Results tagged “siff”

• Curious about who else came out winners in the Shanghai International Film Festival? They have the results up on their website now. [SIFF]
• The dudes who brought us the screening of Building 173 are now asking for Shanghainese people to participate in a “soundwalk project.” [biv0uac]
• The city has banned "free tour packages" in order to protect tourists from forced shopping trips and substandard service. But what if you WANT forced shopping trips and substandard service? [Eastday]

Danish-Swedish drama, "Original," which Slumdog director Danny Boyle called a "light, touching and subversive study of mental illness that is both compassionate and never sentimental." The movie follows the trials of Henry, a man who has acted as a pale reflection of other people's expectations his whole life, when he decides to make an effort at becoming a true original. Sverrir Gudnason, who plays the male lead in the movie, also won the SIFF's best actor award. The jury called his performance "brilliant, sensitive and humorous..." and "absolutely mesmerizing." Source: Variety

The Shanghai International Film Festival dropped by over the weekend and with it came the standard swarm of celebrities. Most of the sitings were more or less expected - Chinese actresses Fan BingBing and Zhang Ziyi (pictured) were there, as well as freedom hater Jackie Chan and director John Woo (no doubt promoting the uber-sucessful Red Cliff) - but big names from the Hollywood elite also made guest appearances. Halle Berry walked the carpet in a Marchesa lilac gown, and Clive Owen spoke during some sort of press conference. Danwei caught some of the opening ceremonies on Youku and called them "cheesy," but - honestly - what opening ceremony in China isn't? If you want celebrity galleries, check out the one on People's Daily Online.

As previously mentioned, Shanghai's 11th annual International Film Festival kicked off this weekend (albeit not too smoothly) with an eclectic mix of movies showing all day and night at its 23 theaters. In a place like China that receives so small a selection of international features, this is an incredible opportunity to see works you otherwise wouldn't have a chance to catch in a theater. We only made it to two screenings, but both were well attended and received by diverse international audiences. Below are brief descriptions of what we saw and we encourage readers to add any films that they would recommend seeing in the remaining week of screenings.

By Sue Anne Tay