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Exclusive: Fortissimo Films has secured international sales to upcoming Chinese war drama 731 and will introduce the feature to buyers at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this week.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company will handle rights to the film for Europe, the Middle East and South America. It is scheduled for release in China on September 18.

Directed by Zhao Linshan, the story is inspired by one of the darkest and least-known chapters of the Second World War. It centres on the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious Unit 731, which conducted biological and chemical experiments on human subjects in occupied China during the 1940s.

Exclusive: Fortissimo Films has closed distribution deals in key territories for The Girl Who Stole Time, a Chinese animated feature that played at Annecy last month.

Rights for the film have been acquired for Latin America (Cine Canibal), Spain (Mar-Mitako), India (Cine Alliance) and inflight (Kairos Distribution). Cine Canibal previously distributed prestige animation titles including Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Hero and Oscar-winner Flow.

The Girl Who Stole Time opened in China on May 30, where it has taken $26m at the box office to date.

After receiving its international premiere at Annecy International Animation Film Festival, it is...

Writer-director Yang Li has clearly always been passionate about visual effects and the mixing of live-action footage with CGIs, 2D or 3D animation. Yang got his start on feature films in 2011 as director of the animated segments for “Lee’s Adventure”, which he co-helmed with Frant Gwo. He has since directed the feature film “Nuts” in 2018 and is now back with the hectic, super high-energy “Escape from 21st Century”, a wild action comedy heavily influenced by sci-fi, manga and video games from the 1980s and 1990s.

The director tells us about the 9 years it took to make his movie, how the film was initially meant as a vehicle for a Chinese boy band, severe financial issues and how lead actor Zhang Ruoyun saved the project, the spectacular low-budget visual effects, or the way depression helped him write the story. You can read the review for the film here:

Film Review:...

Exclusive: Thai dark-comedy A Useful Ghost, which won the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes, has been picked up by Cineverse for North America.

The deal marks a rare foray into foreign-language content for Terrifier outfit Cineverse, which is lining up a theatrical run for the movie at a later date.

A Useful Ghost tells the story of Nat, a woman who dies from dust pollution and returns to her husband March—reincarnated as a vacuum cleaner. Their love is reignited in the most unlikely form, but not everyone welcomes her return—especially March’s family, still unsettled by a ghostly presence that appeared after a factory worker’s death forced their business to close.

The film stars Thai star Davika Hoorne alongside Witsarut Himmarat, Apasiri Nitibhon, Wanlop Rungkumjud, and Wisarut Homhuan. Emerging Thai writer-director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke makes his feature debut.

The feature is produced by Cattleya Paosrijaroen and Soros Sukhum at Bangkok-based 185 Films,...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Peter Browngardt)

Directed by Peter Browngardt, this is a charming affair. Modeled after sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s and starring Looney Tunes legends Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza), The Day the Earth Blew Up starts with a UFO landing. The spacecraft takes off on the roof of Porky and Daffy’s broken-down house (bequeathed to them by surrogate father Farmer Jim) just before crashing. It goes on to infect a local scientist (Fred Tatasciore) with a zombifying goo not long after. Soon enough, the goo is in the mix at the gum factory, where Porky and Daffy have taken jobs in a last-ditch effort to save their beloved home from being demolished.

Director and writer Yang Li’s Escape From The 21st Century is a psychedelic comedy drama set in Planet K, a world similar to Earth but with only 12 hours a day. The film oscillates between two timelines—1999 and 2019. Time travel films tend to be loopy, and Yang Li takes it to another level with stylized visuals inspired by comic books, anime, and video games. With an overarching inspiring theme, the film is laced with nostalgia that follows a non-linear narrative, which is overall silly, funny, and definitely not meant to be taken seriously.

Escape From The 21st Century revolves around three best friends—Wang Zha, Wang Chengyong, and Paopao—and the narrative unfolds in the summer of 1999. The three high schoolers looked to the future with eager anticipation, determined to turn their dreams and ambitions into reality. But soon they discovered that they did not become the versions of themselves...

