After highlighting the 50 best films you may have missed this year and our overall top 50 films of 2023, today we put our spotlight on those that need a home in the first place: movies we loved on the festival circuit––from Berlinale, Sundance, Cannes, TIFF, NYFF, Rotterdam, and beyond—still seeking U.S. distribution.
We hope that highlighting these titles spurs some distributor interest and a forthcoming release; we’ll be sharing any updates in this regard on Twitter, so make sure to follow us there. As we move into 2024, one can also track our upcoming festival coverage here.
Borrowed Time (Choy Ji)
Everything in Mak Yuen-Ting’s life is about to change. She will soon join her fiancé’s well-to-do family. She wants her newly and unhappily retired mother, Chau-Kuen, to sell her apartment and move to the Luogang suburbs. Yuen-Ting (played by Lin Dongping) has to figure out how...
We hope that highlighting these titles spurs some distributor interest and a forthcoming release; we’ll be sharing any updates in this regard on Twitter, so make sure to follow us there. As we move into 2024, one can also track our upcoming festival coverage here.
Borrowed Time (Choy Ji)
Everything in Mak Yuen-Ting’s life is about to change. She will soon join her fiancé’s well-to-do family. She wants her newly and unhappily retired mother, Chau-Kuen, to sell her apartment and move to the Luogang suburbs. Yuen-Ting (played by Lin Dongping) has to figure out how...
- 12/18/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"Where did the money come from?" Another official trailer has arrived for the Hong Kong film called The Goldfinger, which is exactly what is listed (in English) in the title card of this trailer. The film is also going under the title Once Upon a Time in Hong-Kong, written and directed by the filmmaker Felix Chong. Set in the 1980s, the film is based on the story of Carrian Group, a Hong Kong corporation which rose rapidly before collapsing shortly afterwards due to a corruption scandal. Acclaimed actors Tony Leung & Andy Lau reunite after the seminal Infernal Affairs years ago. When a stock market crash causes the sudden collapse of a multi-billion-dollar company, an Icac investigator (Lau) uncovers a criminal conspiracy involving the company’s founder (Leung) and becomes entangled in a long-running investigation. The film's cast also includes Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, Tai-Bo, Alex Fong, Philip Keung, Kar Lok Chin,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Tony Leung and Andy Lau reunite in The Goldfinger, after many years apart. Here’s the trailer for the film, that arrives in the UK in December.
2002’s Infernal Affairs is one of the most iconic Hong Kong films of the early 2000s. The story of a cop who infiltrates the Triads and another officer who is secretly a spy for the same group was so popular that Martin Scorsese remade it in 2006 as The Departed. It also was followed by a couple of sequels, none of which were remade by Martin Scorsese.
Stars Tony Leung, Andy Lau and writer Felix Chong have reunited over 20 years later to make The Goldfinger, that Cine Asia has picked up for distribution in the UK.
The synopsis for The Goldfingerreads as follows:
Set in the 1980s, the film depicts cut-throat machinations between Hong Kong’s jostling business elites amidst the backdrop of the...
2002’s Infernal Affairs is one of the most iconic Hong Kong films of the early 2000s. The story of a cop who infiltrates the Triads and another officer who is secretly a spy for the same group was so popular that Martin Scorsese remade it in 2006 as The Departed. It also was followed by a couple of sequels, none of which were remade by Martin Scorsese.
Stars Tony Leung, Andy Lau and writer Felix Chong have reunited over 20 years later to make The Goldfinger, that Cine Asia has picked up for distribution in the UK.
The synopsis for The Goldfingerreads as follows:
Set in the 1980s, the film depicts cut-throat machinations between Hong Kong’s jostling business elites amidst the backdrop of the...
- 11/16/2023
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Everything in Mak Yuen-Ting’s life is about to change. She will soon join her fiancé’s well-to-do family. She wants her newly and unhappily retired mother, Chau-Kuen, to sell her apartment and move to the Luogang suburbs. Yuen-Ting (played by Lin Dongping) has to figure out how to reveal the truth about her background: that her father Mak Ka-fai (Tai-bo) fled Guangzhou 20 years ago after running up debts, returning to a family he kept secret in Hong Kong. That’s why Chau-Kuen (Pan Jie) won’t participate in Yuen-Ting’s wedding: “I don’t want people to see me that way”––a woman cheated and abandoned.
