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Veteran Chinese director Peter Chan Ho-sun is busy as ever these days. Behind the scenes, Chan is laying the foundations of the new production company, Changin’ Pictures, which he formally announced towards the end of last year. In public, the director is one of the most prominent cheerleaders of Chinese cinema, a role he played at the Shanghai International Film Festival this week.

The focus of a MasterClass at the festival, Chan talked expansively about Chinese film and its place in the world. “China has a lot of great stories, and many of them can resonate with people worldwide,” he said. “So why not make these stories that everyone can empathize with? I believe we should aim to make the whole world want to watch Chinese stories. We shouldn’t make films that are intended to please them or enhance a stereotypical image of China. That won’t lead to progress.

The 20th anniversary edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) closed out an epic 17-day run on Sunday night, after welcoming nearly 100 acclaimed filmmakers, international stars and other notable guests from across Asia and the US, screening over 60 films in-theater at Film at Lincoln Center (Flc) and Asia Society from July 15 – 31, hosting a range of masterclasses and compelling talk sessions, and smashing festival attendance records.

The 20th anniversary lineup included six world premieres, eight international premieres, 20 North American premieres, four US premieres, and 15 East Coast/New York premieres, showcasing the most exciting new action, comedy, drama, thriller, romance, horror, and art-house films from Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Mongolia, Singapore, and the United States.

Prior to the screening of the Nyaff Closing Film, time-travel sci-fi epic Alienoid, from blockbuster Korean director Choi Dong-hoon, the festival announced two Audience Award winners and...

Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s ‘The Sales Girl’ picked up best feature film

Korean comedy drama ‘Perhaps Love’ and Coba Cheng’s Hong Kong family comedy Chilli Laugh Story took home the audience awards at New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), which wrapped its 20th edition on July 31.

Chilli Laugh Story was a box office hit in Hong Kong cinemas, having beaten out Thor: Love And Thunder, and screened in the Next/Now strand during the festival’s 17-day run.

Other Nyaff winners included Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s Mongolian coming-of-age comedy The Sales Girl, which took the Uncaged award for best feature given...

Box office takings in South Korea retreated over the weekend, despite a local film taking the top spot. This year has seen a dearth of local movies releasing in cinemas, though that shortage may be reversed in the coming months.

Local comedy drama film “Perhaps Love” was the biggest film of the weekend. It earned $2.09 million from 1,192 screens, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated y the Korean Film Council (Kofic), and deposed Marvel franchise film “Eternals,” which earned $1.94 million from a larger 1,257 screen combination.

Following a Wednesday release, “Perhaps Love” racked up an opening five-day total of $2.87 million. It was directed by Choi Eun-ji and stars the reliable Ryu Seung-ryong.

“Eternals” was released on Nov. 3 and had a strong opening session. After three weekends, it has now amassed a cumulative of $25.1 million. That figure makes it the third highest grossing film of 2021 in Korea, while its momentum...

It is not just Korean actors that are trying their hand at directing. After Moon So-ri made a promising directorial debut with “The Running Actress”, it is “The Villainess” actress Jo Eun-ji who steps behind the camera for the upcoming comedy “Perhaps Love”.

Synopsis

“Perhaps Love” is a comedy about a best selling writer named Hyeon who’s been in the slumps for 7 years meeting a wannabe writer Yoo-jin.

The feature, which was previously titled “Not the Lips”, stars Ryoo Seung-ryong, one of Korea’s most bankable stars and whose last released film was the smash-hit “Extreme Job”, in the lead role of writer Hyeon. Joining the cast are Oh Na-ra (“Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies”), Kim Hee-won (“The Man from Nowhere”), Lee Yoo-young (“Grass”) and Sung Yoo-bin (“Moonlit Winter”). “Perhaps Love” is scheduled for a November, 2021 release.

As an actress, Cho Eun-ji has starred in films including Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess.

South Korean sales company Contents Panda is launching international sales on Perhaps Love (aka Not On My Lips), the directorial debut of Cho Eun-ji, who is well-known as a character actress from Cannes titles such as Im Sang-soo’s The President’s Last Bang and Jung Byung-gil’s The Villainess.