If “Everything Everywhere all at Once” did not exist, “Escape for the 21st Century” would be the single most profound and zappy thing out here that tells us that, even if we spaced-out through time itself, our conclusion will be the same – we are all small little kids, whishing to stay the same even when we grow up. Chinese filmmaker Yang Li’s debut film is at once endlessly creative and breathlessly wild, but also overtly silly and indulgent – which is perfectly in sync with the rhythm the filmmaker is going for.

It all starts in 1999 when the world is about to hit the millennium. Teenage boys Wang Zha, Chengyong and Pao Pao live in a place that feels like earth but the days are only 12 hour long. Matching that fast-forwardness of time is director Li’s incredible visual style – things are either cut like a razor’s edge or...

This could be a big month at the box office. John Wick spinoff Ballerina hits the 6th. The live-action How to Train Your Dragon opens the 13th. Pixar’s Elio and Danny Boyle & Alex Garland’s 28 Years Later arrives the 20th. And M3gan 2.0 releases the 27th. Add the potential of F1 landing big on the 27th and your entire month is set.

While there might be fewer screens available for everything else as a result, cinephiles seeking the road less traveled could find themselves with a reprieve from the phone lights and chatter of casual theatergoers flocking to those big-name titles. And if one of these posters happens to hit the eye of a tent-pole seeker just right, they could also find themselves stumbling into something new.

That’s the beauty of a good one-sheet: letting the converted know what else is playing and supplying a dose of...

The bizarre, new China-produced science fiction, martial arts, time travel, comedy feature, "Escape From The 21st Century”, written and directed by Yang Li, stars Ruoyun Zhang, Chuxi Zhong, Yang Song, Chenhao Li, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu and Zhengrong Wen, opening June 9, 2025 in theaters:

“…three friends discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze.

“However, the future is not as good as they hoped…

“..and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world….”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Distribution company Cineverse has announced the wacky Chinese sci-fi film Escape From The 21st Century will be released in select US theaters next month. Long long ago, in a galaxy far far away, three teenagers discovered they had the power to travel back and forth through time by sneezing. This accidental act teleports them to 2019, where they discover their world — Planet K — has been conquered by a brutal dictator. When they return, they try to warn everyone, but find no one will listen. It turns out saving the future will be entirely up to them, and their physical abilities — assuming they can find a trainer who doesn’t think they’re complete losers. Escape From The 21st Century stars Ruoyun Zhang, Chuxi Zhong, Yang Song, Chenhao Li, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, and Zhengrong Wen. It was written and directed by Li Yang and produced by: Hu Lizhou (Scity Films) and Wang Hongwei.

If you miss Escape from the 21st Century‘s one-night-only theatrical release on June 9, you’ll be able to stream the Chinese genre-bender exclusively on Fandor beginning June 27.

The frenetic amalgam of sci-fi, action, adventure, suspense, coming of age, and comedy is written and directed by Yang Li.

It follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years into the future with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Ruoyun Zhang, Chuxi Zhong, Yang Song, Chenhao Li, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, and Zhengrong Wen star.

I wrote in my review out of Buff, “Maximalist in every sense of the word, Escape from the 21st Century plays like a hyperactive blend of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kung Fury, and Stand by Me.

A frenetic amalgam of sci-fi, action, adventure, suspense, coming of age, and comedy, Escape from the 21st Century opens in select theaters on June 9 via Cineverse.

It follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years into the future with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Written and directed by Yang Li, the Chinese genre-bender stars Ruoyun Zhang, Chuxi Zhong, Yang Song, Chenhao Li, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, and Zhengrong Wen.

The festival favorite was selected to play at Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Sitges, Beyond Fest, and Boston Underground Film Festival, among others.

I wrote in my review out of Buff, “Maximalist in every sense of the word, Escape from the 21st Century plays like a hyperactive blend of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,...

Escape from the 21st Century kicks off with a premise that feels like a frenetic collision between Back to the Future and the chaotic energy of a teen comedy, but with a distinctly 21st-century twist. Set on the fictional Planet K, the story follows three childhood friends—Wang Zha, Wang Chengyong, and Pao Pao—who, after an accidental exposure to toxic chemicals, gain the bizarre ability to time-travel through sneezing. Their journeys transport them to a dystopian 2019, where their adult selves have far different, less glamorous lives than they anticipated.

