Russell Edwards' Festival Log 

APSA Nominations Council Member, Russell Edwards is a Sydney-based film critic reviewing Asian and Australian films for the international trade paper Variety. He was president of The Film Critics Circle of Australia from 2004 to 2006; is a regular attendee of Asia’s film festival circuit; and has been a FIPRESCI juror at the Pusan International Film Festival twice, including Jury Chairman in 2003. Russell Edwards’ main area of expertise is Korean and Japanese cinema; and he is well-versed in Australian and American film history. A board member of the Sydney Film Festival from 1996 to 1999, Russell also advised the now defunct Sydney Asia Pacific Film Festival from 1999 to 2004. Russell has also directed short films. His most recent film The Agreement (2006) played at numerous major festivals around the world and was screened on SBS Television.

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PIFAN - PUCHEON INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL

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PIFAN

Friday, July 24, 2009

WHO'S ON FIRST? WHAT'S ON SECOND?

One of the odder traditions of PiFan (as if the combination of gore and erotica is not wacky enough) is that it is
a festival that has two closing nights. The First opening night is when all the awards are handed out (more about
that in a couple of graphs). The next day the international guests go home, but the festival actually continues for
a couple of days. In the past this meant a second final screening which usually heralded one of the Korean
summer's more heavily anticipated scarefests usually attended by the few remaining international fanboy and
Korean cinema completists.

I'm not sticking around for PiFan's second closing night this year, but hightailing it over to Tokyo to catch the tail
end of Tokyo's Pia Film Festival (aka the Sundance of Japan). I'll respond to special requests for info, but the blog
ends here (Unless I have an afterthought).

WINNERS ARE GRINNERS

So yeah, back to the first closing night at PiFan. The winners of the NAFF project were announced at an official
late afternoon ceremony at the Koryo Hotel where most of the NAFF activities took place. Post Production support
awards were granted by both NAFF and KOFIC. The prizes given by the NAFF jury headed by Chris Lee went to
screenwriter of "The Host" Hah Jun-won for his project "The Arsonists"  and Nakano Hiroyuki for his proposed
Japanese/Korean co-production "Numeric Love" which centres on a cross-cultural love affair between an IT
generation couple who suddenly have to cope in a world without electricity. The KOFIC prize went to Singapore's
Pok Yue-weng for his "Bladerunner"-esque set "Tattoo War" which explores several character's Dorian Gray
arrangement with their tattoos. The second KOFIC prize went to Ham Tran who is finally following up the grand
sweep of his boat people sage "Journey of the Fall" (2006) with his Vietnamese martial arts film "Breaking Point".
Hawaii International Film Festival's Anderson Le is attached as producer.

After 20 minutes of backslapping and  wolfing downsome bulgolgi I made the shuttle bus for PiFan's closing
ceremony, just in time to walk down the red carpet with French Korea buff Olivier Lehmann and sit around waiting
for the closing ceremony.

The appeal of PiFan is mystifying in some ways. Most of the town is ugly concrete boxes. Nearly every sign of
nature is obscured from view and the official ceremonies have a tendency to feel like the school play. That said, the
hospitality is genuinely warm, it's not too difficult to get tickets and the fun in Fantastic is never far away. A sexy
violinist came out and made virtual mincemeat of her bow in a dramatic performance and the Mayor of Bucheon
underlined his entrenched commitment to the festival that he signalled over lunch with the trade press a couple of
days ago.

Then came the awards...

Noting that most awardees at PiFan always make a token stab of greeting the Korean audience with
"Annyonghaseyo" or "Kumsumnida", jury president Tony Rayns read out a 3 sentence statement in Korean. It was
right up there with Michael Moore's French acceptance speech at Cannes 2002 for "Bowling for Columbine" for
excruciation, but at least Moore was being spontaneous. The attention-seeking gesture looked more feeble (and
hey I gotta admit that after clocking up around 18 trips to South Korea myself, I can barely read hangul let alone
recite a speech) when el presidente continued in English, he inadvertantly called Bucheon, Busan. It could have
happened to anyone, but people have been ex-communicated from the festival for lesser slips. After pride comes
the fall as my grandmother used to say.

Regardless, the jury voted accordingly:

Best Actor: Pontypool, Stephen McHattie (Canada)
Best Actress: Macabre, Shareefa Daanish (Singapore/Indonesia)
Best Director: The Beast Stalker, Dante LAM (Hong Kong)
Best Film: The Neighbor Zombie, OH Young Doo, RYU Hoon, HONG Young Guen, JANG Yoon Jung (Korea)
Indonesia's Joko Anwar picked up the grand festival prize audience award as best feature for his latest directorial
effort "The Forbidden Door". Good thing Joko was there to pick up the award too. He told me earlier on in the week
that it was only luck that saw the cancellation of a breakfast date in a certain ill-fated Jakarta hotel recently. Great to
be a winner, but better to be alive.

PIFAN

Thursday, July 23, 2009

HAEUNDAE

Went to a midnightscreening of South Korea’s long-awaited disaster movie extravaganza Haeundae. It’s weird
that the film is not part of PiFan as a disaster movie and one as good-looking this would be a great opening film
or closing (too big to be anything else!). Sometimes the lack of co-operation between festivals and local
distributors in South Korea astounds me. I know that there was a 15 minute presentation of the film in Cannes
with English subtitiles. I can’t imagine that there isn’t a print in existence without english subs, so there must be
another reason. The film opened 2 nights ago and even in Bucheon it is playing at two theatre complexes every
hour on the hour all day. No doubt inspired by the 2003 tsunami that swept Haeundae in September 2003 which
besides ripping up the foreshore (If you look carefully at the boardwalk when attending the Pusan Film Festival
you can still see evidence of the damage done) also killed 80 people. Somewhat surprisingly the film is not
exactly reverential about this tenuous link and being set in the present day lots of liberties are taken with the
effect of a tidal wave.

The film follows standard disaster movie procedure in some ways, but is quite original in others. An opening
sequence about a man left to die by his fisherman buddies recalls the guilty burden portrayed in Twister and
multiple dramatic strands mirror films from Towering Inferno to the recent far inferior Chinese film Super Typhoon
(oh and watch out for the Kim Dong-ho figure who plays a property developer). The difference comes in that
most of the set-up scenes actually avoid melodrama and are marbled with some very funny sequences of every
day Korean life. Even when the disasterous wave strikes, the film refuses to let go of its amused sensibility. A
sequence occuring after the first wave hits the Gwangali bridge is both darkly hilarious and exciting with a
up-ended container ship leaning against the bridge dropping it’s cargo and the bridge cables snapping to create
a deadly obstacle course for one comedy relief character. Unlikely to be a contender for any APSA category
(unless a special effects category is introduced), the film nevertheless has some impressive sequences and is
a good quality representative of the genre.

