
Mrs. Fang
Mrs. Fang
NAME OF FILM: MRS. FANG
DIRECTOR(S): Wang Bing
GENRE: Documentary Film
SYNOPSIS: “Wang Bing’s latest documentary trains its camera very tightly on the face of a bedridden elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s in a small rural Chinese village. For a while, it seems as though Mrs. Fang is content to use the camera as a tool to unflinchingly record a human being close to her final breath. Yet Wang Bing is after something completely different, as the filmmaker goes into other territory, somehow more and less tangible than a portrait of dying.”
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Film Comment Selects Reveals 2018 Lineup, Opens with “Life and Nothing More”
[caption id="attachment_26540" align="aligncenter" width="1296"]Life and Nothing More[/caption] The Film Comment magazine’s annual cinematic showcase series, Film Comment Selects, returns for the 18th edition, February 23 to 27, 2018, featuring films curated by the magazine’s editors. The festival opens with the New York premiere of Antonio Mendez Esparza’s Life and Nothing More, an intimate chronicle of an African American family living on the margins in Florida, starring an astonishing non-professional cast. Other new works in the lineup are Ildikó Enyedi’s Berlinale Golden Bear-winner On Body and Soul; Mrs. Fang, Wang Bing’s unflinching document of an elderly woman in her final days, which won the Golden Leopard at Locarno; the North American premiere of Katharina Wyss’s powerful debut feature Sarah Plays a Werewolf, about a woman who channels her fears into theater; Govinda Van Maele’s fiction feature debut Gutland, featuring Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps; the U.S. premiere of Slovenian director Rok Biček‘s The Family, a compassionate portrait of a young man’s life over the course of 10 years; and experimental artist Bertrand Mandico’s exhilarating, gender-bending Wild Boys. In addition to these anticipated new works, the 2018 slate features a retrospective of radical filmmaker Nico Papatakis, who had a “body of work that blends anarchic fury with visceral and transcendent poetry” (Yonca Talu, Film Comment). All five features directed by Papatakis, who subversively and provocatively explored themes of race, class, gender, and politics and produced films by Cassavetes and Genet, will be screened, including the meta terrorist drama Gloria Mundi, Cannes selection Les Abysses, and Walking a Tightrope, which stars Michel Piccoli as writer Jean Genet (a personal friend of the filmmaker). Film Comment Selects will also present a 25th anniversary screening of Tom Joslin & Peter Friedman’s extraordinarily powerful documentary Silverlake Life: The View from Here, which follows Joslin and his partner Mark Massi as they struggle to live with AIDS. “It’s a rare chance to see the lively mix of films that our critics have raved about but that haven’t hit New York theaters yet,” said Nicolas Rapold, Editor-in-Chief of Film Comment. “This year’s edition is made especially exciting by a rare retrospective of the inimitable Nico Papatakis, whose work will be exciting for many to discover.”
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GOOD TIME Tops Film Comment Magazine’s 2017 Best-of-Year LISTS
[caption id="attachment_22877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Good Time[/caption] Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time took the top spot among films released in 2017 on Film Comment magazine’s annual end-of-year list. Other top ranking films include Terence Davies’s A Quiet Passion, and Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Pedro Pinho’s The Nothing Factory, Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, and Heinz Emigholz’s Streetscapes [Dialogue] received the top rankings. Published since 1962, Film Comment magazine features in-depth reviews, critical analysis, and feature coverage of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world.
