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Veteran mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou is to be honored twice over at the Asian Film Awards ceremony on Sunday. He will be presented with a lifetime achievement award and a separate prize for directing the highest-grossing Asian film of 2023.

“These two awards are not only a testament to Zhang’s extraordinary achievements, but also to his continued success, having won the Asian film contribution award at the 4th AFAs in 2010 and the best director award at the 15th Asian Film Awards in 2021 for ‘One Second’,” Afa organizers said.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have chosen filmmaking as my lifelong profession. Having been in the industry for over four decades, I am grateful to everyone who appreciates my films [..] I will keep learning and strive to surpass myself. Always having anticipations for the future, I hope that my best film will be my next one,” said Zhang in a prepared statement.

Acting and directing were not on Jay Chou’s mind when he first began his music career nearly two decades ago. But over the years, he has accumulated several memorable film and TV roles locally in Asia and in Hollywood. And, between music ventures, he has sat in the film director’s chair.

“I was born to believe in myself and complete my work on my own,” Chou said in a 2012 interview, discussing his work in acting and directing. “Once I understand how something works, I like to do it myself.”

His screen career began in 2005, when Chou made his film debut with the release of car-racing action feature “Initial D,” an on-screen adaptation of the Japanese manga of the same name, directed by Hong Kong’s Andrew Lau and Alan Mak (“Infernal Affairs”).

The singer-songwriter from Taiwan was cast to play the film’s lead role, an emotionally reserved...

Although America has the largest film industry, and the most successful in terms of revenue, the Chinese film industry has created a string of releases that have fared well overseas in recent years. A surge of Chinese films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and Kung Fu Hustle, have received rave reviews and rated high at the box office in the West as well as in their native country. Directors such as Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee and actresses Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi have also gone on to become big names.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Ang Lee’s 2000 film was the first foreign language film to take over $100million in the US and holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a foreign film. Nominated for ten awards, it took home four on the night, including Best Foreign Film. It also won dozens of awards in its home country,...

Zhang Yimou has one of the more fascinating careers of any director. He became a pioneer figure of contemporary Chinese arthouse cinema in the late 1980s / early 1990s, winning top prizes at European film festivals with gritty, hard-hitting dramas that defied ideological guidelines of the time. To Live, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1994 and widely considered his crowning directorial achievement, was such a blistering indictment of the Chinese regime it never received a theatrical release at home.

Around the turn of the millennium he started making a very different type of movie––lavish, CGI-laden blockbusters like Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower. These often impersonal, politically correct (or muted) spectacles proved so popular he began attracting Hollywood attention, leading him down a misguided path towards the zillion-dollar abomination that is The Great Wall. His conceptually intriguing, if still visually exhausting follow-up Shadow...

Eureka’s September 2021 line-up has been announced and will feature “Duel to the Death“, a film often hailed by critics as the ‘Best Swordplay Movie’ ever!

Duel To The Death (Blu-ray)

Known for his classic film, A Chinese Ghost Story, this debut feature from director Ching Siu-tung is filled with dazzling visuals and astonishing martial arts choreography.

Limited Edition Slipcase and Booklet

Synopsis

Every ten years, a duel is held between the finest Japanese and Chinese martial artists to determine whose Swordmanship is superior. During the Ming Dynasty, as the next duel approaches, the chosen candidates are caught in the middle of a battle between Ninjas and Shaolin monks. Only a Duel to the Death will settle the countries’ conflicts and stop the bloodshed.

Known for his classic film, A Chinese Ghost Story, as well as for directing Tsui Hark’s the Swordsman saga, this debut feature from director Ching...

To mark the release of Curse of the Golden Flower and Dragon, both out on 14th December, we’ve been given 2 bundles of both movies to give away on Blu-ray.

Curse of the Golden Flower

On the eve of the Chong Yong Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace and when the Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) unexpectedly returns to his Empress (Gong Li) and two sons, the tension is clear in his lavish kingdom. His absence has given rise to illicit love affairs, dangerous alliances, and malicious conspiracies; all of which threaten to overthrow his power. However, it may well be the Emperor’s own dark secret that threatens him most of all. As the secrets of the Imperial family unravel against this backdrop of breathtaking opulence & grandeur, an attack on the Palace by myriad armoured warriors results in a spectacular climax wrought with thrilling action and epic tragedy.

