The Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival announced the lineup for its inaugural edition (October 28th to November 4th) at a press conference in Beijing on Monday attended by festival founder Jia Zhangke and artistic director Marco Mueller.
The self-proclaimed “boutique festival” will open with Feng Xiaogang’s Youth (芳華), the Cultural Revolution-set drama about a military art troupe. The film was abruptly pulled from its planned September 30th release late last month and has yet to set a new release date.
The 13-film competition is split into two sections: The Crouching Tiger section, devoted to the first or second works by new filmmakers, features Chloe Zhao’s The Rider, Wang Feifei’s From Where We’ve Fallen (何日君再來) and acclaimed Director’s Fortnight entry The Nothing Factory. The Hidden Dragons section, devoted to uncovering talents in genre filmmaking, includes Li Xiaofeng’s Ash (追·踪), Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon, and The Endless from the US.
The gala screening section includes high-profile recent festival favorites including Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage: Coda (アウトレイジ 最終章), Peng Xiaolian’s Please Remember Me (請你記住我), Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying, and Arnaud Desplechin’s Cannes Film Festival opener Ismael’s Ghost.
There is also a Best of Fest section that includes Malaysia’s Shuttle Life (分貝人生), Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White (嘉年華), Qiu Yang’s A Gentle Night (小城二月), Arurag Kashyap’s The Brawler, and Palme d’Or winner The Square.
Omnibus Where Has Time Gone (時間去哪兒了) – produced by festival founder Jia Zhangke – and aerial action thriller Sky Hunter (空天獵) – picked by festival ambassador Fan Bingbing – will also be screened as “Special Screenings”. There is also a retrospective to commemorate the centennial of director Jean-Pierre Melville’s birth and a special “Pingyao Night” screening of Ma Liwen’s A Test of Love Adventure (A測試).
The festival is partly funded by the Pingyao municipal government. It will be held in Pingyao Ancient City, a UNESCO heritage site.
Asia in Cinema 