Described as a sort of comedic, Korean Love Actually, the multi-character romantic comedy stars Ryu Seung-ryong from hit thriller Extreme Job, Oh Na-ra (Because I Love You), Kim Hie-won (Pawn), Lee You-young (Diva), Sung Yu-been (Moonlit Winter) and MuJin-sung.

Female-led volleyball drama “Leap” hit China with an $8.2 million opening day Friday, narrowly topping the premiere-day box office haul of Disney’s “Mulan” earlier this month, according to industry tracker Maoyan.

Both films star China-born Singaporean actress Gong Li, who plays a powerful witch character in “Mulan” and the hard-driving, real-life head coach of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team Lang Ping in “Leap.” In contrast, “Mulan” brought in $8.1 million in its opening Friday performance. Warner Bros.’ “Tenet” made $8.9 million in its Sept. 4 debut. War epic “The Eight Hundred,” on the other hand, raked in $21 million in its Aug. 21 bow.

“Leap’s” debut coincided with the first weekend that cinemas were allowed to sell 75% of available tickets rather than 50%.

Directed by Hong Kong helmer Peter Ho-Sun Chan, “Leap” also opened in the U.S. on Friday. It is set for a limited release across 80 theaters in Boston, Chicago, Denver,...

Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke is preparing to step in front of the camera.

The celebrated director, known for his arresting art house dramas such as The World and A Touch of Sin, has signed on to make his acting debut in Pseudo Idealist.

Jia will star in the film as a "middle-aged artist who makes new discoveries about himself, life and art by probing his feelings during the process of creation," the official plot summary released by the producers says.

The projected is directed by Cheng Er (The Wasted Times, 2016) and co-stars Zhou Xun (Perhaps Love, The Equation of Love ...

Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke is preparing to step in front of the camera.

The celebrated director, known for his arresting art house dramas such as The World and A Touch of Sin, has signed on to make his acting debut in Pseudo Idealist.

Jia will star in the film as a "middle-aged artist who makes new discoveries about himself, life and art by probing his feelings during the process of creation," the official plot summary released by the producers says.

The projected is directed by Cheng Er (The Wasted Times, 2016) and co-stars Zhou Xun (Perhaps Love, The Equation of Love ...

The International Film Festival & Awards Macau (Iffam) on Sunday announced that veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan (The Warlords, The Love Letter, Perhaps Love) will serve as chair of its jury this year.

Hong Kong actress Carina Lau (Detective Dee franchise, Bends) will serve as talent ambassador for the event in the casino enclave that is a Chinese special administrative region.

In addition, Indian director Karan Johar (Raazi), South Korean helmer Kim Yong-hwa (Take Off) and Chinese filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle, Drifters) will serve as ambassadors for the fest.

Organizers revealed the news during an event on the sidelines of the Shanghai ...

The International Film Festival & Awards Macau (Iffam) on Sunday announced that veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan (The Warlords, The Love Letter, Perhaps Love) will serve as chair of its jury this year.

Hong Kong actress Carina Lau (Detective Dee franchise, Bends) will serve as talent ambassador for the event in the casino enclave that is a Chinese special administrative region.

In addition, Indian director Karan Johar (Raazi), South Korean helmer Kim Yong-hwa (Take Off) and Chinese filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle, Drifters) will serve as ambassadors for the fest.

Organizers revealed the news during an event on the sidelines of the Shanghai ...

A versatile producer in her own right, Jojo Hui Yuet-chun began working as an assistant director in Samson Chiu’s Yesteryou, Yesterme, Yesterday (1993) and soon found herself in numerous film projects. She collaborated with Peter Ho-sun Chan on many of his earlier films, including the award-winning Allan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye (1991) and He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994). She also served as associate producer and assistant director on acclaimed films such as Chan’s Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1997), Teddy Chen’s Purple Storm (1999) (which she co-wrote) and The Accidental Spy (2000) starring Jackie Chan. Hui worked with international renowned filmmakers such as Wayne Wangon Chinese Box (1997) as assistant director, and Tsui Harkon Knock Off (1998) as a casting director.