Dragon...

Asian cinema has always had a degree of popularity in Western culture, but all too often they were done a huge disservice by being remade instead of shown in their original state.

That trend is changing drastically, with films such as Crazy Rich Asians finding success and leading viewers down the exciting pathway towards genuine Asian films. A post by Time reported that it was the first film by a major Hollywood studio that featured a majority cast of Asian descent in a modern setting since 1993 and that it had the potential to change Hollywood.

BFI suggest it was hard to find East Asian films in UK cinemas a couple of years ago, but that is a situation that’s now rapidly evolving. The Climbers is a recent release which our article explains was shown in cinemas across the United Kingdom.

The thirst for Asian movies has increased dramatically, but...

On a pre-holiday weekend, in which new films unusually were released Sunday instead of the normal Friday, “Hello Mrs. Money” starring Celina Jade topped the Chinese box office. Zhang Yimou’s “Shadow” took the second spot.

Their first day of release gave “Mrs. Money” $16.8 million, and “Shadow” $10.4 million, according to data from Ent Group. They were followed by Hong Kong crime thriller “Project Gutenberg,” with $8.17 million.

China’s week-long National Day holiday begins Monday. For many people, Saturday was treated as an additional working day. Once the holiday period gets underway for more people, box office numbers are likely to swell.

“Money” was produced by Mahua FunAge, a company that is China’s market leader in live comedy and that made a successful transition into film with 2015’s “Goodbye Mr. Loser,” which made $218 million, 2016’s “Mr. Donkey” and last year’s sports comedy “Never Say Die.” “Never Say Die” was...

Whatever you think of his checkered oeuvre, Zhang Yimou is undeniably a maestro of modern Chinese cinema. Few could match the international acclaim or box office success earned by the 66-year-old director, whose artistic path mirrors the breathtaking steps made in Chinese history and film industry. While his early works helped catapult Chinese cinema to the global festival spotlight, his middle phase led the way in commercial blockbusters with Chinese characteristics.

Zhang will receive the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker award in Venice ahead of the out-of-competition screening of “Shadow”on Sept. 6.

The allure of Zhang’s filmmaking often comes from the screen divas and captivating female roles he cultivates. Gong Li, who collaborated with him nine times, remains the most luminous presence. So good is he at plucking talent out of obscurity that every time a new project is announced, the media eagerly awaits the next “Mou Girl.”

Born in 1950 in Xi’an,...

Get your first look! An international teaser trailer has debuted for Shadow, the latest film from acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou. The film is a re-imagining of the classic Three Kingdoms story from Chinese history, and is yet another martial arts epic. The story is about a king and the people's struggle for their rightful land, as told through the perspectives of the king, his sister, his commander, the entrapped women of the palace, and a commoner. It's filmed in a unique "Chinese watercolor" style and is both Zhang Yimou's return to his roots as a filmmaker and a bold new beginning. The cast includes Ryan Zheng, Chao Deng, Qianyuan Wang, Jun Hu, Xiaotong Guan, Lei Wu, Li Sun, Jingchun Wang. This is only a teaser, but I'm already interested. The footage in here looks cool - can't wait to ...

I've got a fantastic first trailer here for you to watch for a new supernatural martial arts thriller called Shadow. The film comes from director Zhang Yimou who has previously brought us films such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of the Golden Flower, Matt Damon's The Great Wall and the Christian Bale's The Flowers of War. He's going back to his roots with this new film and it looks like it could be stunning!

I absolutely love what I'm seeing in this first trailer. It looks like it was beautifully shot and there's sure to be some incredibly cool fight choreography. On top of that, the story looks intriguing!

The film is set during China's Three Kingdom's era (Ad 220–280) and it tells the story of a king and his people’s struggle for their rightful land. That story is told through the perspectives of the king,...

The first installment of John Woo double-feature Red Cliff has become the most successful movie ever in China.

The film has passed the 300 million Yuan mark ($43.7 million/GBP21.85 million) after just 42 days in cinemas - beating previous best-seller Curse of the Golden Flower, which took $37.5 million (GBP18.75 million) in 2006/2007.

