CinemAsia Film Festival 2016 Focus on Chinese Film

For the 9th edition of CinemAsia Film Festival, which takes place from 1-6 March in Amsterdam, a large number of Chinese-language films are programmed. The festival opens with the musical thriller OFFICE 華麗上班族 (China/Hong Kong, 2015) by director Johnnie To, starring actors Sylvia Chang張艾嘉, Chow Yun Fat 周潤發, Eason Chan 陳奕迅and Tang Wei 湯唯. The festival closes on Sunday, 6 March with the omnibus film DISTANCE再見, 在也不見 (China/Singapore/Thailand, 2015) by the three directors Xin Yukun 忻鈺坤, Tan Shijie 陳世杰, Sivaroj Kongsakul 西瓦罗孔薩庫聯合執導.

The Focus program of the festival focuses on the Golden Horse Awards 台北金馬影展, often regarded as the Oscars for Chinese-language film. The Golden Horse Awards is the only event that brings all Chinese-language films under one umbrella, celebrating cinema. The Golden Horse has become a leading organisation and also hosts a renowned international film festival, a co-production market, and a film-training academy. CinemAsia Film Festival will screen a selected number of recent award winners of the Golden Horse Awards:

1. A Simple Life 桃姐 by Ann Hui 許鞍華 (Hong Kong 2001)

2. Blind Massage 推拿 by Lou Ye 婁燁 (China, 2014)

3. Infernal Affairs 無間道 by Andrew Lau 劉偉強 and Alan Mak 麥兆輝 (Hong Kong, 2002)

4. KJ Music and Life 音樂人生 by Cheung King Wai 張經緯 (Hong Kong/Taiwan, 2009)

5. Murmur of the Hearts 念念 by Sylvia Chang 張艾嘉 (Taiwan 2015)

Main guest of CinemAsia Film Festival 荷蘭亞洲電影節 2016 is director, screenwriter, producer and actress Sylvia Chang. Chang stars in OFFICE, the opening film of the CinemAsia Film Festival, directed MURMUR OF THE HEARTS 念念, and acted in Jia Zhangke’s highly acclaimed, MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART 山河故人. Sylvia Chang is the Chairman of the Golden Horse Awards and is a highly respected filmmaker in the Asian film industry. She has acted in nearly 100 films since the 1970’s since she was 16 years old and is the only female singer, actress, director, scriptwriter and producer of her generation in the Chinese film industry.

The Opening of the Special Focus on the Golden Horse Awards 金馬影展開幕式 will be on February 29 at EYE. Sylvia Chang will also be present at the opening of the festival on 1 March and during the festival she will share her over 30 years experiences in the film industries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and overseas.

CinemAsia Film Festival Director, Lorna Tee about Sylvia Chang: “Sylvia Chang is one of the rare talents in the Chinese language film world, both in front of the camera as a film star, and behind the camera as director, scriptwriter and producer, to be able to command respect and admiration across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and across all Chinese-language speaking territories. We are truly honoured to welcome her to Amsterdam and to present her outstanding body of work from 2015.”

WEN Tien-Hsiang 聞天祥, also a prominent guest, is head of the Executive Committee of the Golden Horse Film Festival. WEN Tien-Hsiang is a prominent film critic in Taiwan and was Curator for Taipei Film Festival from 2002 to 2006. In 2009, he was invited by HOU Hsiao-Hsien to head the Executive Committee of the Golden Horse Film Festival. He has written books on TSAI Ming-Liang and Taiwanese film history and also teaches at National Taiwan University of Arts.

CinemAsia is a film festival that strives to broaden the horizons of the Dutch audience and film professionals by offering an extensive and relevant overview of contemporary Asian cinema, through the latest and most popular blockbusters and films with a strong artistic vision. Besides culture and entertainment the festival also provides a creative platform for Asian filmmakers with CinemAsia FilmLAB. CinemAsia Film Festival takes place from 1-6 March in Kriterion and Rialto. For more information on CinemAsia: www.cinemasia.nl