PIFAN

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

SPOTLIGHT ON SINGAPORE

As part of PiFan’s NAFF event, there is an annual component which puts special focus on projects from one
particular region. This year it is Singapore. Five filmmakers made their pitch complete with audio-visual props
to an audience of press, investors and curious film-going Koreans. While not part of NAFF’s project
competition, this display of the island state’s young film-making talent was both instructive and entertaining.
Two Zombie films (Tough Meat and Dead Tide), one gently satirical superhero film, a military ghost movie
(23:59 HRS) and a kind of softly softly childhood friends film that resembled a softly softly version of Peter
Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures (Innocents). Well-presented, my money (If I was a producer) would be on
Gilbert Chan’s army base ghost story 23:59 HRS. With an international cast (British, Australian, French,
Singaporean and Japanese) and cross-cultural ghosts as well it seems well-designed to succeed beyond
the small Singaporean market.


Gilbert Chan

CO-PRO PROBLEMS

At the second NAFF Forum, Singaporean film producer James Toh likened his experience on
international co-productions to his experience the night before at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Having
just presented his Singapore Indonesian co-production Macabre he and his crew decided to celebrate
at a restaurant. The Indonesians being Muslim didn’t want to eat pork. The Singaporeans leaning to
Buddhism didn’t want to eat beef. They all agreed that none of them wanted to eat dog. They then had
to communicate this to a Korean restaurant proprietor who couldn’t speak English, Mandarin or Bahasa.
It took considerable effort but they eventually succeeded (ie: they were fed and the film was made).

NO CHIEF AND NOT MANY INDIANS

No body missed Kang Han-sup, the former chairman of the Korean Film Council (aka KOFIC) at the
KOFIC party at PiFan on Monday night. Recently dismissed due to ‘inefficient management’, the
Korean film community sighed relief when he was shown the door. (I was on a jury with him a few
years ago at Pusan. He was the type of guy who audibly ruminates on every plot point so the rest of
the audience knows he is on top of things). However, paranoia is still quite rampant and the big fear is
that the yet to be announced replacement will be even more damaging to the organization. The other
rumour circulating is that several film bodies including KOFIC will be amalgamated in a move to cut staff
and duplication of tasks. Now if you believe that rationale, there’s a bridge in Sydney I’d like to sell you.

Unfortunately KOFIC staff members were close to invisible. So there was no one around to confirm or
deny. It was the most unofficial official function I’ve ever been to in South Korea. The party, though
pleasant was unremarkable...except for what became known as the plastic exploding chair
phenomenon. I was sitting at a table with a few friends including Anderson Le, when suddenly the
Hawaii International Film Festival programmer was flat on his back wedged into the plastic seat of his
chair which was suddenly devoid of its rear legs. Accidents happen. Twenty minutes later, an
unidentified Korean guest found himself in the same position on the floor. The wooden chairs suddenly
became a premium item. Another half hour, a third guest was on the floor caught in a collapsible two
legged plastic chair. It was the last such fall of the evening, but surprising for how little sympathy the
last guest got. When Anderson fell people were horrified. Two guests later it was such a regular
occurence it seemed like a big joke. Fortunately no one was hurt.

PIFAN

Monday, 20 July, 2009

MUNCHING WITH THE MAYOR

As all festival directors know there is a political element in coordinating a film festival that must be
appeased. So it was that representatives of the foreign press were invited to have lunch with
Bucheon’s Mayor, Hong Gun-pyo. The Hollywood Reporter were represented by Patrick Frater,
Maggie Lee and Ivy Lam. Screen International was repped by Liz Shackleton and their smoothly
bi-lingual Korean correspondent Jean Noh and Variety was represented by the film festival circuit’s
elder statesman Derek Elley and yours truly. Rather than having feedback from visitors filtered through
the festival administration, the Mayor wanted to hear our thoughts on the festival directly. Bucheon’s
Mayors have been involved with the festival before he was elected and as discussions ensued it was
evident that his commitment to the festival’s prosperity may have been, if anything, overly protective in
the past, but one could not doubt his fidelity to not only PiFan but other Bucheon events like their anime
and manga festivals which not only emphasise culture in the satellite city, but are aiming for potential
economic benefits (film production, manga publishing etc) that may flow in from around the Asian region.

While Mr Hong was not likely to change his grand plan just to suit foreigners, it was clear that he listened
- through PiFan’s Publicity coordinator Michelle Kwon who interpreted - to each of his visitors, none of us
ever very reluctant to say what we think. How much he took on board will be revealed in the years to
come I suspect, but regardless it was quite an honour to be invited.

3D OR NOT 3D: IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION

NAFF (Network of Asian Fantastic Films) hosted this morning a Forum on the emerging 3D market in
Asian cinemas. In a panel moderated by Screen International’s Liz Shackleton, Kodomo Films,
Indonesia based San Fu Maltha, Joe Ikeda From Asmik Ace In Japan and Kim Hee-young from Korean
digital effects company Macrograph offered three different perspectives on this burgeoning market.
With internet and DVD piracy burning a hole in film attendance figures, the industry is looking to create
a profitable experience that cannot be pirated or duplicated in the home environment.

In regards to that, it sounds like a lot of expensive outlay for what is essentially a stop gap measure (the
technology to do 3D in the home is not that far away from consumers now), but while both Maltha and
Kim were forthcoming about the technical details of the technology, it was the project announced by Joe
Ikeda - a 3D movie set in an amusement park by Shimizu Takashi (The Grudge) called The Shock Labyrinth
that really got my blood racing. The first Japanese live action film in 3D, the film sounds like a perfectly
targeted concept.

As Maltha explained via an unanticipated classical reference to Rembrandt’s paintings, 2D already has
depth, so 3D must provide more.

Until the story experience raises above mere gimmickry, I think the future of 2D cinema is safe. Of course
there is no reason why the two formats can’t co-exist. Remember IMAX is a niche audience even if it is a
profitable niche. All panel members were clear that certain genre (horror, nature documentaries, science
fiction) films are more likely to succeed and successfully draw on the format than standard dramas.