Having joined Applause Picturesin 2002, Hui has since produced a series of smash hits such as Jan Dara (2001), The Eye (2001), Three: Going Home (2001), Golden Chicken series, The Eye 2 (2004) and...

Morgan worked with Golden Harvest in Hong Kong in the 1970s, helping to bring stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan to the world.

China-based producer Andre Morgan gave an in-depth overview of the seismic changes currently reshaping mainland China’s film industry in an Mpa workshop at Tiffcom, saying the local production sector is facing its “year of reckoning”.

In a wide-ranging talk that also covered the Japanese film industry and offered helpful tips for up-and-coming producers and directors, Morgan described the phenomenal growth the Chinese film industry has undergone since the early 2000s – and how that has resulted...

Morgan worked with Golden Harvest in Hong Kong in the 1970s, helping to bring stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan to the world.

China-based producer Andre Morgan gave an in-depth overview of the seismic changes currently reshaping mainland China’s film industry in an Mpa workshop at Tiffcom, saying the local production sector is facing its “year of reckoning”.

In a wide-ranging talk that also covered the Japanese film industry and offered helpful tips for up-and-coming producers and directors, Morgan described the phenomenal growth the Chinese film industry has undergone since the early 2000s – and how that has resulted...

China-based producer Andre Morgan gave an in-depth overview of the seismic changes currently reshaping mainland China’s film industry in an Mpa workshop at Tiffcom, saying the local production sector is facing its “year of reckoning”.

China-based producer Andre Morgan gave an in-depth overview of the seismic changes currently reshaping mainland China’s film industry in an Mpa workshop at Tiffcom, saying the local production sector is facing its “year of reckoning”.

In a wide-ranging talk that also covered the Japanese film industry and offered helpful tips for up-and-coming producers and directors, Morgan described the phenomenal growth the Chinese...

San Francisco International Film Festival

HONG KONG -- After a career excelling in highbrow urban romances, Hong Kong director Peter Chan (Perhaps Love) earns his spurs in his march into war epic territory.

The Warlords is a classical tragedy of how an oath of blood brotherhood is betrayed by adultery, failed idealism and Darwinian principles. Set under the vast historical canopy of the pseudo-Christian Taiping Rebellion in 19th century China, no-expense-spared battle scenes achieve a brutal majesty, refined by intricately plotted military strategies and Machiavellian statecraft. The casting of Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro was a surefire draw in Asia.

The film recently swept the Hong Kong Film Awards (equivalent to the local Oscars), winning eight prizes, most notably best film, best director and best actor for Li.

The $40 million hit gained tenfold from the combined boxoffices of seven countries, with China counting for the lion's share (well more than $30 million), leading Morgan & Chan Films to claim its film as the top grosser in Southeast Asia. Overseas distributors or producers eyeing the China market should check this out as an exemplar of what appeals to Chinese viewers. It premieres stateside at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Loosely based on the chronicled assassination of Jiangsu governor Ma Xinyi in 1870 and at first intended as a remake of the Shaw Brothers actioner The Blood Brothers (1973) by Chang Cheh, Warlords has updated historical insight and is closer in spirit to the Chinese novel The Water Margin as it focuses on the social plight of poor men-turned-bandits, exploited by the court to fight its enemies in outnumbered maneuvers. The film's impact springs from its dystopian vision, its unblinking attention to the carnage and desperation it portrays. Stockpiled images of mountains of corpses leave any humanist audience thoroughly depressed by the ending's no-win situation.

Incorporating such Western elements as canons and trench warfare, Chan shows he has the directorial muscle to handle action set pieces commanding thousands of extras wielding an array of weapons. He draws on the strength of action choreographer Ching Siu-tung to give realism to the combat, occasionally with a nod to the gory heroism of 300. Visual effects are of the highest caliber in Asia, though overcast by a production design of dusty gray and dirty brown -- faces are always caked in grit or mud, and even ornate interiors are dimly and menacingly lit.