Borrowed Time, the feature debut from director Choy Ji, is both a voyage of discovery and journey into the past. Yuen-Ting grows up harboring resentment for a world she never knew, even as her own life in Guangzhou has evolved into something she no longer recognizes.
Borrowed Time, the feature debut from director Choy Ji, is both a voyage of discovery and journey into the past. Yuen-Ting grows up harboring resentment for a world she never knew, even as her own life in Guangzhou has evolved into something she no longer recognizes.
- 10/20/2023
- by Daniel Eagan
- The Film Stage
Choy Ji Talks Shifting Hong Kong-Mainland China Ties In Cross-Border Drama ‘Borrowed Time’ – Pingyao
Guangzhou-based director Choy Ji has filmed Hong Kong from a perspective we’ve rarely seen before in his debut feature Borrowed Time, which played at Pingyao film festival this week after screening in Busan’s New Currents competition.
Produced by Mo Jinjin and executive produced by Stanley Kwan, the Cantonese-language drama follows a young girl from Guangzhou (capital of China’s Guangdong province) who travels to Hong Kong to look for the father she hasn’t seen in 20 years – and who she knows has an entirely separate family on the other side of the border.
During the visit, she bumps into an old acquaintance as a typhoon is closing in on the city and they embark on a fantastical journey together while spending the night in a rundown tenement apartment.
Apart from Hong Kong actor Tai Bo (Twilight’s Kiss), the cast of the film mostly comprises non-professional actors, including Lin Dongping playing the young girl.
Produced by Mo Jinjin and executive produced by Stanley Kwan, the Cantonese-language drama follows a young girl from Guangzhou (capital of China’s Guangdong province) who travels to Hong Kong to look for the father she hasn’t seen in 20 years – and who she knows has an entirely separate family on the other side of the border.
During the visit, she bumps into an old acquaintance as a typhoon is closing in on the city and they embark on a fantastical journey together while spending the night in a rundown tenement apartment.
Apart from Hong Kong actor Tai Bo (Twilight’s Kiss), the cast of the film mostly comprises non-professional actors, including Lin Dongping playing the young girl.
- 10/19/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
"You think you'll get away with this?" The first official trailer is out for a new film from Hong Kong titled Goldfinger, which is the original direct translation of the Cantonese title. The film is also going under the title Once Upon a Time in Hong-Kong, written and directed by the veteran Hong Kong director Felix Chong. Set in the 1980s, the film is based on the story of Carrian Group, a Hong Kong corporation which rose rapidly before collapsing shortly afterwards due to a corruption scandal. Acclaimed actors Tony Leung and Andy Lau reunite after starring in the seminal Infernal Affairs years ago. When a stock market crash causes the sudden collapse of a multi-billion-dollar company, an Icac investigator (Lau) uncovers a criminal conspiracy involving the company’s founder (Leung) and becomes entangled in a long-running investigation. The film's cast also includes Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, Tai-Bo, Alex Fong,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Having won a number of awards in Deauville, Golden Horse and Taipei Film Festival, “The Cabbie” is Chen Yi-wen’s most successful movie to date, and was also Taiwan’s submission to the 74th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, although it was not accepted as a nominee.
“The Cabbie” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved,...
“The Cabbie” is screening at Taiwan Film Festival Edinburgh
The film is split in two parts essentially, which intermingle on a number of occasions. The main arc revolves around Su Daquan, a taxi driver, and his family, starting with the way his parents, a coroner and a taxi driver met and married, and continuing with his personal history. In adolescence, when his peers were driving scooters, he was driving a car without license, and his performance in school was of no importance, since the only thing that mattered was for him getting his license, something he eventually achieved,...
- 10/5/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Boy group singers Keung To and Anson Kong to star in two of the films.
Singapore’s mm2 Asia is ramping up production across Asia and in the US, with five films scheduled for release in 2023 as audiences return to theatres after the pandemic.
The titles include Yu Sen-i’s New York-set drama My Heavenly City and Nate Ki’s Hong Kong suspense horror Back Home. They will respectively star Keung To and Anson Kong from popular Hong Kong boy group Mirror.
Angelin Ong, general manager for North Asia at mm2 Asia, said the raft of upcoming features marked a...