HOT ON THEIR TRAILER

A millstone around each festival’s neck is their branding trailer. Something that is seen before each film,
but seen more and more frequently depending on how dedicated your audience is. A good trailer has to
be able to remain fresh for the duration of a festival and repeated viewings. The pinnacle would have to
be a toss up between Cannes’ ascending stairway to the stars or Berlin’s Bear emerging from its sphere
of fireworks. However some are less durable and through repetition can become downright annoying.
Toronto 1992 went with the slogan ‘Everybody’s a critic’ with quotes from audiences members like ‘I really
dug the plot’ - Debbie Eglington. Only presenting about three such jokes, the Toronto audience were
substituting professions by about day 4 and each joke become more tiresome as the day wore on. The
PiFan trailer is a 2 parter. One features a girl presenting a red scarf on the occasion of the birthday of a
man who wears a hessian sack for mask. It has a kind of odd tenderness. The second trailer which you
can click on here http://www.pifan.com/eng/pifan2009/03_trailer.asp is like a second instalment.
I won’t spoil the details, but for something that is a promotional tool, it has both genuine emotion and uniquely
pays homage to the gory The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in a way that is family friendly. It is directed
by Kim Jin-won.
 

PIFAN

Sunday, July 19, 2009

TOP NAFF, NO RIFF RAFF

Festivals run on buzz. On one level PiFan is driven by its appeal to a local and loyal audience of film
fans who devour horror films, grok science fiction movies and adore anything a little bit out of the
ordinary. The ‘Fantastic’ aspect of PiFan is a key element in its identity (though they do play fast and
loose with it sometimes; In 2002 the festival opened with Bend It Like Beckham because Korea’s
performance in the World Cup Soccer was like a ‘fantasy come true for Koreans’.

But last year Pifan introduced a new element which has upped the buzz quotient. It has become a
cliche to introduce a market to boost a festival’s profile (and where there is a market, can a Talent
Campus be far behind? But the addition of the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) which opened
tonight clearly has visitors as excited as the local audience that has supported the festival through thick
and thin. This project market has a high-powered jury (headed by former Columbia Tri-Star topper Chris
Lee, the other members are Lee Joo-ick producer of Seven Swords, Hong Kong mover and shaker
extraordinaire Nunsun Shi and CEO of Tiger Gate  Entertainment  William Pfeiffer) who will grant 7 awards
from 19 proposed film projects from across Asia. A buffet dinner kicked off with the usual speeches
(Festival director Mr Han and then the Mayor of Bucheon, and with a champagne toasting of the room by
the NAFF jury chief Chris Lee.) The usual stampede for the free food  was followed by a revved up
networking session that made the Indy 500 look like a snail race. At my table alone there was remake king
Roy Lee (The Ring, former PIFF staffer and producer Ellen Kim (Cry Woman), Hanna Lee (Secret Sunshhine)
and Korean pop culture historian Mark Russell. Around the room could be seen Eric Khoo who was seated
with the Singaporean delegation (NAFF has a special country focus each year with the island state in the
spotlight for 2009). Arty adventurer Ly Jin was touting her project Space Gore. Rosa Li had left her hubby
Kenneth Bi (The Drummer) chained to  a computer to write a script while she repped Chased for Hong
Kong-based writer/director, Ezra Emerson and Ham Tran whose Vietnamese boat people saga Journey of
the Fall made a splash a few years ago is looking to do a biopic of a Vietnamese martial artist. It was a real
who’s who of the Asian film industry.

Part of what fuelled the buzz  (besides beer and soju) it seemed to me that unlike other markets in
which each project has to be couched in cotton wool and touchy feely terminology so the film can
be nurtured to the right festival or the elusive arthouse audience, NAFF seems to be a matter of Horror
Film? BANG let's go! You want to reach a mainstream Asian audience, Go for It! The
deliberately narrow focus of the market appears to be energizing the participants. Of course the only
way to know for sure is when the films get made. Production takes a while to cycle through. For instance
the 40 per cent rebate co-production scheme developed in Australia a couple of years ago is only starting
to show its success this year. Similarly, it took a while before people really understood what the Adelaide
Film Festival was doing with its seed money for films that turned out to be Ten Canoes and Samson &
Delilah (and a couple of duds too. No system is perfect) Likewise the success of the first NAFF will not
be visible (or invisible) until 2010 or 2011. Hopefully the momentum can be maintained while the first genre
films roll off the production line.

NAFF Centre;  PIFan Volunteer;   Ly Jin

PIFAN

Friday, July 17, 2009

OZ NOIR KICKS OFF PIFAN

Kicked off my film watching activities here at Pifan with a new Digibeta feature by Australian Jon Hewitt.
Last year, I reviewed his previous film Acolytes for Variety. It was a convincing chiller about some
teenagers who stake out a suspected serial killer’s house (me: I spent my adolescent summers going
to the movie repertory houses. The combination of Ingmar Bergman and air conditioning beating out most
activities by a country mile). Given that after distributor Palace Films had lowered their level of support to
the point where Hewitt was releasing Acolytes by himself, I was kind of surprised that he had time to
make another film. Darklovestory (no spaces, no commas) is listed on imdb.com as a 2006 venture, but
the version here is clearly not finished as it is without a full credit list. Co-written by and featuring Belinda
McClory as reformed prostitute Gretchen alongside Aaron Pederson as her down and desperate boyfriend
Gil, the film is well worth seeking out (or finishing if you happen to be reading this Jon). A stylish blend of
artiness and gritty film noir has just the right touch of James Ellroy to pass as an authentic Australian film
noir. Very pleasant surprise. 

I WAS DARCY PAQUET’S GAY LOVER

Very tabloid of me I know. But I can explain. I was wandering back from Between the Knees a rather
confronting, though undeniably erotic film from PiFan’s Urban Erotica 80s Korean retrospective, when
renowned Korean film specialist Darcy Paquet telephoned my companion of the moment Stephen Cremin
of Udine’s Far East Film Festival. After a few ‘uh-uhs’ and ‘hmmms’, Cremin said, ‘Russell’s here - maybe he
could help’. A quick chat had Darcy revealing he was acting in a film a block away and needed  someone to
pose as his ‘longtime companion’ in a photograph for the film. Twenty minutes later, Darcy and I were stripped
to the waist, cheek to cheek lying on a bed in a Bucheon love hotel enjoying each other’s company with only a
ten person film crew to cheer us on as we smiled into a mobile phone camera. All in a day’s work.

