World, 2024
Day Tripper
一日游 Yí Rì Yóu
by Chen Yanqi, 2023, running time 91’.
Italian Premiere
In a northern Chinese town, ordinary events veer into the absurd: during a move, a cupboard gets stuck in the front door, leading the members of a family to experience a very peculiar day. Between Beckett, Kaurismäki, and Roy Andersson, a stark and surprising debut.
————————————————
CHEN YANQI
Born in 1990, is a new director and screenwriter based in China. After graduating from London Film School in 2016, he started to work on his first feature film Day Tripper, which had its world premiere in the 39th Warsaw International Film Festival in 2023, and after that it has won the Grand Prix in the 38th Fribourg Film Festival in 2024. Apart from the feature, he also made some shorts in the meantime.
FILMOGRAPHY
Day Tripper, 2023
To Kill A Mongolian Horse
一匹白马的热梦 Yì Pǐ Bái Mǎ De Rè Mèng
by Jiang Xiaoxuan, 2024, running time 98’.
From the Mongolian prairies, a splendid film about the clash between tradition and modernity: Saina supports himself as a horseman in horse shows; he is separated from his urbanized wife and must decide whether to sell the family's sheep and horses. Will his son be able to speak Mongolian and learn to ride a horse?
————————————————
JIANG XIAOXUAN
A writer-director born in Inner Mongolia, China. She received her BFA in Film & TV from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Her narrative short Graveyard of Horses (2022) was selected for PÖFF Shorts, SXSW '23, and BFI '23. It won the NETPAC Award at the Busan International Short Film Festival, the Grand Prix Award at the Hiroshima International Film Festival, and Best Student International Short at the 46th Denver Film Festival.
Her first feature, To Kill A Mongolian Horse (2024), was supported by Sundance Ignite and received the script development fund from BIFF's Asian Cinema Fund (ACF), the VIPO award, the Sørfond award at the Asian Project Market (APM), and the White Light Post-production Award at HAF.
FILMOGRAPHY
To Kill A Mongolian Horse, 2024
She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones
开始的枪 Kāi ShǏ De Qiāng
by Qu Youjia, 2024, running time 100’.
Italian Premiere
A boy, a girl and a gun. A high school coming-of-age tale where variation in key leads to increasing tension and uncertainty about the fate of young protagonist Zhuang and his attraction to athlete Meng. A debut under the banner of the unexpected awarded at the Berlinale 2024.
————————————————
QU YOUJIA
Filmmaker and photographer, he graduated from Beijing Film Academy and the Rhode Island School of Design. His debut short film MeiJing (2017) won several awards including the Night Award at Signes de Nuit, Best Fiction Film at Chongqing Youth Film Festival, and Best Film at Stars Hollywood Festival. His second film Together Apart (2019) was awarded Best Short Film at FIRST Film Festival Xining, selected in IFFR Bright Future Mid-length competition. His feature project LAVA was selected for Busan Asian Project Market and Berlinale Co-Production Market. She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (2024) is his first feature film.
FILMOGRAPHY
She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones, 2024
ALL EARS
不虚此行 Bù Xū CǏ Xíng
by Liu Jiaying, 2023, running time 119‘.
Italian Premiere
Wen Shan studied to become a screenwriter. But he finds himself doing a curious job: writing eulogy speeches about the deceased that family members read at funerals. This leads him to learn secrets and truths of other people's lives. A delicate and subtle work from a very talented director.
————————————————
LIU JIAYING
Writer-director Liu Jiayin, a Beijing Film Academy (BFA) graduate and current Associate Professor in Screenwriting, is known for her unique cinematic style and thematic focus in China's independent filmmaking. Her debut feature Oxhide (2005) won the Caligari Film Award and Fipresci Jury Prize at the 55th Berlinale. All Ears (2023) marks the first film for Liu since Oxhide II (2009), which screened in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and Rotterdam’s Bright Future.
FILMOGRAPHY
All Ears, 2023
Oxhide II, 2009
Oxhide, 2005
A Soul Haunted by Painting
画魂 Huà Hún
by Huang Shuqin, 1994, running time 96‘.
Gong Li gives body to painter Pan Yuliang in one of her most radiant performances. Having escaped life in a brothel, Yuliang learns the art of painting and arrives at stardom in Paris. An exciting classic under the banner of female affirmation signed by director Huang Shuqin.
————————————————
HUANG SHUQIN
She was a Chinese film director known for her film Woman, Demon, Human (1987). Widely considered the first feminist Chinese film by critics and scholars,Woman, Demon, Human garnered universal critical acclaim, as well as a nomination for Best Director and a win for Best Writing at the 8th Golden Rooster Awards. Although her film career did not take off until she was well into her forties, she was regarded as one of China's most talented female directors, with a career spanning nearly three decades.
Huang was also known for the popular television series Fortress Besieged (1990) and Sinful Debt (1995) and she received awards and nominations in both television and film mediums.
FILMOGRAPHY
Lianxi Dam, 1977
The Cradle, 1979
The Legend of Tianyun Mountain, 1980
Contemporary People, 1981
Forever Young, 1983
Childhood Friends,1984
A Border-Crossing Operation, 1986
Woman, Demon, Human, 1987
A Soul Haunted by Painting, 1994
I Have My Daddy, Too, 1996
The Village Whore, 2000
Hey, Frank, 2001