Doing less fighting than usual, Li gives his best dramatizing the ambivalent leading role Pang Qing-yun, whose social conscience is offset by survival instincts. Lau and Kaneshiro's roles are imbued with less psychological depth, and the brotherhood lacks the gutsy manliness, riveting personality tensions (and intriguing gay subtext) of Chang's original. Although the film is impressive in its physical aspects, the adultery of Pang and his blood brother's wife, Lian (Xu Jinglei), is underdrawn as a sexual skirmish whose influence on events is diminished.

THE WARLORDS

Media Asia Films, Morgan & Chan Films, China Film Group

Sales agent: Media Asia Distribution (Hong Kong), Arm Distribution (international)

Credits:

Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Screenwriters: Xu Lan, Chun Tin Nam, Aubrey Lam, Huang Jianxin, Jojo Hui, He Jiping, Guo Jun Li, James Yuen

Producers: Andre Morgan, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Huang Jianxin

Executive producers: Peter Lam, Andre Morgan, Han Sanping

Director of photography: Arthur Wong

Production designer: Yee Chung Man

Music: Leon Ko, Chan Kwong Wing, Peter Kam, Chatchai Pongprapaphan

Co-producer: Jojo Hui

Costume designer: Jessi Dai, Lee Pik Kwan

Editor: Wenders Li

Cast:

Pang Qing-Yun: Jet Li

Zhao Er-Hu: Andy Lau

Jiang Wu-Yang: Takeshi Kaneshiro

Lian: Xu Jinglei

Running time -- 110 minutes

No MPAA rating...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Director Peter Ho-Sun Chan gets an "A" for ambition with his visually ravishing if overloaded romantic musical extravaganza Perhaps Love, in which Bollywood meets Bob Fosse. However, like its gorgeous leads -- Sun Na (Zhou Xun) and Lin Jian Dong (Takeshi Kaneshiro), former lovers who play actors that meet 10 years later on the set of a movie musical -- the film, a love story/triangle that journeys back and forth through time, is stunningly beautiful to look at but ultimately more flash than substance.

With a powerhouse pan-Asian cast that includes heartthrob Kaneshiro (whose popularity extends to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan), Hong King singing sensation Jacky Cheung and Korean TV star Ji Jin-hee as well as high production values, Chan's first film in nine years could easily become a big hit in Asia but may be a harder sell in the U.S., where Bollywood is still an acquired taste.

While it borrows the backstage romance of Moulin Rouge, the opulence of The Phantom of the Opera and strives to be compared to All That Jazz and Chicago, Perhaps Love has neither the witty edge of Kander and Ebb nor the steam heat of Fosse. More to the point, it lacks a memorable score -- one would be hard-pressed to remember a single song after the credits roll -- and the lavish dance numbers designed by Bollywood choreographer Farah Khan are a feast for the eyes but short on sizzle.

Chan, who started out as an assistant for John Woo, packs his scenes full of performers and artifice. There's a recurrent circus motif, and at least one dramatic climax occurs midair on the trapeze, but he delivers more impact with simplicity. The scenes of stark, poetic imagery, far from the madding crowd, are poignant. In one touching flashback, the young lovers, who will torture each other later in life, share a cozy meal in their dank basement apartment. In another, the couple embraces as they sit alone on the surface of a frozen lake and, at dawn, Kaneshiro runs down a deserted city street. Peter Pau (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) provided lush, vibrant cinematography. Veteran lenser Christopher Doyle shot the Beijing sequences.

The film achieves an aura of enchantment with the help of sumptuous production design by Yee Chung Man, Chan's longtime collaborator, and Dora Ng's exquisite, whimsical costumes, which add to the dreamy, fairy-tale ambiance. But the sublime reverie often is too interrupted by the excesses of a complicated plot that is difficult to follow and even tougher to explain. It's sometimes hard to tell whether we're in the past or present reality, and the movie within a movie conceit, while executed with technical finesse, clutters the narrative and disrupts the audience's ability to bond with story or characters.

PERHAPS LOVE

Astro/Shaw (BHD) Ltd., Television Broadcasts Ltd., Stellar Megamedia Group Ltd. present

in association with Stellar Mega Film (Beijing) Ltd., Shanghai Film Group Corp., China Film Co-production Corp.

