China’s Pingyao International Film Festival kicks off today (January 14) with the world premiere of Chinese director Wang Mu’s Awakening Spring. The festival has also set Bi Gan’s short film, A Short Story, as the Pingyao Night film.
The festival which runs for six days until January 19, also announced the line-up for its Crouching Tigers competition, for first and second-time international filmmakers, and the Hidden Dragons competition for first and second-time filmmakers working in the Chinese language.
The Crouching Tigers line-up of 12 films includes the China and Asia premieres of titles such as Italian director Michele Vannucci’s Delta (Italy), Tunisian filmmaker Erige Sehiri’s Under The Fig Trees and Next Sohee from Korea’s July Jung, the inclusion of which may signal the on-going thaw in relations between China and Korea.
Hidden Dragons has selected nine films from directors based in China, Hong Kong and Singapore, six of which are world premieres (see line-up below).
Four films will screen in the Galas section – Hilal Baydarov’s Sermon To The Fish, Sho Miyake’s Small, Slow But Steady, Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO and Khyentse Norbu’s Looking For a Lady With Fangs And Moustache. Pingyao also has a section of Made In Shanxi films for filmmakers from the province in which the historical city is located.
The festival has managed to keep going as an in-person event during the pandemic, usually taking place around October or November, but last year’s edition was postponed due to Omicron outbreaks.
6TH PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
CROUCHING TIGERS:
DELTA (Italy)
Dir: Michele Vannucci
China Premiere (2nd)
CONVENIENCE STORE (Russia/Slovenia/Turkey)
Dir: Michael Borodin
Mainland China Premiere (1st)
RUNNER (US/France/Germany)
Dir: Marian Mathias
China Premiere (1st)
THE WORST ONES (France)
Dir: Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret
China Premiere (1st)
MOJA VESNA (Slovenia /Australia)
Dir: Sara Kern
Asian Premiere (1st)
UN VARON/A MALE (Colombia/France/Netherlands/Germany)
Dir: Fabian Hernández
Asian Premiere (1st)
THE PLAINS (Australia)
Dir: David Easteal
Mainland China Premiere (1st)
UNDER THE FIG TREES (Tunisia /France /Switzerland/Germany /Qatar)
Dir: Erige Sehiri
China Premiere (1st)
NEXT SOHEE (South Korea)
Dir: July Jung
China Premiere (2nd)
THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE (Chile/France/US/Germany)
Dir: Francisca Alegria
China Premiere (2nd)
INDIA (Portugal)
Dir: Telmo Churro
Asian Premiere (1st)
MOTHER AND SON (France)
Dir: Léonor Serraille
China Premiere (2nd)
HIDDEN DRAGONS:
HOW (China)
Dir: LIU Teng
World Premiere (1st)
HONG KONG FAMILY (Hong Kong China)
Dir: TSANG Hing Weng Eric
Mainland China Premiere (1st)
MR. JUNJUN (China)
Dir: NIU Niu
World Premiere (2nd）
THE SONG OF SPRING (China)
Dir: PAN Chaofeng
World Premiere (1st)
NO NEW WAVE (Singapore)
Dir: YAO Ziwei
Asian Premiere (1st)
AWAKENING SPRING (China)
Dir: WANG Mu
World Premiere (1st)
PRECIPICE HERDSMAN (China)
Dir: CHEN Xingchi
China Premiere (2nd)
NIGHT FALLS (China)
Dir: JIAN Haodong
World Premiere (1st)
YANGZI’S CONFUSION (China)
Dir: LI Jue
World Premiere (1st)