Latest from Clarence Tsui
Flashy campaigns might help fill seats on a movie’s opening weekend but misleading messaging can turn the audience off, as seen with some recent releases in mainland China.
Flashy campaigns might help fill seats on a movie’s opening weekend but misleading messaging can turn the audience off, as seen with some recent releases in mainland China.
Hong Kong film-goers’ interest in Bai Xue’s feature, a realist take on cross-border people smuggling, shows they want more than the caricatured portrayals of their city typical of local directors.
Hong Kong film-goers’ interest in Bai Xue’s feature, a realist take on cross-border people smuggling, shows they want more than the caricatured portrayals of their city typical of local directors.
In movies that examine the lives of children from different ethnic minorities and social classes, China’s up-and-coming filmmakers may have found a way to tackle topics that would otherwise be no-go zones.
In movies that examine the lives of children from different ethnic minorities and social classes, China’s up-and-coming filmmakers may have found a way to tackle topics that would otherwise be no-go zones.
They hoped to contribute to their country’s awakening from semi-feudal slumber, but its communist rulers soon went from emancipation to repression; archivist Mariam Ghani has made a documentary about their unfinished films.
They hoped to contribute to their country’s awakening from semi-feudal slumber, but its communist rulers soon went from emancipation to repression; archivist Mariam Ghani has made a documentary about their unfinished films.
Part of an experimental Berlin Film Festival programme, exhibition Shadow Circus documents the unlikely alliance between exiled Tibetans and the US spy agency, which lasted from the 1950s well into the 1970s.
Part of an experimental Berlin Film Festival programme, exhibition Shadow Circus documents the unlikely alliance between exiled Tibetans and the US spy agency, which lasted from the 1950s well into the 1970s.
While veteran European female directors, such as Agnès Varda, were honoured at the Berlin International Film Festival, their contemporaries in China are still awaiting their moment in the sun.
While veteran European female directors, such as Agnès Varda, were honoured at the Berlin International Film Festival, their contemporaries in China are still awaiting their moment in the sun.
With no explanation for the late withdrawal of Zhang’s film One Second from competition at the Berlin festival, it is no surprise international commentators gave renewed attention to the censorship of Chinese films.
With no explanation for the late withdrawal of Zhang’s film One Second from competition at the Berlin festival, it is no surprise international commentators gave renewed attention to the censorship of Chinese films.
Wang Xiaoshuai returns to form with this story of how a couple in China, and their friends, cope with the death of their only son; despite its sombre narrative, the film may be his most upbeat yet.
Wang Xiaoshuai returns to form with this story of how a couple in China, and their friends, cope with the death of their only son; despite its sombre narrative, the film may be his most upbeat yet.
The Dutch filmmaker returns to his favourite subject, this time with the documentary Inner Landscape, which shows a Chinese composer’s struggle to save a dying musical tradition
The Dutch filmmaker returns to his favourite subject, this time with the documentary Inner Landscape, which shows a Chinese composer’s struggle to save a dying musical tradition
Filmmaker Zhu Shengze’s Present.Perfect shines a spotlight on China’s everyday folk live streamers, many of whom are just searching for a human connection.
Filmmaker Zhu Shengze’s Present.Perfect shines a spotlight on China’s everyday folk live streamers, many of whom are just searching for a human connection.