At its core, Escape from the 21st Century is a coming-of-age tale wrapped in sci-fi absurdity. While the time travel mechanics are fun and fantastical, the heart of the story lies in the characters’ transition from adolescence to adulthood, navigating the inevitable disillusionment that accompanies growing up. The film leans heavily into humor—often slapstick or absurdist—while never losing...

The Boston Underground Film Festival returns for its 25th annual celebration of all things weird, wicked, and wonderful, running from March 19–23 at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Ma.

The festival will host the world premieres of the new Re-Animator 4K restoration with horror legend Barbara Crampton in attendance and Alma & The Wolf with director Michael Patrick Jann (Drop Dead Gorgeous).

There are also regional premieres of The Surfer starring Nicolas Cage, Irish folk-horror Fréwaka, hallucinogenic odyssey Fucktoys, twisted Cinderella story The Ugly Stepsister, absurdist sci-fi comedy Escape from the 21st Century, and the new Texas Chain Saw Massacre documentary Chain Reactions, among others.

Whether you want premieres, genre-bending insanity, or the sheer joy of descending into the darkness with fellow weirdos, Buff 2025 promises a high-voltage lineup of films, special guests, and late-night delirium.

Feature Film Line Up

The Surfer – East Coast Premiere (Opening Night Film)

Director: Lorcan Finnegan

Australia, Ireland,...

Fortissimo Films has landed international rights to upcoming Chinese animated feature The Girl Who Stole Time and will launch sales at the European Film Market (EFM) this week.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company has secured rights to the fantasy adventure feature ahead of its local release on May 30.

The story follows a girl from a fishing village who gains the power to stop time with a coveted magical device. She embarks on an adventure with new friends through a fantastical metropolis but must eventually face the consequences of her powers.

The feature is produced by Maoyan Entertainment, a leading...

Many films have been made that drew their inspiration and aesthetics from video games, manga and anime, but few as successfully, as exciting and as exhilarating as “Escape from the 21st Century”. Li Yang‘s madcap sci-fi adventure is a visual feast boasting excellent visual effects despite its low budget, a convincing mix of live footage and 2D animation and a rousing spectacle that can only honor its many inspirations.

Escape from the 21st Century is available from Signature Entertainment

It is almost impossible to describe the story while doing justice to the film’s nonsensical sense of fun. On distant planet K in 1999, a trio of teenagers are exposed to a toxic chemical that gives them the ability to travel through time to the year 2019 and back… by simply sneezing. In the future, they inhabit the bodies of their future selves and are soon confronted by the challenges, surprises...

"They are losers. But still want to save the world." Signature Ent. in the UK has unveiled the official UK trailer for the Chinese sci-fi action adventure indie time travel comedy thriller called Escape from the 21st Century. This opened in China last year and played at TIFF & Fantastic Fest & Sitges - critics have been calling it "incredibly fun and a blast of raw energy" similar to Scott Pilgrim vs the World. The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back & forth 20 years with a sneeze. But the future is not as good as they hoped, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world. It's a po-dunk indie made on a small budget, with ambitious ideas and funky vibes. Starring Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoling Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu. From a review: "The film is simply too entertaining to be denied,...

Chinese sci-fi adventure Escape from the 21st Century is heading to Cineverse later this year, including the streaming service Fandor and eventually Midnight Pulp and Screambox.

A feature debut for director Yang Li, Escape from the 21st Century tells the story of three friends who gain the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze.

“Experiencing Escape from the 21st Century sparked vibrant echoes of Tsui Hark’s dynamism and Stephen Chow’s tonal mastery (major complement),” Cineverse Executive Director, Programming Eric Rowe hypes. “An exhilarating thrill ride of brazen creativity and unrelenting ingenuity, Escape delivers a dazzling fusion of genre thrills and comedic hijinks — Simply put, this film is propulsive, vibrant, and a hell of a lot of fun.”