Film Comment’s Top 10 Films Released in 2017:
1. Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, USA 2. A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, U.K./Belgium 3. Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France 4. Get Out Jordan Peele, USA 5. Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France 6. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA 7. The Death of Louis XIV Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain 8. Faces Places Agnès Varda and JR, France 9. The Lost City of Z James Gray, USA 10. Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA Film Comment’s survey also ranks films that have screened and made notable appearances at festivals throughout the year, but remain without U.S. distribution at press time.Film Comment’s Top 10 Unreleased Films of 2017:
1. The Nothing Factory Pedro Pinho, Portugal 2. A Gentle Creature Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Lithuania/The Netherlands 3. Streetscapes [Dialogue] Heinz Emigholz, Germany 4. Milla Valérie Massadian, France 5. Tonsler Park Kevin Jerome Everson, USA 6. Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany 7. Spoor Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, Poland/Germany/Czech Republic 8. Le Fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Greece/Germany/Qatar 9. 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria 10. The Venerable W. Barbet Schroeder, France/Switzerland “Out of the hundreds of movies released in 2017, our esteemed contributors have distilled the year into an energized and energizing lineup of essential films,” said Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold. “This selection reflects Film Comment’s love for the art and craft of cinema in its many forms, ranging from first-time filmmakers to 43rd-timers. Not to mention film’s many seasons: the top five all opened before the traditional fall frenzy of releases. Read all about it in Film Comment.” THE FILM COMMENT BEST OF 2017: THE COMPLETE LIST OF TOP 20 TITLES
RELEASED IN 2017
1. Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, USA 2. A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, U.K./Belgium 3. Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France 4. Get Out Jordan Peele, USA 5. Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France 6. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA 7. The Death of Louis XIV Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain 8. Faces Places Agnès Varda and JR, France 9. The Lost City of Z James Gray, USA 10. Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA Rankings #11-20 11. The Human Surge Eduardo Williams, Argentina 12. The Other Side of Hope Aki Kaurismäki, Finland 13. The Florida Project Sean Baker, USA 14. Dawson City: Frozen Time Bill Morrison, USA 15. Phantom Thread Paul Thomas Anderson, USA 16. On the Beach at Night Alone Hong Sangsoo, South Korea 17. Wonderstruck Todd Haynes, USA 18. Mudbound Dee Rees, USA 19. BPM: Beats Per Minute Robin Campillo, France 20. The Square Ruben Östlund, SwedenFILMS WITHOUT DISTRIBUTION IN 2017
1. The Nothing Factory Pedro Pinho, Portugal 2. A Gentle Creature Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Lithuania/The Netherlands 3. Streetscapes [Dialogue] Heinz Emigholz, Germany 4. Milla Valérie Massadian, France 5. Tonsler Park Kevin Jerome Everson, USA 6. Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany 7. Spoor Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, Poland/Germany/Czech Republic 8. Le Fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Greece/Germany/Qatar 9. 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria 10. The Venerable W. Barbet Schroeder, France/Switzerland Rankings #11-20 11. Golden Exits Alex Ross Perry, USA 12. Mrs. Hyde Serge Bozon, France 13. The Wandering Soap Opera Raúl Ruiz & Valeria Sarmiento, Chile 14. Life and Nothing More Antonio Méndez Esparza, Spain/USA 15. Until the Birds Return Karim Moussaoui, France/Algeria/Germany 16. Good Luck Ben Russell, France/Germany 17. Distant Constellation Shevaun Mizrahi, Turkey/USA 18. The Quartet (Elohim, Abaton, Coda, Ode) Nathaniel Dorsky, USA 19. Drift Helena Wittmann, Germany 20. Untitled Matthew Glawogger & Monika Willi, Austria
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First 15 Films Revealed for 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam
[caption id="attachment_24746" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Florida Project[/caption] International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) revealed the first 15 films selected for its 47th edition, among which are Sean Baker’s The Florida Project and Guillermo del Toro’sThe Shape of Water. Other selections include work by Wang Bing, Constantin Popescu and Alexey Fedorchenko. The festival will take place from January 24 to February 4, 2018. IFFR celebrates film art from all over the world and continues to present its programme in four sections, each with its own distinct character: Bright Future (including the Hivos Tiger Competition and the Tiger Competition for Short Films); Voices; Deep Focus and Perspectives. Short films are strongly represented throughout the festival. Also among the first titles are the international premieres of La fleurière by Ruben Desière (Belgium/Slovakia) and The Bottomless Bag by Rustam Khamdamov (Russia). Other festival highlights include Wang Bings Golden Leopard winning Mrs. Fang; Les garçons sauvages by French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico; Zhang Miaoyan’s Silent Mist (China/France); and the world premiere of the short film project with history in a room filled with people with funny names 4 by Korakrit Arunanondchai (USA/Thailand/South Africa/UK). The first 15 films confirmed for the 47th IFFR:
BRIGHT FUTURE
The Flower Shop (La fleurière), Ruben Desière, Belgium/Slovakia, international premiere The Wild Boys (Les garçons sauvages), Bertrand Mandico, France All You Can Eat Buddha, Ian Lagarde, Canada, European premiereVOICES
Anna’s War, Alexey Fedorchenko, Russia, European premiere Pororoca, Constantin Popescu, Romania/France Silent Mist, Zhang Miaoyan, China/France, European premiereVOICES/Limelight
The Florida Project, Sean Baker, USA The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro, USADEEP FOCUS
The Bottomless Bag, Rustam Khamdamov, Russia, international premiere Mrs. Fang, Wang Bing, Hong Kong/France/Germany Marquis of Wavrin, from the manor to the jungle (Marquis de Wavrin, du manoir à la jungle), Grace Winter, Luc Plantier, BelgiumSHORT FILM
Glimpse, Artur Zmijewski, Poland/Germany I Have Nothing to Say, Ying Liang, Taiwan/Hong Kong with history in a room filled with people with funny names 4, Korakrit Arunanondchai, USA/Thailand/South Africa/UK, world premiereMID-LENGTH
The Worldly Cave, Zhou Tao, China, European premiere
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2017 Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Wavelengths Program of 40 Avant-Garde Films
[caption id="attachment_23758" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Mrs. Fang[/caption] The Toronto International Film Festival’s 17th edition of Wavelengths — its uncompromising, carefully curated, avant-garde showcase — will feature 40 films, which unite internationally celebrated and emerging artists with some of today’s most important, influential and risk-taking filmmakers. Wavelengths is comprised of four programs of experimental short films and videos, three resonant pairings, and nine stand-alone features — each displaying its own radical approach to the art of cinema. Some of the highlights include Véréna Paravel and Lucien CastaingTaylor’s gripping and unsettling work of sensory ethnography, Caniba, about the notorious Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa and his remarkable relationship with his brother; Narimane Mari’s category-defying follow-up to her debut feature, Bloody Beans, Le Fort des fous, a scathing, subversive and shape-shifting indictment of European colonialism, past and present; Ben Russell’s exquisite, intercontinental mining documentary Good Luck, shot in Super 16mm in Serbia and Suriname; and Pedro Pinho’s FIPRESCI winning, left-leaning The Nothing Factory, which premiered at this year’s Quinzaine des réalisateurs. Wavelengths will also present the innovative 3D feature PROTOTYPE by Toronto-based Wavelengths alumnus Blake Williams; Occidental, the neo(n)-noir second feature by acclaimed contemporary artist-filmmaker Neïl Beloufa; and Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼), the CCTV-sourced feature debut by leading Chinese artist Xu Bing. Other highlights include the World Premiere of Anna Marziano’s deeply moving and mysterious essay-film Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno), as well as new films by master filmmakers Bruno Dumont and Denis Côté. The programme also features Wang Bing’s powerful, sobering and intimate Mrs. Fang, about a woman with Alzheimer’s dying days in a southern village in China, and Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias’ astonishing Cocote, which follows an evangelical gardener’s eye-opening homecoming as he attends his father’s funeral and grapples with religious belief and ritual. Both were recent winners at the 70th Locarno International Film Festival, where they received the Golden Leopard for Best Film and the Signs of Life Award, respectively. Short-film highlights include terrific new films and videos by Michael Robinson, Rosa Barba, Fern Silva, Wojciech Bąkowski, Jodie Mack, Laura Huertas Millán, Baloise Art Prize–winner Sara Cwynar, local performance artist Francesco Gagliardi, Dan Browne, Yoni Brook and Pacho Velez, Luis López Carrasco, Helga Fanderl, Friedl vom Gröller, Dane Komljen, André Lehmann, Kazik Radwanski and more. As always, Wavelengths will include historical work; this year’s archival selections are Florence (1970), by the late Finnish computer-art maverick and electronic musician Erkki Kurenniemi, and disarming diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson’s Pixillation (1976), which was recently restored by the Harvard Film Archive. A number of filmmakers included in this year’s Whitney Biennial will also present films at Wavelengths, including Dani Leventhal and Sheilah Wilson, Kevin Jerome Everson and Sky Hopinka.