Singapore’s mm2 Asia is ramping up production across Asia and in the US, with five films scheduled for release in 2023 as audiences return to theatres after the pandemic.
The titles include Yu Sen-i’s New York-set drama My Heavenly City and Nate Ki’s Hong Kong suspense horror Back Home. They will respectively star Keung To and Anson Kong from popular Hong Kong boy group Mirror.
Angelin Ong, general manager for North Asia at mm2 Asia, said the raft of upcoming features marked a...
- 7/12/2022
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
"If we don't speak for ourselves, then who will?" Strand Releasing has unveiled an official US trailer for an indie queer drama from Hong Kong titled Twilight's Kiss, originally known as Suk Suk, both written & directed by filmmaker Ray Yeung. This originally premiered at the Busan Film Festival in 2019, and played at numerous other fests including the New Zealand & Prague Film Festivals last year. The film is a quiet portrayal of a gay relationship between two men in their twilight years. Pak, 70, a married taxi driver who refuses to retire meets Hoi, 65, a retired single father. Although both are secretly gay, they are proud of the families they have created through hard work and hardship over the years. As Pak and Hoi fall in love they contemplate a possible future together. Suk Suk studies the subtle day-to-day moments of the two men as they struggle between conventional morals and their personal desires.
- 1/20/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Within the medium of film, the figure of the hitman is one of the most lasting and rewarding character archetype, adding a certain air of mystery, violence and internal drama to the narrative, at least when it is done with the right kind of talent in the directing chair. Nevertheless, the hitman as a metaphor for loneliness, isolation, as well as the antisocial tendencies within mankind is an attractive stereotype used in many narratives in order to highlight aforementioned issues, while also adding social, political and even philosophical commentary. In her second short feature after “Dinner With Stranger” (2016), Linhang Zhang uses the character of the hitman to tell a story about death and an interesting mentor-student relationship.
“The Last Ferry to Grass Island” is screening at Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
On Grass Island, one of the many islands near the Chinese coast, Ah Hoi (Tai-Bo) lives together with...
“The Last Ferry to Grass Island” is screening at Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival
On Grass Island, one of the many islands near the Chinese coast, Ah Hoi (Tai-Bo) lives together with...
- 11/10/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Review by Ray Yeung
When it comes to queer cinema, we do not see the romance between two older people, especially not in the surrounding that is quite traditional and family values-driven as it is, or at least was, the case with Hong Kong. “Suk Suk”, the third featured film directed by Ray Yeung, who is considered to be one of the important figures of queer cinema because of his earlier works “Cut Sleeve Boys” and “Front Cover”, is one of the rare films that deals with the topic. The film premiered last autumn at Busan, while the European Premiere took place at Berlinale.
“Suk Suk” is screening at Slovak Queer Film Festival
Pak, played by the legendary Taiwan-based Hong Kong actor Tai-Bo (known for his work in Jackie Chan movies with “Police Story” being the highlight), is a seventy-year-old cab driver. He still works not because of the financial needs,...
When it comes to queer cinema, we do not see the romance between two older people, especially not in the surrounding that is quite traditional and family values-driven as it is, or at least was, the case with Hong Kong. “Suk Suk”, the third featured film directed by Ray Yeung, who is considered to be one of the important figures of queer cinema because of his earlier works “Cut Sleeve Boys” and “Front Cover”, is one of the rare films that deals with the topic. The film premiered last autumn at Busan, while the European Premiere took place at Berlinale.
“Suk Suk” is screening at Slovak Queer Film Festival
Pak, played by the legendary Taiwan-based Hong Kong actor Tai-Bo (known for his work in Jackie Chan movies with “Police Story” being the highlight), is a seventy-year-old cab driver. He still works not because of the financial needs,...
- 10/14/2020
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
When it comes to queer cinema, we do not see the romance between two older people, especially not in the surrounding that is quite traditional and family values-driven as it is, or at least was, the case with Hong Kong. “Suk Suk”, the third featured film directed by Ray Yeung, who is considered to be one of the important figures of queer cinema because of his earlier works “Cut Sleeve Boys” and “Front Cover”, is one of the rare films that deals with the topic. The film premiered last autumn at Busan, while the European Premiere took place at Berlinale.
Pak, played by the legendary Taiwan-based Hong Kong actor Tai-Bo (known for his work in Jackie Chan movies with “Police Story” being the highlight), is a seventy-year-old cab driver. He still works not because of the financial needs, but as a mean to keep himself active. While at home, with...