PIFAN

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

I’ve been going to PiFan aka Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival aka South Korea’s second biggest film
festival, since 2002. It’s where I was first introduced to my fellow APSA Nominations Council member Kim
Hong-Joon and since those heady days it has always been a festival that has punched above its weight. Under
Mr Kim’s watch PiFan attracted representatives from the major international trades and substantial support from
the Korean film press. There were a few rough years when Mr Kim left (the details of which split the Korean
film community and could completely swallow my word count for the entire festival) but for the past four years
the festival has been under the stewardship of one of the sweetest cineastes around Mr Han Sang-joon.
(A former PIFF programmer Mr Han sent me a copy of his book on Francois Truffaut a couple of years ago.
Unfortunately I can’t read Korean, but it was a touching gift nevertheless).

Well-liked and widely admired Han has helped build up the festival to its former glories and impressed many
last year with the addition of NAFF a film market that compliments the festivals emphasis on genre films,
particularly horror (though APSA contender The Chaser won the major prize here last year.). Given that the
festival circuit is strewn with casualties of truncated and cancelled events due to the omnipresent global
economic crisis, the opening night reception was a glamorous but modest affair which had a healthy
representation of Korean industry personnel (revered elder statesman of Korean directors ImKwon-tek even
dropped in briefly. I also had a friendly chat with Jay Jeon from Pusan’s festival). Foreign journalists and festival
guests from around the world all assembled at the Koryo Hotel in this concrete jungle of a satellite city of Seoul
that only 25 years ago was awash with peach plantations.

Unable to leave Australia until the opening day of the festival, I didn’t arrive in Bucheon (as the city is now known
due to a change in translation standards. This is the same change that sees Busan play host to South Korea’s
biggest film festival Pusan International Film Festival) until the opening night film MW had already started. My
decision to forego the film turned out to be a wise one as those who spoke of the Hitoshi Iwamoto film at all, were
less than enthused. Though I have to say that for me the big thrill in attending PiFan was never the opening night
film, or the local musicians and dancers (ranging from fabulous to dire over the years, the cultural input is the
clearest indicator of the local government funding  component of the festival)...no what I regret missing is the
fun-filled red carpet walk where even an absolute nobody like moi not only gets rapturous applause (and that’s
getting increasingly common), but I usually get my own photo call! Who needs to be a rock star when you can act
out the glamour lifestyle at PiFan: 

Mr Han Sang-joon, PiFan Festival Director


Maggie Lee (Film Reviewer, The Hollywood Reporter), Hanna Lee (APSA Jury Member 2008 & Producer of Secret Sunshine)


Darcy Parquet (Screen International), Lee Sun-hee (Korean Correspondent, Variety),  Ryan Law (HK Journalist)

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SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Join us as APSA Nominations Council member and Variety critic, Russell Edwards guest blogs SFF exclusively for APSA.
Russell will focus on the significant Asia-Pacific line up at SFF including several A-P titles in Official Competition,
reporting back with the news and inside scoop from the event that kicks off Australia’s film festival season.

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EVERYONE LOVES A CONTROVERSY

If there is any rule that governs film festivals, it is that you can't see everything and you can't be in two places
at the same time. Hence, while I was checking out Tsai Ming-Liang's Face, my fellow Variety reviewer Richard
Kuipers was seeing Australian documentary Stolen. There had been some rumblings that the film was
controversial and when I looked at the Sydney Morning Herald the next day, it was plain how true that was.
I'd missed one of the most controversial Sydney Film Festival screenings since Dennis O'Rourke presented his
doco The Good Woman of Bangkok!

What follows is a kind of patchwork of stuff gleamed from the SMH and a few remarks Richard passed on to
me (It took us a couple of days to catch up), since he was actually there. I can't personally pass comment on
the film. a) because I haven't seen it and b) as per usual Variety protocol, the opinion of a reviewer (in this
case Richard) remains confidential until the review is published.

Directed by Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw, Stolen looks at the plight of Saharawi refugees from Morocco
who live in camps in the desert lands of Algeria. In particular the film focusses on 38-year-old Faitim Salami
who has lived in the camp since she was 3-years old and works as a teacher. Her husband is a Cuban-trained
engineer who works in Madrid. The film's central premise that Faitim will be reunited with her mother, but in the
course of the film the film-makers make an argument that "Arabs" enslave refugee camp residents and take
away their children.

Salami flew into Sydney (courtesy of the Sahrawi Polisario Front) to say she is not a slave. Her husband also
was there and they were accompanied by members of the Australia Western Sahara Association that says
the film is seriously misleading.

At the George street cinema where Stolen screened there were police outside the cinema, in the lobby and
even security guards inside during the screening. The screening started almost 30 minutes late. People were
all respectful during the screening, but once the film was over it apparently went up a couple of levels from a
lively debate. Booing and cheering punctuated almost every remark, but allegedly neither side could claim that
they won the debate.

The filmmakers claim that Salami is being given temporary freedom in order to protect the camp organisers.
She claims that she has been misrepresented after taking the film-makers into her home. Produced by seasoned
Australian documentary maker Tom Zubrycki and funded by Screen Australia, some people believe the
documentary is a disgrace, while others claim that it is a brave expose. Ayala claims that despite Salami's
protestations, that she spoke to Salami's mother and brother on the phone the night before the screening and
there was fear about the safety of Salami's four children in the camp.

While Salami and her husband have made statements to the press, they have declined interviews, preferring,
understandably, that dealing with the Australian media is left to those who represent the refugees in Australia.
Australian scriptwriter, speechwriter and overall sloppy dresser Bob Ellis apparently heckled throughout
proceedings. Australian documentary filmmaker David Bradbury who has been in the centre of a few
controversies himself over the years, turned up with his camera and was filming the discussion, as were
nearly a dozen news crews.


Stolen

AND THE WINNERS ARE

The Sydney Film Festival wrapped and the competition winner was Bronson written & directed by Nicholas
Winding Refn. The money however goes to producers Rupert Preston and Danny Hansford. No need to get into
the creative debate about whether the director or the producer is more entitled to the money here, but word of
mouth on this film which features Tom Hardy as notorious British crim Michael Peterson who went by the
Charles Bronson monicker, is that it was riveting.

The Australian documentary prize was split between two films. Contact which featured archive footage of the
last aborigines to establish contact with the white community and guided those still surviving women of that
group back to their traditional land. The other documentary to share the prize (for which Foxtel doubled rather
than halved the prize money) was from Mumbai-based director Safina Uberoi for her upbeat though challenging
film A Good Man. The film which portrays how an Australian farmer goes into the brothel business to help fund
the medical expenses of his quadraplegic wife was a genuine crowd pleaser.