SHORT FILM PROGRAMS
Wavelengths 1: Appetite for Destruction
As pessimistic prognoses flood in during our age of decline, dictatorships and devastation, this sweeping appetite for destruction also fuels rebellious — even mischievous — forms of resistance and necessary counter-investigation. Onward Lossless Follows Michael Robinson, USA some cities Francesco Gagliardi, Canada The Watchmen Fern Silva, USA Wasteland No.1 – Ardent, Verdant Jodie Mack, USA Phantasiesätze (Fantasy Sentences) Dane Komljen, Germany/Denmark Dislocation Blues Sky Hopinka, Ho-Chunk Nation/USAWavelengths 2: Fluid Frontiers
A newly restored and astonishing short by film diarist Anne Charlotte Robertson launches this programme of portraits and homages, with links to notions of home and heritage. Pixillation Anne Charlotte Robertson, USA (Restoration courtesy of Harvard Film Archive) Ticino Friedl vom Gröller, Austria/Italy Brown And Clear Kevin Jerome Everson, USA Turtles Are Always Home (Sokun Al Sulhufat) Rawane Nassif, Canada/Lebanon/Qatar Configuration in Black and White Helga Fanderl, Germany Fire Lucy Parker, United Kingdom From Source to Poem Rosa Barba, Germany Fluid Frontiers Ephraim Asili, USA/CanadaWavelengths 3: Figures in the Landscape
There is much to manoeuvre in the world. When quotidian objects seemingly conspire against and constrict our movement, inevitably slowing us down in an over-accelerated world, attendant shifts in meaning and interventions can propose unforeseen detours. Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt Pacho Velez, Yoni Brook, USA Yeti Wojciech Bąkowski, Poland (100ft) Minjung Kim, South Korea/USA Heart of a Mountain Parastoo Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko, Faraz Anoushahpour, Taiwan/Canada Rose Gold Sara Cwynar, USA Division Movement to Vungtau Benjamin Crotty, Bertrand Dezoteux, France Flores Jorge Jácome, PortugalWavelengths 4: As Above, So Below
Four exceedingly different films, each with its own documentary impulse, suggest rich interplay between metaphoric and physical horizon lines and amid shifting scales: of thread, of light and shadow, of environmental elements, of existential contemplation and of memory. La Libertad Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia/France/USA Palmerston Blvd. Dan Browne, Canada below-above André Lehmann, Switzerland Aliens Luis López Carrasco, SpainPAIRINGS
Beyond the One (Al di là dell’uno) Anna Marziano, France/Italy/Germany World Premiere Preceded by Strangely Ordinary this Devotion Dani Leventhal, Sheilah Wilson, USA International Premiere PROTOTYPE Blake Williams, Canada North American Premiere Preceded by Florence (Firenze) Erkki Kurenniemi, Finland North American Premiere Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft) Denis Côté, Canada/Switzerland North American Premiere Preceded by Scaffold Kazik Radwanski, Canada North American PremiereFEATURES
Caniba Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, France North American Premiere Cocote Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic North American Premiere Dragonfly Eyes (蜻蜓之眼) Xu Bing, China/USA North American Premiere Good Luck Ben Russell, France/Germany North American Premiere Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc Bruno Dumont, France North American Premiere Le fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Switzerland/Germany/Greece/Qatar North American Premiere Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany North American Premiere Occidental Neïl Beloufa, France North American Premiere The Nothing Factory (A Fábrica De Nada) Pedro Pinho, Portugal North American Premiere Previously announced Wavelengths titles at the Festival include Blake Williams’s PROTOTYPE and Denis Côté’s Ta peau si lisse (A Skin so Soft).
