Pingyao Film Festival Unveils 10th Edition Line-up; ‘Spring In A Small Town’ Set As Opening Film

China’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF) has announced the line-up for its tenth anniversary edition, which will open with a 4K restoration of Fei Mu’s Spring In A Small Town.

Good Trip, co-directed by Hong Kong filmmakers Norris Wong and Hoi Wong, will close the festival. Short film Torino Shadow, directed by Jia Zhangke, co-founder of the festival, will be screened on Fenjiu Night, which will also feature a live performance by Chinese rock band Wutiaoren. Torino Shadow has its world premiere in this year’s Cannes Classics.

The festival also announced the titles selected for its Crouching Tigers competition, which focuses on first, second and third films from international directors, and the Hidden Dragons competition for films from emerging directors making Chinese-language films.

Crouching Tigers includes Ben’imana, which won the Camera d’Or at this year’s Cannes film festival; Congo Boy, which won Best Actor in Un Certain Regard; and Filipiñana, which premiered at Sundance and has just been selected as the Philippines’ official entry for the Oscars (see full line-up below).

Hidden Dragons include Zou Jing’s A Girl Unknown, which premiered in Cannes Critics Week, Dong Jie’s Zoom In, Zoom Out, which premiered in Venice Critics Week and Yeung Leung Chuen’s We Are Born Good, currently premiering in Toronto’s Discovery section.

In addition to closing film Good Trip, Gala screenings at the festival include Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster, Na Hong-jin’s Hope, Christian Mungui’s Fjord and Jame Gray’s Paper Tiger, among other films.

As part of the festival’s ten-year anniversary celebrations, PYIFF and the Nationwide Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas (NAAC) will mark their shared tenth anniversary with a “NAAC & PYIFF 10th Anniversary Celebration”, looking back at the films and filmmakers the two organisations have supported over the past decade.

Also joining the anniversary programme is Slices Of Time: An Electronic Remix DJ Set, conceived by musician Lim Giong, who will perform live alongside film sound designer and musician Zhang Yang, electronic musician Li Yanzeng and DJ Weng Weng, with moving-image works by visual artists Ye Qiusen and Wang Tianyu.

Reworking film excerpts through experimental moving images and live electronic sets, the event will bring image and sound together against the historic backdrop of Pingyao, while looking ahead to the festival’s next decade.

HIDDEN DRAGONS:

Whispers In May (Netherlands, Sweden, Korea, Hong Kong, China)
Dir: Dongnan Chen
[Asian Premiere, Documentary]

Zoom In, Zoom Out (China)
Dir: Dong Jie
[Asian Premiere]

Replica (Australia France)
Dir: Chouwa Liang
[Asian Premiere, Documentary]

Dead Tide (Malaysia)
Dir: Kethsvin Chee
[World Premiere]

Light Pillar (China)
Dir: Xu Zao
[Asian Premiere]

Admission (Taiwan, China)
Dir: Quentin Hsu
[Asian Premiere]

Suzhou Quartet (China)
Dir: Chengjie Cai
[World Premiere]

We Are Born Good (Hong Kong, China)
Dir: Yeung Leung Chuen
[Asian Premiere]

Final Payment (China)
Dir: Niu Niu
[World Premiere]

A Girl Unknown (China, France)
Dir: Zou Jing
[Asian Premiere]

CROUCHING TIGERS:

Gemstones (Colombia, Portugal)
Dir: Simón Vélez
[Asian Premiere]

Bo Bo (Russia)
Dir: Anastasia Kuzina
[International Premiere]

Filipiñana (Philippines, Singapore, France, Netherlands, UK)
Dir: Rafael Manuel
[Asian Premiere]

Against Nature (Mexico)
Dir: Axel Bertha
[Asian Premiere]

Congo Boy (Central African Republic, France, DR Conga, Italy)
Dir: Rafiki Fariala
[China Premiere]

The Days Off (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France)
Dir: Lucila Mariani
[Asian Premiere]

Promised Spaces (France, Germany, Serbia, Cambodia)
Dir: Ivan Marković
[Asian Premiere]

Forest High (Belgium, France)
Dir: Manon Coubia
[Asian Premiere]

Ben’imana (Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway)
Dir: – Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
[China Premiere]

Yesterday The Eye Didn’t Sleep (Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)
Dir: Rakan Mayasi
[Asian Premiere]