A Ruddy Morgan/Applause Pictures production

Credits:

Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Screenwriters: Aubrey Lam, Raymond To

Producers: Andre Morgan, Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Executive producers: Andre Morgan, Qin Hong, Re Zhong Lun

Directors of photography: Peter Pau, Christopher Doyle

Production designer: Yee Chung Man

Music: Peter Lam & Leon Ko

Costume designer: Dora Ng

Editors: Wenders Li, Kong Chi Leung

Cast:

Lin Jian Dong: Takeshi Kaneshiro

Sun Na: Zhou Xun

Nie Wen: Jacky Cheung

Montage: Ji Jin-hee

No MPAA rating

Running time -- 105 minutes...

HONG KONG -- Perhaps Love, China's first musical in more than three decades, led the winners' list with six awards at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards on Saturday night though it saw the best film and director nods go to Johnnie To's Election. Love, a collaboration between Hollywood-based Ruddy Morgan Organization and HK's Applause Pictures, took the awards for best actress (Zhou Xun), best cinematography (Peter Pau), best costume and make-up (Yee Chung-man and Dora Ng), best art direction (Yee Chung-man and Wong Ping-yiu), best original film score (Peter Kam and Leon Ko) and best original song (Perhaps Love). Director Peter Chan, however, lost out to To in the best director category for the latter's gritty triad expose Election, which also earned the best film prize for To's Milkyway Image and China Star.

HONG KONG -- Perhaps Love, China's first musical in more than three decades, led the winners' list with six awards at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards on Saturday night though it saw the best film and director nods go to Johnnie To's Election. Love, a collaboration between Hollywood-based Ruddy Morgan Organization and HK's Applause Pictures, took the awards for best actress (Zhou Xun), best cinematography (Peter Pau), best costume and make-up (Yee Chung-man and Dora Ng), best art direction (Yee Chung-man and Wong Ping-yiu), best original film score (Peter Kam and Leon Ko) and best original song (Perhaps Love). Director Peter Chan, however, lost out to To in the best director category for the latter's gritty triad expose Election, which also earned the best film prize for To's Milkyway Image and China Star.

BEIJING -- NBA star Yao Ming topped the annual Forbes list of China's 100 richest celebrities, with a 2005 income of 170 million yuan ($21.1 million), up 32% from a year earlier, the Web site of the Chinese edition of the popular American business magazine said. Forbes' annual list, which combines Chinese celebrities' estimated income with their number of press appearances, ranked actress Zhou Xun (Perhaps Love) in second place and international star Zhang Ziyi (Memoirs of a Geisha) in third. Zhou's listed income was 19 million yuan ($2.36 million) and Zhang's was 36 million yuan ($4.5 million). Forbes Chinese editor Zhou Peng told local newspapers Friday that the annual income of those listed is an important index in evaluating their celebrity but does not reflect their actual incomes, including money from endorsements and royalties.

HONG KONG -- Ruddy Morgan Organization and Applause Pictures' will crank up their collaboration in Asia with their distribution unit, Applause Ruddy Morgan, and a new slate of co-productions for the coming year. RMO principal Andre Morgan said RMO's aim was to work with Hong Kong and Chinese filmmakers to "make films that could cross over in Asia." "Applause Pictures has been trying to do that since it was set up five years ago and we think it is now ready to cross into other Asian markets," Morgan said Wednesday in Hong Kong. Their first joint-production Perhaps Love, opened last weekend in China, grossing 15 million yuan ($1.86 million) over its three-day opening weekend across the nation. The film opened in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia yesterday.

HONG KONG -- Perhaps Love, the first Chinese musical made in more than three decades, has been selected as Hong Kong's official submission in the Best Foreign Film category for the coming Oscars. The selection was made by an 11-member panel from the Federation of Motion Producers of Hong Kong and other representatives. Perhaps Love, produced by Applause Pictures and Los Angeles-based RMO, beat out competition from the Jackie Chan vehicle The Myth and Stanley Kwan's Everlasting Regret, which was recently in competition in Venice.