Pak, played by the legendary Taiwan-based Hong Kong actor Tai-Bo (known for his work in Jackie Chan movies with “Police Story” being the highlight), is a seventy-year-old cab driver. He still works not because of the financial needs, but as a mean to keep himself active. While at home, with...
- 3/27/2020
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Queer cinema has made great strides in recent years, allowing every letter on the Lgbt-banner to be prominently represented at major film festivals worldwide. In terms of representation, however, the issue of ageism still needs to be redressed. Whether it’s Elio and Oliver in Call Me by Your Name, the proudly bisexual titular heroine of Pablo Larraín’s Ema, Daniela Vega as the unforgettable Marina in A Fantastic Woman, or Céline Sciamma’s ladies on fire, these are all characters in their youth/prime. With regard to telling stories about older people, the track record of queer cinema is probably as bad as its non-queer counterpart.
As such, it’s gratifying to see Hong Kong director Ray Yeung pick up the slack with Suk Suk (meaning “uncles” in Cantonese) and be reminded how love remains just as potent and complex when liver spots start to grow as when those first pimples popped.
As such, it’s gratifying to see Hong Kong director Ray Yeung pick up the slack with Suk Suk (meaning “uncles” in Cantonese) and be reminded how love remains just as potent and complex when liver spots start to grow as when those first pimples popped.
- 10/7/2019
- by Zhuo-Ning Su
- The Film Stage
“The Brink” is directed by newcomer director Jonathan Li, and is starring some known faces such as Jin Zhang, Gordon Lam and Shawn Lue among others, and co-starring Ka Tung Lam, Tai-Bo, Janice Man, Yue Wu and Yasuaki Kurata.
The movie introduces us to Sai Gau, played by Jin Zhang, who is a purely dedicated cop chasing this gold trafficking gang that has recently stepped on the coast. This gang owns a big casino boat filled with goods in order to be delivered, but it happens that the ones in charge of this specific operation are suffering from an inner conflict of leadership, mainly caused by Shing, played by Shawn Lue. The methods brought by this decided cop Sai Gau is not well liked by his superiors, especially for his direct boss played by Gordon Lam, who is always lecturing him and blaming him of losing fellow colleagues. But the thing is that,...
The movie introduces us to Sai Gau, played by Jin Zhang, who is a purely dedicated cop chasing this gold trafficking gang that has recently stepped on the coast. This gang owns a big casino boat filled with goods in order to be delivered, but it happens that the ones in charge of this specific operation are suffering from an inner conflict of leadership, mainly caused by Shing, played by Shawn Lue. The methods brought by this decided cop Sai Gau is not well liked by his superiors, especially for his direct boss played by Gordon Lam, who is always lecturing him and blaming him of losing fellow colleagues. But the thing is that,...
- 1/15/2018
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
“The Brink” is directed by newcomer director Jonathan Li, and is starring some known faces such as Jin Zhang, Gordon Lam and Shawn Lue among others, and co-starring Ka Tung Lam, Tai-Bo, Janice Man, Yue Wu and Yasuaki Kurata.
The movie introduces us to Sai Gau, played by Jin Zhang, who is a purely dedicated cop chasing this gold trafficking gang that has recently stepped on the coast. This gang owns a big casino boat filled with goods in order to be delivered, but it happens that the ones in charge of this specific operation are suffering from an inner conflict of leadership, mainly caused by Shing, played by Shawn Lue. The methods brought by this decided cop Sai Gau is not well liked by his superiors, especially for his direct boss played by Gordon Lam, who is always lecturing him and blaming him of losing fellow colleagues. But the thing is that,...
The movie introduces us to Sai Gau, played by Jin Zhang, who is a purely dedicated cop chasing this gold trafficking gang that has recently stepped on the coast. This gang owns a big casino boat filled with goods in order to be delivered, but it happens that the ones in charge of this specific operation are suffering from an inner conflict of leadership, mainly caused by Shing, played by Shawn Lue. The methods brought by this decided cop Sai Gau is not well liked by his superiors, especially for his direct boss played by Gordon Lam, who is always lecturing him and blaming him of losing fellow colleagues. But the thing is that,...
- 1/15/2018
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
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