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2017 Locarno Festival Awards: MRS. FANG by Wang Bing Wins Pardo d’oro
[caption id="attachment_23700" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Wang Bing[/caption] The documentary Mrs. Fang directed by Wang Bing was today crowned the winner of the Pardo d’oro at the 2017 Locarno Festival. Also at the awards ceremony, the Prix Public UBS was awarded to The Big Sick, by Michael Showalter. When asked, how did he feel about the award, Wang Bing responded, “I’ve been working on documentaries for over ten years but this is the first time I am receiving such a great prize. It is a great and deep honor for me to get this award for Mrs. Fang. I want to see it as a start of my future projects. A very good one! Locarno is the best platform to show art films, because here there is an audience, coming from all over the world, which is attentive to every single film that is screened.” The 71st Locarno Festival will take place from August 1 to 11, 2018.
2017 Locarno Festival Awards
Concorso Internazionale
Pardo d’oro (Gran Premio del Festival) della Città di Locarno MRS. FANG by WANG Bing, France, China, Germany Premio Speciale Della Giuria (Special Jury Prize) AS BOAS MANEIRAS by Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra, Brazil, France Pardo per la Miglior Regia (Best Direction) F.J. OSSANG for 9 DOIGTS, France, Portugal Pardo per la Miglior Interpretazione Femminile (Best Actress) ISABELLE HUPPERT for MADAME HYDE by Serge Bozon, France, Belgium Pardo per la Miglior Interpretazione Maschile (Best Actor) ELLIOTT CROSSET HOVE for VINTERBRØDRE by Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark, IcelandConcorso Cineasti del presente
Pardo d’Oro Cineasti del Presente 3/4 (Three Quarters) by Ilian Metev, Bulgarien, Germany Premio Speciale della Giuria Ciné+ Cineasti del Presente (Special Jury Prize) MILLA by Valerie Massadian, France, Portugal Premio per il Miglior Regista Emergente – Città e Regione di Locarno (Prize for the Best Emerging Director) KIM DAE-HWAN for CHO-HAENG (The First Lap), South Korea Special Mention DISTANT CONSTELLATION by Shevaun Mizrahi, USA, Turkey, Netherlands VERÃO DANADO by Pedro Cabeleira, PortugalSigns of Life
Signs of Life Award ELECTRONIC-ART.FOUNDATION for Best Film COCOTE by Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Germany, Qatar Fundación Casa Wabi – Mantarraya Award DANE KOMLJEN for PHANTASIESÄTZE, Germany, Denmark Special Mention ERA UMA VEZ BRASÍLIA by Adirley Queirós, Brazil, PortugalFirst Feature
Swatch First Feature Award (Prize for Best First Feature) SASHISHI DEDA (Scary Mother) by Ana Urushadze, Georgia, Estland Swatch Art Peace Hotel Award METEORLAR (Meteors) by Gürcan Keltek, Netherlands,Turkey Special Mention DENE WOS GUET GEIT (Those Who Are Fine) by Cyril Schäublin, SwitzerlandPardi di domani
Concorso Internazionale Pardino d’Oro for the Best International Short Film – Premio SRG SSR ANTÓNIO E CATARINA by Cristina Hanes, Portugal Pardino d’Argento SRG SSR for the Concorso Internazionale SHMAMA by Miki Polonski, Israel Locarno Nomination for the European Film Awards – Premio Pianifica JEUNES HOMMES À LA FENÊTRE by Loukianos Moshonas, France Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award KAPITALISTIS by Pablo Muñoz Gomez, Belgium,France Special Mention ARMAGEDDON 2 by Corey Hughes, CubaConcorso Nazionale
Pardino d’Oro for the Best Swiss Short Film – Premio Swiss Life REWIND FORWARD by Justin Stoneham, Switzerland Pardino d’Argento Swiss Life for the Concorso Nazionale 59 SECONDES by Mauro Carraro, Switzerland Best Swiss Newcomer Award LES INTRANQUILLES by Magdalena Froger, Switzerland Variety Piazza Grande Award DREI ZINNEN by Jan Zabeil, Germany, Italy