So there's your kick off to the Australian film festival season, which gives both Melbourne and Brisbane
festivals a tough act to follow (though Melbourne is off to a good start with Balibo as their opening film). A quick
thanks to those who wrote to me with praise and complaints and of course thanks to APSA staffers Maxine
Williamson and Jill Robson who just love it everytime I mention them. Finally, thanks to publicist Fiona Maddox
from the Lantern group who was indispensable for granting ticket access and generally helping out while doing
the work of ten people! 

PITCHING WOO

The day after Red Cliff played at the State Theatre, John Woo belatedly sat down with festival director Clare
Stewart at the Statement Bar. While Woo claimed that he is a shy man and that he preferred expressing himself
in visuals rather than language, it didn't stop him from talking garrulously about his career. Slipping between
English and Cantonese (with a very capable interpreter helping out for us gweilos in the audience), Woo spoke
about his early influences, including how he credited his guardians at a seminary for steering him towards
artistic rather than religious pursuits.

Learning to make movies by watching movies (Melville and Peckinpah were the first names off his tongue),
reading library books (and frequently not returning them) Woo also stressed that he learned about movies by
"reading critics as well" (Take that Bill Bennett!). While Sydney audiences were deprived of the 5 hour version
of Red Cliff parts 1 & 2 (which the director clearly preferred to the truncated and united version), Woo seemed
perfectly willing to go over his career in great detail and gone on for double the two films running time and
enjoying the remenisces just as much as the eager audience hanging on  his every word. Regrettably for all,
Woo had a further media commitment but even as he acknowledged the need to move on he kept talking.

As the session was winding up, he took a question from a young audience member which has all the hallmarks
of rambling danger. First the young man identified Woo as a personal hero and then identified himself as an
aspiring film-maker... I was starting to feel anxious as I've heard a number of self-aggrandizing raves start from
this juncture at many Q&As over the years, but I need not have worried, when the young man finally got his
question out about Woo reconciling his religious beliefs with the action and often bloody content of his films.
The depth of Woo's answer clearly indicated that the young man had struck gold, as the action director outlined
how he keeps his Christianity in the church and his film-making on the movie set. Whatever the following media
engagement was, I bet the journo didn't ask or get anything so considered.


Mr John Woo on the red carpet at the Australian Premiere of Red Cliff

AND NOW A WORD FROM MY SPONSOR

The Gold Coast came to Sydney tonight with APSA hosting a pre-screening function for Khoa Do’s latest film Missing
Water. At the Sydney Hilton’s Zeta Bar, cast and crew of the low-budget film were in attendence, as were several of
APSA’s Sydney supporters and newcomers to the fold, as well as core APSA staff like Maxine Williamson, Jill Robson
and Richard Watson.

Chairman Des Power spoke about how Do’s work was part of APSA’s original pitch to UNESCO and how far the
awards have come since their instigation in 2007, citing the way that posters for the fabulous Kazakh film Tulpan
carry  the APSA Best Film 2008 print alongside festivals like Montreal, Tokyo and Cannes. Do followed Des’s speech
by speaking about his excitement about being included in the Sydney Film Festival’s competition and the honour of
telling a story that so strongly represents the experience of his family and community.

The film played to a rousing reception in the State Theatre which was well populated by Do’s supporters and
prominent members of Sydney’s Vietnamese community. I believe there was also an after party but I had to go
home and write my review.


Missing Water

CRITIC BAITING

Despite being under the gun with reviews, blogs and squeezing in the viewing of the occasional film, I did find time
to write a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald. In today's paper (or on-line where I read it) former journalist and
film-maker Bill Bennett (Kiss Or  Kill, Spider and Rose) wrote a rant about how Australian critics hate films, how he'd
never been to a film festival (except when he was screening his own film, which for some reason didn't count) and
how he'd never seen Citizen Kane. As The Sydney Morning Herald is a sponsor of the Sydney Film Festival (industry
sycophants at IF magazine: take careful note of the festival's name. Your slide is incorrect) I suspect that the article
was a pre-arranged PR stunt to spark controversy. If so, the stunt worked. Not being one to let a wrong go
uncorrected, I rose to the bait and my heavily edited reply also appears on the smh.com.au website in the incredibly
difficult to find letters section. I suggest the Festival reserve a place for Bennett on next year's festival jury so he can
have his horizons expanded, or at least offer him a DVD of Orson Welles' debut.

DUD DAY & PLEASANT SURPRISE

A mere 24 hours after I write about the high standard of this year's Sydney Film festival programme, I hit a dud
day. It can happen anywhere but one feels like a goose after my proclamation.

Fortunately, despite one dull Oz doc and one strained Oz feature, the day did have one shining delight.

Old Partner, a touching and frequently amusing documentary from South Korea was purely captivating. I have
to admit that my prejudices had prepared myself for boredom, but this film about an aging farmer, his prized ox
and sometimes justifiably jealous wife turned out to be a must see. I haven't checked yet when it was made or
released (and therefore whether it is eligible for APSA consideration), but didn't want the film to go by
unheralded.

LESS IS MORE

I was standing out the front of the State Theatre with Sydney Film Festival President Virginia Gordon as we
both watched the audience slowly file in to see Steve Jacobs new film Disgrace (which is just as fabulous as
has been widely reported by the way. It beats me why Icon have sat on this fine film for so long). We chatted
about a few topics including ticketing (every festivals nightmare), and the tendency of Sydney audiences to
abuse politicians who visit the festival. Virginia also clarified that the truncation of the festival was not a
response to the Global Economic Meltdown, but a directive given to artistic director Clare Stewart because the
Board felt that the festival was becoming unwieldy.

Given that the normally 16 day festival has been haemorrhaging money (as festivals do) since the mid-90s
when then Sydney Film Festival director Paul Byrnes was competing with Tait Bradys better funded, better
programmed and even longer Melbourne International Film Festival (which is also shorter this year), one
wonders what has taken the Sydney Board so long to react. Anyone with a basic sense of economics has
been saying for over a decade that the Sydney festival should only be about 10 days long as per the duration
of most festivals around the world. The fabulous State Theatre is also a prohibitively expensive venue despite
its beauty. (Paul Byrnes once publicly referred to it as "jewel in the crown and the pain in the arse") Regardless
of whether it is a Board directive or a response to the world financial crisis, the fact remains that Clare is the
best Sydney programmer since David Stratton was in charge (though her Asian programming is rather slight).
Consequently, there have been less duds in the programming, audiences generally seem more satisfied (though
they are quibbling about the online ticketing), and the competition now offers a sense of momentum that was
lacking when it debuted last year. Heres hoping that the festival remains around this length.

