Chinese filmmakers lead strong Asian charge at Cannes festival
Chinese filmmakers will be Asia's main representatives at next month's Cannes Film Festival, organisers said last night.
Their presence highlights the growing importance of Chinese-language productions - an opportunity Hong Kong film producers are eager to grab. They are prepared to splash out big money to show their work at such an important event.
Summer Palace, by mainland director Lou Ye , is competing against, among others, Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, Volver by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and UK master Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes The Barley for the prestigious Palme d'Or.
Johnnie To Kei-fung's political triad epic Election 2 and Taiwanese director Su Chao-pin's Guisi will feature in 'midnight screenings'.
Hong Kong horror flick Re-cycle by Oxide and Danny Pang, and mainland director Wang Chao's Luxury Car will compete in the Un Certain Regard section. The only other Asian entries in the main film categories are from South Korea.
The festival gave a warm hug to mainland actress Zhang Ziyi by appointing her to the nine-member jury, alongside fellow movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, Monica Bellucci, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Roth. The jury is being chaired by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese person to be given the honour.
Despite declining production, local film companies have geared up to raise the profile of the Hong Kong industry at Cannes. A 10-minute clip from the US$20 million The Banquet will be shown in the presence of its stars Zhang, Zhou Xun , Daniel Wu Yin-cho and Ge You, and director, Feng Xiaogang .
A yet-to-be-named crime thriller to star Cannes best actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, directed by Infernal Affairs' Andrew Lau Wai-keung and Alan Mak Siu-fai, will also be promoted. Production of the film begins next month.
Media Asia's head of distribution and sales, Jeffrey Chan, said promoting films at events like Cannes cost millions of dollars, but the strong international focus on Chinese-language films provided a great platform for Hong Kong.
'The number of films produced in Hong Kong has declined but there are lot more big-budget films, and only films with such scale deserve a promotional campaign like this,' said Mr Chan.