The success marks a resurgence in Chinese cinema, a decade after Titanic grossed just $38.7 million (GBP19.35 million) there.

The movie's second installment is due for release in January 2009.

Beijing -- China's costliest film, director John Woo's third century naval war epic "Red Cliff," has set a new boxoffice record for a domestic movie, putting it within reach of China's all-time boxoffice record, held by "Titanic."

Earning 302 million yuan ($44.04 million) in the month since its July 10 opening, "Red Cliff" smashed the previous domestic movie boxoffice record held by "Curse of the Golden Flower," a report published late Monday on Sohu.com, said.

"Curse" earned 286 million yuan and got Olympics opening ceremony director Zhang Yimou nominated for an Oscar in 2006.

"Red Cliff," starring Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro, was made for $80 million, is the most expensive Chinese film ever made.

Ticket sales have now boosted it to become the first Chinese film to earn more than 300 million yuan.

"Red Cliff" opened on July 10, and took only four days to earn 100 million yuan. It grossed 200 million yuan in 10 days, Sohu said.

An unnamed official of the China Film Group, Woo's producer and distributor, told Sohu he expects "Red Cliff" to outearn "Titanic" the 1997 American blockbuster that earned 360 million yuan in China, making it the biggest film of all time here.

"Red Cliff" will open the Tokyo International Film Festival on Oct. 18. A sequel is due in December.

Hong Kong Filmart

HONG KONG -- Mars and Venus fight for ascendancy as a warrior-princess must choose between personal romantic fulfillment and patriotic duty in An Empress and the Warriors. Thematically, the film sustains this dichotomy with atmospheric alternations between a saccharine fairy tale love plot and strapping martial arts duels and battle scenes.

As the first feature since 2000 to be helmed by renowned martial arts director Tony Ching Siu Tung (who choreographed The Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Flying Daggers), this could be the most anticipated Chinese period action blockbuster since The Warlords aside from Red Cliff. Although it doesn't thrill like Ching's seminal A Chinese Ghost Story or Swordsman II of the golden 1990s, it doesn't disappoint as a swashbuckling romance that puts its big-name cast to good hard work. The film already has sold to many Asian territories.

Set when China was still 10 warring states, the story has greatness thrust upon Princess Fei'er (Kelly Chen) when her father dies. She forces herself to develop martial prowess and lead her kingdom, Yan, first to repel invaders, then to squelch the mutiny of cousin Wu Ba (Guo Xiao-dong), who covets the throne. She is trained by Gen. Muyong Xuehu (Donnie Yen), who is both a Big Brother figure and secret admirer.

While fleeing an ambush set by Wu, Fei'er is rescued and nursed to health by forest dweller Duan Lanquan (Leon Lai). She falls for her hippie healer and becomes skeptical of her kingdom's warlike culture and her own royal destiny. Notwithstanding a flirtation with bandages and a hot air balloon ride over spectacular landscapes, the romance is like the multigrain porridge and organic yams that Lanquan prepares -- wholesome but bland.

Chen, better known as a singer and pretty face in escapist romances, takes up the gauntlet to play an Amazonian heroine. She achieves a breakthrough in image, but screen partners Yen and Lai remain typecast.

The exquisitely wrought armor forms an integral part of overall art direction in creating a sense of Arthurian majesty. The outfits' ungainly weight also means high-wire pyrotechnics are ruled out in favor of earth-bound, puissant clashing of swords. Nothing happens at breakneck speed, but there are no lulls in the succession of fight scenes.

As the spotlight is on the three leads, the best martial arts choreography is reserved for one-on-one battles set against ravishing natural backdrops, such as a floating log on the river or Lanquan's fight with some ninja-like assassins in his tree house in the film's most elaborately designed set piece.

Although the film sports fashionable anti-war jargon, it does not skimp on the body count. Battle scenes and two chases through the woods are graphic but skillfully lensed by Zhang Yimou regular Zhao Xiaoding.

AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS

Polybona Film Distribution and Big Pictures present an United Filmmakers Organization production sales agent: Golden Network Asia, Mei Ah Entertainment (Asia)

Credits:

Director: Tony Ching Siu Tung

Screenwriter: James Yuen

Producers: Yu Dong, Claudie Chung

Executive producers: Yu Dong, Eric Tsang, Li Kuo-hsing

Director of photography: Zhao Xiaoding

Production designer: Yee Chung Man

Music: Mark Lui

Costume designer: Dora Ng

Editor: Tracy Adams

Cast:

Yan Fei'er: Kelly Chen

Muyong Xuehu: Donnie Yen

Duan Lanquan: Leon Lai

Wu Ba: Guo Xiaodong

Running time -- 95 minutes

No MPAA rating...

SHANGHAI -- A screening of Flight of the Red Balloon brought the 10th Shanghai International Film Festival to a gentle landing following the closing Jin Jue awards ceremony at Shanghai's Grand Theater with some of the film's Asian stars making a show of support for their film. The film, written and directed by Hsiao-hsien Hou, has been characterized as an homage to the 1956 Albert Lamorisse classic The Red Balloon. As a sign that the SIFF, held in China's most cosmopolitan city, is trying to meet its aspiration to become a truly world-class festival, the closing ceremony was a well organized and well attended event. There was a host of big name Asian stars including Jackie Chan (Forbidden Kingdom), Gong Li (Curse of the Golden Flower), Aaron Kwok (After This Our Exile) and director Hou.

The top award went to the German film According to the Plan by Franziska Meletzky; the jury Grand Prix was taken by the Swedish film The New Man by Klaus Haro; and Tian Zhuangzhuang garnered best director for China's The Go Master.

Production designer Phillip Vasels said it was a well executed event, especially compared to the previous night's Asian New Talent Award ceremony where he was one of the intrepid guests to brave the monsoon that struck just before the ceremony, flooding streets and making travel difficult.

HONG KONG -- New Wave auteur Patrick Tam's comeback film After This Our Exile was the winner of the night at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards, scooping five trophies, including best film, director and screenplay.

However, the film's lead actor, Aaron Kwok, lost to local favorite Lau Ching-Wan.

In his acceptance speech for best director, Tam thanked the film's investors for the creative freedom they had given him, a lack of which had led him to stop directing after 1989's My Heart Is That Eternal Rose. He also thanked Law Kar, one of the first generation of Hong Kong film scholars, betraying his own roots as a critic.

Exile's young star Gouw Ian Iskandar won supporting actor and new performer. He received supporting actor honors in November at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

The other hot title of the night was Zhang Yimou's $45 million period epic Curse of the Golden Flower. Gong Li, who made her career in Zhang's earliest films and who was working with the director for the eighth time, took best actress.

The film also won art direction and original film song, which was sung by Taiwanese pop sensation Jay Chou.

PARIS -- French filmgoers have spring fever, as over 1.2 million cinephiles headed to Gallic movie theaters on Sunday, the first day of the country's 8th annual discount cinema fest, the Printemps du Cinema.

The event, organized by the FNCF, France's national cinema foundation, had its highest attendance ever, with an 8% increase from last year.

For three days, the French public can enjoy their favorite films for a reduced ticket price of just €3.50 ($4.65). Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower topped the day's box office with 41,366 admissions, a 40.9% increase from the previous day, followed by U.S. comedy Music & Lyrics with 34,361 tickets sold and Gallic thriller Counter Investigation with 19,598.

German Oscar-winner The Lives of Others was a crowd-pleaser with 15,006 tickets sold, and audiences also enjoyed home-grown fare including Edith Piaf epic La Vie en Rose (12,516 admissions), Andre Techine's The Witnesses (11,347 admissions) and Francois Ozon's English-language coming-of-age story Angel (10,056 admissions).

U.S. imports really benefited from the ticket price reduction with attendance for both Breaking and Entering and Freedom Writers increasing over 60% from Saturday to Sunday and A Night at the Museum seeing a 109.1% jump in admissions from the day before.

The Costume Designers Guild was in a royal mood, honoring Miramax Films' The Queen and HBO's Elizabeth I at its ninth annual awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire on Saturday night.

The awards went to Consolata Boyle for Excellence in Contemporary Film and Mike O'Neill for Outstanding Contemporary Television Series. Both the feature and the miniseries starred Oscar-nominated Helen Mirren, who received the guild's Distinguished Actor Award.