Cinema-goers were expecting a romcom and an excuse for a New Year’s Eve smooch, but Long Day’s Journey into Night is a far more challenging affair
Cinema-goers were expecting a romcom and an excuse for a New Year’s Eve smooch, but Long Day’s Journey into Night is a far more challenging affair
The island’s movie-making industry is pursuing international ambitions with strong showing at the Festival des 3 Continents and push into Southeast Asia
The island’s movie-making industry is pursuing international ambitions with strong showing at the Festival des 3 Continents and push into Southeast Asia
The lack of a film industry or training schools in the casino hub means new directors have little support, unlike their Chinese or Hong Kong counterparts
The lack of a film industry or training schools in the casino hub means new directors have little support, unlike their Chinese or Hong Kong counterparts
- The Chengdu film festival, by Yang Jing, The One aims to raise the ratio of female filmmakers in a country where 65 per cent of cinema-goers are women, but most scripts are written from a male perspective
- The Chengdu film festival, by Yang Jing, The One aims to raise the ratio of female filmmakers in a country where 65 per cent of cinema-goers are women, but most scripts are written from a male perspective
Pingyao International Film Festival draws young cinema fans from big cities hours away; Cheap tickets and accommodation, and stalls selling food and artisanal goods part of the draw
Pingyao International Film Festival draws young cinema fans from big cities hours away; Cheap tickets and accommodation, and stalls selling food and artisanal goods part of the draw
From Hollywood and France to South Korea and Japan, international filmmakers are keen to team up with those in China, but mixed results show unpredictability of mainland audiences and administrators
From Hollywood and France to South Korea and Japan, international filmmakers are keen to team up with those in China, but mixed results show unpredictability of mainland audiences and administrators
Chinese Portrait, a film by director Wang Xiaoshuai, is an amalgamation of short clips shot over the past decade showing the country’s physical and sociological evolution
Chinese Portrait, a film by director Wang Xiaoshuai, is an amalgamation of short clips shot over the past decade showing the country’s physical and sociological evolution
A small-time film production company may have found the formula for big-screen success with its comedy of manners starring Celina Jade
A small-time film production company may have found the formula for big-screen success with its comedy of manners starring Celina Jade
Half Chinese and half English, and now based in New York, Simon Liu ponders how his experimental films have come to exhibit a split personality
Half Chinese and half English, and now based in New York, Simon Liu ponders how his experimental films have come to exhibit a split personality
A look at summer’s successes, as well as its biggest flops, reveals the changing tastes of mainland audiences
A look at summer’s successes, as well as its biggest flops, reveals the changing tastes of mainland audiences
As mainland Chinese authorities continue to tighten their grip on independent filmmakers, Huang Wenhai’s ‘Rejection/Determination’ platform puts state suppression centre stage
As mainland Chinese authorities continue to tighten their grip on independent filmmakers, Huang Wenhai’s ‘Rejection/Determination’ platform puts state suppression centre stage
Ying Liang’s A Family Tour is inspired by the director’s inability to return home, where his work has been condemned as ‘subversive’
Ying Liang’s A Family Tour is inspired by the director’s inability to return home, where his work has been condemned as ‘subversive’
Swearing, fighting and addicted to cell phones and Bollywood – Chinese filmmaker Kang Yuqi’s new feature, A Little Wisdom, shows kids will be kids, even in a monastery in the birthplace of Buddha
Swearing, fighting and addicted to cell phones and Bollywood – Chinese filmmaker Kang Yuqi’s new feature, A Little Wisdom, shows kids will be kids, even in a monastery in the birthplace of Buddha
Women are behind three of the top 10 grossing movies of 2018, with one pulling in more than 1 billion yuan, becoming the first female Chinese filmmaker to do so
Women are behind three of the top 10 grossing movies of 2018, with one pulling in more than 1 billion yuan, becoming the first female Chinese filmmaker to do so
In China action-packed blockbusters have been muscled out by romance films, but not for the reasons you might expect
In China action-packed blockbusters have been muscled out by romance films, but not for the reasons you might expect
Hong Kong filmmaker Ruby Yang applauds the new regulations announced by the Academy and talks about her efforts to interest more Hongkongers in the genre, which is on the rise thanks to platforms like Netflix and HBO
Hong Kong filmmaker Ruby Yang applauds the new regulations announced by the Academy and talks about her efforts to interest more Hongkongers in the genre, which is on the rise thanks to platforms like Netflix and HBO
At 90, feature filmmaker turned documentary director continues to find new ways to share her vision of the world; she regrets being too ill to attend a retrospective in Hong Kong, but has fond memories of visits in 1957 and 1989
At 90, feature filmmaker turned documentary director continues to find new ways to share her vision of the world; she regrets being too ill to attend a retrospective in Hong Kong, but has fond memories of visits in 1957 and 1989
While Hong Kong films are largely absent from the latest edition of the Cannes Film Festival, actors and singers from the city’s golden age of showbiz are very much present in two Chinese movies showing at the event
While Hong Kong films are largely absent from the latest edition of the Cannes Film Festival, actors and singers from the city’s golden age of showbiz are very much present in two Chinese movies showing at the event
For Wei Shujun and Shen Di, the memo that their films had been shortlisted for prizes at the prestigious film festival took a while to sink in
For Wei Shujun and Shen Di, the memo that their films had been shortlisted for prizes at the prestigious film festival took a while to sink in
The Spy Gone North veers away from portraying North Koreans as scheming, cold-blooded killers, showing the need for peaceful engagement between the two countries and reflecting the new era of Korean politics
The Spy Gone North veers away from portraying North Koreans as scheming, cold-blooded killers, showing the need for peaceful engagement between the two countries and reflecting the new era of Korean politics