ScreenDaily notes that the film made $15m at the China box office from an August 2024 release. It then went on an extensive festival run around the world, including Toronto,...

Chinese sci-fi adventure Escape From The 21st Century has set key deals after a festival run around the world.

Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo has sold Li Yang’s film to North America (Cineverse), UK-Ireland (Signature Entertainment), Germany (Atlas Film), Taiwan (Flash Forward Entertainment) and Spain (Youplanet).

Escape From The 21st Century tells the story of three friends who gain the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. Zhang Ruoyun, Elane Zhong and Song Yang lead the cast, with the film produced by Hu Lizhou for Scity Films.

It is Li’s feature debut, after shorts including Lee’s Adventures and Bad Future.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Cairo Film Festival will open for business.

Now kicking off its 45th edition, the Egyptian event has remained a key cultural and artistic showcase for the region and for the wider Middle East and North Africa world – but Cairo has gone without a market since scuppering that component after the country’s 2011 revolution.

Soon, that’s all about to change.

“This is the best time to reintroduce the market, because the whole of the Egyptian industry needs it very much,” says Cairo head of industry Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rehim. “So many of our filmmakers and technicians now find work in Saudi Arabia, so we want to bring more projects to Egypt and to engage more filmmakers from abroad.”

Held as part of the Cairo Industry Days, and set to open on Nov. 15, Cairo’s streamlined and revamped market will primarily feature Egyptian,...

Leeds International Film Festival (Liff) is set to return this November for its 38th edition, offering an exciting showcase of international cinema with a strong focus on fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and dark comedy through its Fanomenon strand. Running from 1 to 17 November 2024, the festival will take place in various venues across Leeds, including Everyman Leeds, Vue Leeds, Hyde Park Picture House, and the Howard Assembly Room.

The Fanomenon section of the festival, renowned for spotlighting films that push boundaries, will feature a variety of UK premieres, retrospectives, and thrilling movie marathons that celebrate global cinematic creativity. This year’s Fanomenon opens with Escape from the 21st Century, a UK premiere from writer-director Yang Li. This fast-paced sci-fi film blends comic-book animation with high-octane martial arts, setting the tone for the festival’s more unconventional offerings. The closing film, The Killers, hails from South Korea and brings together four inventive crime stories in a gripping,...

Once again, IndieWire reached out to 90 (!) cinematographers with movies playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) to explore the cameras they used. As the tradition calls, we analyzed the data to find segmentations. There’s no doubt. This is the rise of the Arri Alexa 35 and the domination of the Super 35 format thanks to Arri 35 and Alexa Mini. Check out the charts below.

TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) 2024 TIFF’s 2024 cameras

IndieWire contacted cinematographers with movies playing in the Discovery, Centerpiece, Gala, Midnight Madness, Platform, and Special Presentations categories at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year. 90 DPs participated in that survey. We took the data to build our Camera Chart. You can find the entire list below (for IndieWire’s article click here). The list contains the name of the project, cameras, and lenses used:

‘Aberdeen’: Camera: Arri Alexa 35. Lenses: Arri Master Prime Anamorphic, Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance,...

Have you ever wanted to be so wrapped up in your partner, it’s as if you could just melt into them? Well, filmmaker Thibault Emin is taking that sentiment to the extreme — with a horrifying twist.

Emin makes his directorial debut with “Else,” a body horror romance feature about a strange epidemic that causes the infected to melt into their surroundings. Emin is a French director and screenwriter, who is expanding his 2007 short film “Else” into a feature that has been more than 15 years in the making. He co-wrote the script with Alice Butaud and Emma Sandona.

“Else” will have its world premiere at TIFF as part of the Midnight Madness program. The film is a sales title and hails from France and Belgium.

The official synopsis reads: “Introverted and uncomfortable in his own skin, Anx (Matthieu Sampeur) does not consider himself an obvious partner for Cass (Édith Proust...