Now all the Board have to do is take care of that other detail that the Sydney Film Festival has been oscillating
over for years: moving the Sydney Film Festival to a more suitable date for international attention. My money is
on November. A rumour is circulating that the date change will be announced at the end of the festival, but I
think they will wait until the next AGM.

 
State Theatre

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

For the past couple of years if anyone in the Australian film industry uttered the words “40 per cent” they could only be
talking about the maximum offset that can be received by foreign investors. This funding concept has been touted as the
primary reason that 2008 is proving for a bumper year for Australian film with about twice the normal amount of locally
produced movies being released.

The Sydney Film Festival have instigated an industry day this year and the first panel I attended was on this very topic.
(There was a yum cha session in the morning, but I just can’t face dim sum at 8.30am). Sharing their experience was Jack
Arbuthnott of BBC Films, Marian MacGowan who co-produced the Australian/UK co-production Death Defying Acts,
Rosemary Blight who is in pre-production on a partially French financed film called The Tree and Finola Dwyer whose
film An Education is closing the Sydney festival and who did an Australia, New Zealand, UK co-production with Dean
Spanley.

An informative session, its anglo bias was nevertheless betrayed when Sally Browning, Investment Manager with
government body Screen Australia on her intro neglected to mention the two Asian countries who are approved options
for official co-productions and therefore eligible for the tax offset. (China and Singapore just in case you don’t know).
The audience of about 70 industry producers and listened with baited breath for tips and also heard the problems that can
beset even successful co-productions. In a separate session Jan Chapman spoke about her UK co-production on the new
Jane Campion film Bright Star (with a pained smile, Chapman emphasised that if nothing else the experience had taught
her “how to share”).

Fascinating though this was, it brought back memories of my attendence at the Hong Kong Filmart where Asian producers
were asking me why there were no (ok, a couple) Australian producers at the Hong Kong market. Even the Australian film
Mao’s Last Dancer shot in China was not an official co-production, but was done “on the fly”. Perhaps next year at Filmart
(or even this year at Pusan or Tokyo), Screen Australia could show some initiative and set up a booth at one of the three
major Asian markets to help facilitate meetings with Chinese or Singaporean producers and creatives. Until success is
established through Australian affiliation with these countries it is likely that other Asian companies will have an opportunity
to follow suit. 



Mediator Scott Meeks and Jan Chapman

FRENCH FOX

Those seminar attendees who slipped away after lunch (delicious cannelloni and some chocolate cakes that were to
die for) missed a rare peek into the world of sales and marketing presented by Vice President of Fox Searchlight Europe,
Christophe Mercier. It was to be a shared session with Liz Watts (Little Fish) and industry stalwart Sue Murray, but Mercier
dominated, entertained and enthralled with a detailed presentation, which revealed how films like Little Miss Sunshine and
The Last King of Scotland are packaged for different markets and how film festivals like Locarno are used to make a
springboard into the local markets. I'm so glad I caught it. Weirdly enough I almost missed it. During lunch I got a call from one
of the festival's publicists to say that she was sorry she hadn't returned my earlier call, but no media were permitted at the
Industry day. A cheerful about face occurred when I told her I was already there. Beside myself there were two other
journalists (did everyone else really take "no" for an answer?). While there were no security checks to the Sydney Hilton
meeting room where the seminar was held, I had arranged access via the New South Wales Film and TV Office the day
before. When I mentioned the proposed media blackout to some of the producers present, they were astounded, "It's not like
we are giving away trade secrets!" said one. Nevertheless the sessions were terrifically valuable and I think would have
received good coverage for the festival if they had encouraged media to attend. 


Vice President of Fox Searchlight Europe, Christophe Mercier

SQUEEZING IN A FEW FILMS

With all the extra-curricular activities going on it’s been hard to accommodate the main reason for going to a film festival,
ie. watching films. Amongst the few films I have seen so far I finally got a chance to see Breathless which was one of the
main buzz events at Pusan last year. Great performances buoyed me through an over-extended running time and certainly
made the frequent violence and the excessive profanity (which also provided some hilarious moments) easier to watch. I'll
watch more films over the weekend, I promise.


Breathless
 

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 (OPENING NIGHT)

LOACHES, LEECHES & TURKISH DELIGHT

The Australian film festival season kicks off with the Sydney Film Festival (never claimed to be "international" for
some reason) every June. In the festival cycle this has always meant that while Sydney (June 3 to 14) usually gets
first pick of the new Australian films, Melbourne (July 24 to August 9) and Brisbane (July 30 to August 9) festivals
always have had the time advantage of picking up the latest from the most recent Cannes Film Festival.
Clare Stewart in her aggressive attempt to position Sydney as a festival of international significance has managed to
usurp what was assumed to be the natural order of things by landing Ken Loach’s recent Cannes competitor Looking
for Eric as the festival’s opening night selection.

The hard-nosed, left leaning Ken Loach has made more than enough remarks about the irony of cashed up arts
patrons in tuxedos, walking red carpets and quaffing expensive booze to watch his films about working class
suffering, so there is no need for me to add to them. So instead I skipped the opening night film to revisit the
exquisite Three Monkeys (Winner, Achievement in Directing, APSA 2008) which was playing at the festival’s Opera
Quays cinema venue. Nuri Bilge Ceylan was nominated for directing and cinematography categories by last year’s
APSA Nominations Council (which is where I saw it), won the Best director award at Cannes last year, and was
probably part of the reason that he received the dubious pleasure of being on this year’s troubled Cannes grand jury.
My experience of Turkish cinema is admittedly limited, but since I was alerted to Ceylan’s 2002 film Distant, I have
had no reservations in declaring this great director as the contemporary equivalent to greats like Ingmar Bergman and
Carl Theodor Dreyer. Ceylan’s ability to move his dramas wordlessly (but rarely silently) continues to astonish.

DID SOMEBODY SAY PARTY?