Chung Man Yee won for Excellence in Period Film for the gilded designs of Curse of the Golden Flower and the Excellence in Fantasy Film award went to Lala Huete for Pan's Labyrinth. Both winners' awards were accepted on their behalf at the Jane Kaczmarek-hosted gala.

Patricia Norris received a Lacoste Career Achievement Award for Film for her body of work, which includes Victor/Victoria, The Elephant Man and the upcoming The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The Lacoste Career Achievement in Television went to Grady Hunt whose credits include Hart to Hart and Fantasy Island.

Swarovski President's Award recipient Sandra Bullock amused the audience with tales of her experience with costumers on her films and praised the art form.

Clint Eastwood will be honored as Filmmaker of the Year at the 54th annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards, set for Feb. 24 at the Beverly Hilton.

The Motion Picture Sound Editors also will recognize Richard L. Anderson, who has worked as a sound editor on such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Madagascar and Flushed Away, with the Career Achievement Award.

The MPSE also announced nominees for the Golden Reel Awards, which acknowledge the year's best work in dialogue & ADR, effects & foley, and music.

For domestic feature, dialogue & ADR, the nominees are "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," Flags of Our Fathers, World Trade Center, The Last King of Scotland, Letters From Iwo Jima, Apocalypto, Little Miss Sunshine and The Da Vinci Code.

For domestic feature, effects & foley, they are Dead Man's Chest, Flags, Blood Diamond, Iwo Jima, WTC, Superman Returns, Mission: Impossible 3 and The Prestige.

In feature animation, effects & foley, the nominees are Cars, Happy Feet, Over the Hedge, Flushed Away, The Ant Bully and Ice Age: The Meltdown.

For feature film music, the nominees are Apocalypto, Dead Man's Chest, Babel, Children of Men, Click, Lucky Number Slevin, The Proposition and Bobby.

For musical feature, the nominees are Dreamgirls, "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny," Copying Beethoven, Take the Lead and A Prairie Home Companion.

The foreign features nominees are Casino Royale, Pan's Labyrinth, Babel, Children of Men, United 93, Curse of the Golden Flower, Slevin and The Black Dahlia.

The Golden Reels also include categories for TV, direct-to-video, special venues and computer entertainment.

Meryl Streep's chicly over-the-top designer duds in The Devil Wears Prada, Helen Mirren's sensible walking outfits in The Queen, Kirsten Dunst's elaborate gowns in Marie Antoinette and America Ferrera's fashion faux pas in Ugly Betty have earned nominations from the Costume Designers Guild, which announced nominees today for the ninth annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.

At the guild's awards ceremony, to be held Feb. 17 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with Jane Kaczmarek serving as host, Sandra Bullock is set to receive the Swarovski President's Award, Mirren will be honored with the Distinguished Actor Award, costume designer Patricia Norris will be recognized with the Lacoste Career Achievement in Film Award, and costume designer Grady Hunt will be presented with the Career Achievement in Television Award.

For excellence in contemporary film, the CDG nominated Patricia Field for Prada, Consolata Boyle for Queen, Nancy Steiner for Little Miss Sunshine, Lindy Hemming for Casino Royale and Michael Wilkinson for Babel.

The period film nominees are Milena Canonero for Antoinette, Sharen Davis for Dreamgirls, Chung Man Yee for Curse of the Golden Flower, Ngila Dickson for The Illusionist and Penny Rose for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

In the fantasy film category, the nominees are Sammy Sheldon for V for Vendetta, Kym Barrett for Eragon, Lala Huete for Pan's Labyrinth, Judianna Makovsky for X-Men: The Last Stand and Renee April for The Fountain.

In the category of outstanding made-for-television movie or miniseries, the nominees are Mike O'Neill for Elizabeth I, Julie Weiss for Mrs. Harris, Tom McKinley for High School Musical, Michael T.

BEIJING - Director Zhang Yimou's Curse Of The Golden Flower earned 96 million yuan ($12.5 million) in its first four days on 826 screens breaking previous opening weekend records for a domestic film in China, producers said Monday.

China's pick for the 2007 Oscars, Curse stars Gong Li, the mainland's most respected veteran acrtress, opposite martial arts heartthrob Chow Yun-fat in addition to Taiwan pop star Jay Chou.