Fall festival season picked up this last week with Venice and Telluride, and now Toronto is just around the corner, from 5-15 September 2024. This year, we’re seeing an exciting number of festival-favorite auteurs return, including Jia Zhang-ke (“Caught with the Wind”), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Cloud”), Mohammad Rassoulof (“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”), and Hong Sang-soo (“By the Stream”). For those who are in Toronto and are interested in the older classics, TIFF Classics offers some delectable 4k restorations of South Asian and Iranian selects this year, including Raj Kapoor‘s classic “Awara” (1951) and Sohrab Shahid Saless‘ “Time of Maturity” (1976).

In addition to these, genre films seem to make up a healthy number of Asian selections this year. Korean blockbuster star Hyun-bin returns in Woo Min-ho’s latest historical spy movie, “Harbin,” and Tumpbal Tampubolon‘s “Crocodile Tears” promises a “slow-burning suspense thriller.” Three of the infamously-campy Midnight Madness screenings...

Brace yourself, Canada, “The Substance” is coming.

The explosive body horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, directed by French heatseeker Coralie Fargeat, has been set to open the Midnight Madness section at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

“Substance” follows Elizabeth Sparkle (Moore), an Oscar winner who commits the high crime of aging in Hollywood. Relegated to a morning fitness show, Sparkle’s world closes in on her when opportunities dry up — until a mysterious stranger offers her the titular substance, a chance at a more perfect version of herself. Sparing any spoilers, Qualley comes into play as the idealized version of Moore. The pair learns that coexisting ain’t easy in Fargeat’s violent fantasia.

Also on the lineup, veteran music video and film director Joseph Kahn will show “Ick,” a tribute to ‘80s creature features starring former TV Superman Brandon Routh and “American Beauty” actor Mena Suvari.

The North American premiere of Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance starring Demi Moore will open Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Midnight Madness section.

Fargeat’s debut feature Revenge premiered at TIFF in 2017 and she returns with her body horror that became one of the most talked-about films in Cannes.

World premieres include Andrew DeYoung’s comedy Friendship from Fifth Season and BoulderLight Pictures starring Kata Mara and Paul Rudd; and sci-fi Ick with Mena Suvari and Brandon Routh directed by Joseph Kahn, whose battle rap drama Bodied won TIFF Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award in 2017.

The roster includes Kenichi Ugana’s The Gesuidouz,...

“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s body horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, will be the opening night film in the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section, TIFF organizers announced Thursday.

The Mubi film will make its North American premiere at TIFF after having its world premiere in the main competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The extremely graphic and gory film, in which Moore’s character undergoes a treatment that creates a younger and “more perfect” version of herself, won the Best Screenplay prize from the Cannes jury and stirred up awards talk for Moore’s unhinged performance.

“The Substance” is one of 10 films in the Midnight Madness section, which in the past has showcased films including “Pearl,” “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” “Titane,” “Assassination Nation” and the 2017 reboot of “Halloween.”

Other films in the section include two past Midnight Madness directors, Joseph Kahn...

The Substance, a feminist horror pic where Demi Moore plays an aging Hollywood star who embraces a secret cloning procedure to save her career will open the Midnight Madness sidebar at the Toronto Film Festival with a North American premiere, organizers said Thursday.

The Cannes award winner from director Coralie Fargeat also stars Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid, and will hit theaters on Sept. 20.

The Midnight Madness section, which launched the career of Eli Roth with Cabin Fever and saw Sacha Baron Cohen arrive in a cart pulled by donkeys to screen Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, booked in all 10 genre movies with chills and thrills for this year’s 2024 lineup.

The program that has film buyers and Hollywood execs staying up after midnight plans world premieres for Thibault Emin’s fantasy pic Else, which stars Matthieu Sampeur and Edith Proust and imagines...

Fortissimo Films has secured international rights to upcoming Chinese feature Escape From The 21st Century and will launch sales at Toronto in September.

The Amsterdam and Beijing-based sales company has landed rights to the action sci-fi feature ahead of its local release, which Chinese distributor Enlight Pictures today revealed is set for August 3.

The story follows three friends who discover they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hoped and need to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Produced by Scity Films, it marks...