Ok, so I skipped the opening film, but damned if I was going to skip the opening party. Ken Loach might have raised
an eyebrow at the name of the venue (“The Establishment”), but a party is a party is a party and there is no sense in
deliberately avoiding a good time. Sponsors were out in full force as were the cast of local TV sensation “Underbelly”.
Naturally there were a number of prominent film personnel there too. In between dry ginger ales (which came in the
cutest little bottles) I managed to catch up with fellow Variety film critics Eddie Cockrell and Richard Kuipers, and to
spot three of Clare’s predecessors: Lynden Barber (who also skipped the Loach to see Three Monkeys), Gayle Lake 
and Paul Byrnes. Producers Kath Shelper (Samson & Delilah) and Matthew Dabner (Cedar Boys) as well as director and
festival patron and last year’s jury head Gillian Armstrong were also in evidence from the production side. And of
course no party is ever complete without APSA staff members Jill Robson and Maxine Williamson. People spoke fondly
of the opening film, but betrayed a certain disappointment that it was not one of the English directors best films.  As
I left with my festival goodie bag in hand (what am I going to do with a bottle of Canadian whisky?), the party was
starting to ebb (though there must have been a couple of hundred people who were showing no signs of leaving), and
I felt reassured that seeing Three Monkeys was the right decision and the perfect way to start a festival.

FILMART 2009 (HONG KONG)

Russell Edwards gives APSA the inside story on FILMART 2009 via daily updates from Hong Kong. Stay up to date
as Russell surveys the news and tracks the buzz from one of Asia’s leading international film & tv markets. From
the Opening Night of the 33rd Hong Kong International Film Festival through the four day fair (March 23 - March 26),
our man on the ground in Hong Kong will bring you the news as it happens.


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Thursday, March 26, 2009 (DAY 4)

AND THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS...

2009 HK Filmart is drawing to a close and it has been an odd one. It started out very optimistically. Every one who is
here is usually here, so there was a refocussing as a Asia event rather than a international film market. Then by the
end of the first day, optimistism appeared to have completely dissipated as reality set in that money for projects other
than HAF was thin on the ground. For about a day gloom seemed to roll in with the Bladerunner styled thunderstorms.
Then for no apparent reason, the atmosphere changed. Resigned to the fact that no one was going to make a lot of
money, they networked like crazy and spent a lot of spadework putting faces to names. "We're all here anyway right?
So let's have a good time!" seemed to be the philosophy.

In fact as I write, I recall that the market on the 4th day last year was like a ghost town. People had packed on the 3rd
day. This year on the 4th day, sure the crowd has thinned out, but people are still chatting and are preparing for the day
when the economy picks up.

THERE SHE IS AGAIN…

At most of the parties that I’ve been too while I’ve been at Filmart, there is a Chinese woman who rapidly approaches
anyone she hasn’t already met, with no ado whatsoever asks for your name card and then is gone quicker than Miike
Takashi can churn out a feature film.

You might think it is just merely odd, until you start getting those anti-Chinese government spam messages in your
in-box. I’m all for freedom of speech, particularly for oppressed spiritual groups etc, but I’m not sure that cyber
harassment is any one’s path to either enlightenment or liberation. Gives me something to think about when I do my
next Metta Bhavana I suppose.

LE PREMIERE ANNOUNCEMENT

It won’t be officially announced until May (probably held off until Cannes), but I can tell you that one of Asia's finest is
due to receive France’s esteemed Chevalier order of artes and letters for his years of service to cinema. I’d tell you more,
but I’m sworn to secrecy.

JAPAN NIGHT POSTSCRIPT

While I was having a fabulous time inside on the third floor of The Pawn, it seems that lots of other market attendees
were having a lot less fun standing in the Hong Kong rain as their invitations got soggy. Include Nansun Shi and Timothy
Kwok were amongst the major players who were barred from entry due to over-crowding. Venice Film Festival honcho
Marco Muller and Fortissimo Film’s Wouter Barendrecht were waved straight in however.




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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 (DAY 3)

MATTE NE YURI  

One of my prized contacts at UNIJAPAN Yuri Kubota tells me that she is leaving the organization by the end of the
month. She’ll be working from Tokyo with the San Sebastian Film Festival and therefore will be unable to help me
with my “maniacal” requests for names of sound recordists and editors (rarely provided on subtitles) of Japanese
films. I’m devastated. She says UNIJAPAN’s web database should be able to aid me in most cases.

Still, you can’t say hello to a website at a festival market and rapport can take years to build. UNIJAPAN have been
gradually building a younger crew who are also helpful but I do hate to see reliable people leave the scene.

PLAY BALL!

For about an hour there was an intensity surrounding the Korean and Japanese pavilions at the market. A sudden
surge in sales? A sudden drop in sales? No it was the 2009 World Baseball Classic at Dodgers Stadium in Los
Angeles where the South Korea V Japan final play-off was taking place.

Completely oblivious, I tried talking to people in both booths and they apologized gracefully and suggested I came
back later. I happened to come back just as the game finished and the Japanese team claimed victory, 5-3 over the
South Koreans. Pictured below is a collection of triumphant baseball fans from the Japan pavilion.

Do the respectful thing and avoid mentioning baseball to Koreans until 2013 when the next WBC takes place.

YOU WANT ME TO WATCH A MOVIE?

Unless the film is a pre-established hot ticket (in which case there is usually a pre-arranged screening, or a locked
in for a top festival slot) market screenings can be a lonely affair. Usual suspects at market screenings are rotations
of a cast like me, Udine Far East Film Festival’s obayun Stephen Cremin, Michael Campi representing the Melbourne
Film Festival and Maggie Lee from “The Hollywood Reporter” and the ubiquitous Jouni Hokkanen from Finland as well
as a few others. However empty seats predominate.

Whether it be Hong Kong, Pusan or even Berlin so few market players actually go to the movies at markets. If you’re
not willing to watch the movies yourselves, (you know projected through a movie camera from a projection booth,
not on a laptop while taking phone calls), then how can you expect other people to do the same?

At the Japan night party held at Wan Chai’s upmarket The Pawn restaurant (jokes about pawn movies were a staple
of the night), Tokyo Film Festival head Tom Yoda concentrated on his festival’s emphasis on climate change issues
and the green carpet which was initiated last year and will be replicated this year. Toasting the Hong Kong Filmart to
great success, the party was such a hit that guests showed a distinct disinclination to leave when the function was
due to finish at 11pm.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE…

Wandering the market corridors I bumped into my fellow APSA Nominations Council member Philip Cheah. Philip refused
to buy me lunch on the flimsy excuse that he had already eaten. Despite that we teamed up and interrupted a meeting
Bangkok Post critic and Variety reporter Kong Rithdee was having with a Thai production company to see if they had
any new screeners (me for review, Philip for Dubai International Film Festival, and both of us for APSA). Neither of us
went away empty handed, and I was promised some more in the mail early next week. Of all the pavilions the Thai
seems to be the most consistently busy. Melodrama and horror makes the Asian markets go around.