After its Dec. 14 opening in Chinese cinemas, Curse quickly overtook China's previous domestic film release opening weekend record, from 2005, when director Chen Kaige's The Promise opened on 600 prints and grossed 75 million yuan ($9.7 million), Curse producers at EDKO Films in Hong Kong said in a statement.

Tickets in China's major cities were sold for prices as high as 70 yuan ($8.75), twice the national average and well out of reach of the average Chinese (HR 12/14).

Sony Pictures Classics will release Curse, a story about an imperial family's slow decline, in North America on Thursday (12/21) in New York.

Sony Pictures Classics co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker will be the recipients of The Hollywood Reporter's inaugural Indie Mogul Award, to be presented next month at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.

The award was created to recognize the continued growth of the independent film arena and to celebrate the achievements of prominent executives with a reputation for producing and releasing quality indie features.

Bernard and Barker, 25-year veterans of the indie sector, have built a reputation in the industry as the chief purveyors of high-profile films and enjoy ongoing relationships with some of cinema's most respected auteurs.

This year, the executives have backed an eclectic slate that includes such critically acclaimed pictures as Germany's The Lives of Others, China's Curse of the Golden Flower and Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles and Spain's Volver, and they continue to prove that, with the right business model, there's money to be made on foreign-language product.

BEIJING - Director Zhang Yimou's The Curse of the Golden Flower, brought in 15 million yuan ($1.9 million) in the first five hours of its nationwide release, putting it on track to break Chinese boxoffice records, a cinema circuit executive said late Friday.

Curse, China's submision to the 2007 Oscars, is under great pressure to recoup its $45 million budget, partly financed by Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong (HR 5/12).

The film, which tells the story of an imperial family's slow decline and stars Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun Fat, opened nationwide on Thursday. Tickets in Beijing sold for a pricey 70 yuan ($8.75), nearly twice the national average (HR 12/14).

"It's reasonable to assume box office receipts will top 100 million in first week, and reach 300 million shortly after the New Year," Gao Jun, an executive at Beijing-based Xinyinglian cinema circuit told the Xinhua news agency.

"We are optimistic that the film will establish a new boxoffice record in China," Gao said.

BEIJING -- Director Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower premiered at an expensive gala in China's capital Thursday, while 13 theaters sold out tickets costing 70 yuan ($8.75) each, nearly twice the national average and beyond the reach of most Chinese.

In a move that could help China's foreign-language Oscar hopeful post big numbers at the boxoffice in the holiday moviegoing season, cinemas agreed last week to set high prices for tickets to Curse, starring Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat, circuit spokespeople said.

A martial arts period piece about the decline of an imperial family, Curse reportedly cost $45 million to make. Critics have said it echoes Zhang's previous epic Hero, which made more than $53 million at the U.S. boxoffice in 2004 and holds China's boxoffice record for a homegrown film at 250 million yuan ($32 million).

More than 1,000 guests were invited to the gala, but Zhang missed it to be in New York, where he is directing his original opera The First Emperor. Gong Li was with her ailing mother and Chow Yun Fat was was busy shooting another film, Xinhua said.

PUSAN -- For the first time, a mainland Chinese bank has financed a film by local-hero director Feng Xiaogang, Huayi Brothers Film Investment Co. said Sunday at the 11th annual film festival ongoing here. After four months of tough negotiations, China Merchants Bank invested half of the $10 million budgeted to make The Assembly, a war story now shooting in northeast China, Wang Zhonglei, Huayi's president, said. Though commonplace in the West, bank finance for films in mainland China is rare. Many banks already laden with bad debt are scared off by the film industry bugbear of rampant intellectual property theft. In May, Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong was breaking new ground when it put up an undisclosed amount to fund internationally acclaimed director Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower (HR 5/16), now China's choice to go to the Oscars next year (HR 9/30).

PUSAN -- For the first time, a mainland Chinese bank has financed a film by local-hero director Feng Xiaogang, Huayi Brothers Film Investment Co. said Sunday at the 11th annual film festival ongoing here. After four months of tough negotiations, China Merchants Bank invested half of the $10 million budgeted to make The Assembly, a war story now shooting in northeast China, Wang Zhonglei, Huayi's president, said. Though commonplace in the West, bank finance for films in mainland China is rare. Many banks already laden with bad debt are scared off by the film industry bugbear of rampant intellectual property theft. In May, Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong was breaking new ground when it put up an undisclosed amount to fund internationally acclaimed director Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower (HR 5/16), now China's choice to go to the Oscars next year (HR 9/30).

Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower has been chosen as the closing-night gala presentation at AFI Fest 2006. The film, starring Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li and Jay Chou, will screen Nov. 12 at the ArcLight's Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. AFI Fest also announced that its three juries will be made up of film critic John Anderson, actor-director-screenwriter Vondie Curtis Hall, actresses Lisa Gay Hamilton, Daryl Hannah and Christine Lahti, distributor Susan Petersen, actor Wilmer Valderrama and screenwriter-directors Don Roos and Wash Westmoreland.

BEIJING -- Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet, starring Zhang Ziyi and Daniel Wu, is the official candidate from Hong Kong for a best foreign-language nomination for the 2006 Academy Awards, while Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower, starring Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, will represent China, it was announced Friday. Both films were made by directors from mainland China and feature the country's two best-known actresses, and they are both costume dramas set in ancient Chinese courts. Banquet and Golden Flower were each co-produced by companies based in Hong Kong, the former British colony that reverted to Chinese control in 1997.

NEW YORK -- International stars Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li soon will be returning to American shores. Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North American and Latin American rights to House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou's martial-arts romantic drama Curse of the Golden Flower. The feature, shooting in China, follows the medieval saga of a dysfunctional royal family led by a king (Chow) and queen (Gong) engaging in power struggles with their three sons and each other. Zhang's Daggers and Hero action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-Tung returns for similar duties in this film, which also reunites the director with Gong (Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad). This is the director's ninth project with Sony Pictures Classics, which hasn't yet set a release date for the film.

NEW YORK -- International stars Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li soon will be returning to American shores. Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North American and Latin American rights to House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou's martial-arts romantic drama Curse of the Golden Flower. The feature, shooting in China, follows the medieval saga of a dysfunctional royal family led by a king (Chow) and queen (Gong) engaging in power struggles with their three sons and each other. Zhang's Daggers and Hero action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-Tung returns for similar duties in this film, which also reunites the director with Gong (Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad). This is the director's ninth project with Sony Pictures Classics, which hasn't yet set a release date for the film.

BEIJING -- Coming off the quiet "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," director Zhang Yimou will use 20,000 Chinese soldiers as extras when he begins shooting Autumn Remembrance in February, producers said. For a Chinese film, the budget also is super-sized at 360 million yuan ($44 million), topping the $30 million spent by director Chen Kaige on Master of the Crimson Armor, China's official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards and the most expensive Chinese film made to date. To be co-produced by Hong Kong hitmaker Bill Kong (House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Remembrance will star Chow Yun-Fat. Negotiations with Gong Li for another key role are under way. The film marks the first collaboration between Zhang and Gong since Shanghai Triad in 1995.

BEIJING -- Coming off the quiet "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," director Zhang Yimou will use 20,000 Chinese soldiers as extras when he begins shooting Autumn Remembrance in February, producers said. For a Chinese film, the budget also is super-sized at 360 million yuan ($44 million), topping the $30 million spent by director Chen Kaige on Master of the Crimson Armor, China's official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards and the most expensive Chinese film made to date. To be co-produced by Hong Kong hitmaker Bill Kong (House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Remembrance will star Chow Yun-Fat. Negotiations with Gong Li for another key role are under way. The film marks the first collaboration between Zhang and Gong since Shanghai Triad in 1995.

BEIJING -- Coming off the quiet "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," director Zhang Yimou will use 20,000 Chinese soldiers as extras when he begins shooting Autumn Remembrance in February, producers said. For a Chinese film, the budget also is super-sized at 360 million yuan ($44 million), topping the $30 million spent by director Chen Kaige on Master of the Crimson Armor, China's official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards and the most expensive Chinese film made to date. To be co-produced by Hong Kong hitmaker Bill Kong (House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Remembrance will star Chow Yun-Fat. Negotiations with Gong Li for another key role are under way. The film marks the first collaboration between Zhang and Gong since Shanghai Triad in 1995.