 




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Tuesday, March 24, 2009 (Day 2)

IT'S NOT FILM THAT GOES THROUGH THE CAMERA, IT'S DOLLARS!

The Hong Kong Trade and Development Corporation set up some interviews for contenders in the Hong Kong Asia
Film Financing Forum known as HAF. (while I wouldn't want to inflict the acronym HKAF on anyone as it sounds
like a plutonium strength coffee, I do like the look and the sound of HAFFF. It might be finicky to pick on invalid or
contorted abbreviations, but missing initials do bother me). There are 27 entries in this year's co-producing market.
No time to speak to everyone (a point proved when one of my interviewees didn't turn up) but chatting with
Australians Murali K. Thalluri ("2.37") and his co-writer/co-producer Nick Selth about their Indian adventure film
project "Jewel" which could foreseeably ride on the back of the dream run of  "Slumdog Millionaire" one is
impressed by their enthusiasm. Some Australian funds are unofficially in place, but film-making can notoriously be
like a house of cards.

Similarly talking over the chances of "The Dancer" a political romance about the quote/unquote "darkest period of
Indonesian history" with director Ifa Isfansyah, scriptwriter Salman Aristo (who wrote the current Indonesian box
office hit "Laskar Pelangi") and their producer Shanty Harmayn, they feel confident that they can acquire the extra
money they need to add to the French money that is already in place.

Funnily enough one of the most successful producers, Hong Kong-based Alexandra Sun whose films have taken
her to Cannes red carpet ("Blind Mountain") is the most philosophical about the process. When I talk to her about
her chances of scoring funding for her latest project "Help" she offers a seasoned and sageful  "we'll see" that
speaks of the many disappointments that inevitably occur on the way to success.

FEI'S WAY

While I was standing blocking a passageway shooting the breeze with Cannes Director's Fortnight Programmer
Jeremy Segay and Singapore journo turned film producer Sylvia Wong, my fellow APSA Nominations Council
member Professor Xei Fei of the Beijing Film Academy appears by my side. He's happy to see me, but then he is
always happy, which is a quality in anyone that always astounds me.

SAVING FACE

Already signs of decling market activity are becoming apparent. One producer literally drags Jeremy and I to his
booth for a chat about nothing in particular. We hoped for tea even as we wondered what we were doing there.
Eventually it dawns on me that we are being used as human props to disguise the fact that no one has been
coming to his booth to discuss business. Unless something dramatic happens there will be no shame in doing this
as soon most booths will probably doing likewise.

LEAST SAID, QUICKEST MENDED

Attended the Asian Film Awards last night and the opening party allowed me to chat more extensively with people
than time has previously permitted. A long wait for the ceremony to begin particularly allowed a long chat with
Asako Fujioka of Yamagata's documentary film festival which allows me to fill her in on what I've been doing. The
awards themselves? Well A+ for showmanship although the awards presentation is too long (but aren't they all?).





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Monday, March 23, 2009 (Day 1)

OPENING DAY STARTS WITH OPENING NIGHT 

It might seem weird to kick off a blog about Hong Kong’s Filmart (March 23-26) with a wrap-up of the opening
of the Hong Kong International Film Festival (March 22), but given that they are all part of the city’s month-long
Entertainment Expo it shouldn’t be that surpising.

Most festivals find it hard enough to find one opening night film that will appease film buffs, politicians,
sponsors and the local industry.

Traditionally, though HKIFF has TWO opening night films.

First up was Jackie Chan’s return to "serious" acting (as opposed to the stuff that has made him an
international household name) "Shinjuku Incident". Jackie turned up of course as did director Derek Yee and
several co-stars including Daniel Wu.

Then no sooner did the Dolby Digital credit roll by and it was another set of speeches for the HKIFF’s second
opening film, Ann Hui’s "Night and & Fog". I’ll be reviewing both of these films for Variety as soon as I get a
moment to scratch myself, but suffice to say that Hui’s film is a companion piece to her film "The Way We Are"
which played the festival circuit last year. A dignified Hui introduced her film and cast (Simon Yam looking
particularly cheerful about his turn as a wife-beating brute) to an appreciative home crowd, Most of the
international attendees who were at the first film are nowhere in sight now. There’s probably a party
somewhere, but I have to get those reviews out…

 

IF YOU’RE TALKING TO ME YOUR CAREER (OR THE ECONOMY) MUST BE IN TROUBLE

Standard Operation Procedure for me at any film market is to walk around the place, not really talking to
anybody (though I do wave to a lot of people, I’m not a complete sociopath). Firstly, this allows me to get a
feeling of who is here and where their "office" will be for the next 4 days. More importantly on the first day of
a market the business of the day is business. Accordingly, film critics shouldn’t be at the top of anyone’s agenda.
While people were happy to chat at last night’s HKIFF drinks soiree come press conference before the opening
films, today should be different. Sales agents, production companies are hungry and are looking to meet people
who have money to spend or at least claim to know someone with money to spend. To save either potential
embarrassment or confusion I won’t be doing any name dropping today. The Good News is that the market has
a good turn out and everyone who is anyone in Asian film seems to be here and certainly I haven’t had any
conversations about who isn’t here. Stay tuned… 

IT’S CALLED ACTING

I sat in the press conference for the new Peter Ho-sun Chan $23 million production “Bodyguards and Assassins”
listening to the Mandarin commentary for about five minutes before I thought about getting a simultaneous
translation radio from the press counter. For about 20 minutes I regretted my decision. At least when I couldn’t
understand what was being said the press conference sort of appeared to be interesting. The film will be
better I’m sure, but some projections of computer drafted building for Chan’s recreation of 1905 Hong Kong were
like a teaser for a teaser for a teaser.

Fortunately when Peter Chan and director Teddy Chan lined up with their stellar cast as rousing music dominated
the room (Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam, Leon Lai, Fan Bing Bing, Eric Tsang and Donnie Yen all in a row!) I was
able to understand as each went through their character role and why it was important. Outlining how they would
approach their generically named characters the best quote went to the taciturn Donnie Yen who will be playing The
Gambler in this story of violence dryly said. “I don’t gamble. I don’t like it. I will have to learn how to gamble from Eric”.
The rotund and completely unabashed Tsang sharing the sofa with Yen roared with laughter.

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