CROSSCURRENT getting its digital premiere on MUBI on April 3rd

Cheng Cheng Films

presents

Crosscurrent / Chang jiang tu

Written and directed by Yang Chao

China, 2016, 116 minutes

Crosscurrent, a breathtaking fantasy journey on China's longest river, will have its digital premiere on MUBI on April 3rd. The visually stunning film about a poet's trip on China's longest river was shot by Mark Lee Ping-Bing (In the Mood for Love, The Assassin) in 35 mm and won the master cinematographer a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at Berlinale.

Synopsis:
This mysterious, sublime and elegiac odyssey blends breathtaking images of the river that has nurtured Chinese civilization with fantasy, poetry and history to create a complex universe. From the spinning Shanghai metropolis to snow-capped Tibet mountains, Gao Chun steers a cargo up the Yangtze and comes across a reversely aging woman named An Lu at every port recorded in a poetry book. He wonders if she is supernatural or if he is traveling back in time. After passing a pagoda that reverberates Buddha’s voice, a flooded town, and the grandiose Three Gorges Dam, he finally arrives at the start of the river and unveils the secret of his past and An Lu.

ABSURD ACCIDENT will be coming to DVD on November 20, 2019

Cheng Cheng Films

Presents

Absurd Accident

Directed by Yuhe Li

Starring: Xixu Chen, Ye Gao, Suxi Ren, Bo Dong, Yunfei Lou

China, 2016,  97 minutes

Bouncing with nail-biting suspense and ingenious humor, young Chinese filmmaker Li Yuhe's feature debut portrays a puzzling crime happened in a rural small town, where greed, lust and wit battle it out in one night. It all starts from a sexually impotent motel owner hiring a pro to murder his cheating wife. Everything goes exactly as planned, until two blind daters, a robber, a policeman and a strange dead body unexpectedly arrive.

Absurd Accident was an official selection at the New York Asian American International Film Festival, a nominee for Best Screenplay at the Shanghai International Film Festival New Asian Talent, and an official selection at the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Absurd Accident will be available on DVD on November 20, 2019.

Here's a link for those interested in purchasing it from Amazon.

SEND ME TO THE CLOUDS opens in theaters on September 20th

Cheng Cheng Films

Presents

Send Me to the Clouds / Song Wo Shang Qing Yun

Directed by Teng Congcong

China, 2019, 99 minutes

First-time filmmaker Teng Congcong's comedy drama Send Me to the Clouds will open in several North American theaters on September 20th and in others in the weeks that follow. The film, which stars Yao Chen (Monster Hunt, Lost Found), who is also its producer, follows an ovarian cancer patient's desperate quest for an unforgettable sexual experience before her surgery.

Synopsis:
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer, iron-willed journalist Sheng Nan (“Surpass Men” in Chinese) is pressured to make a quick fortune and find mindblowing sex before the costly surgery numbs her senses. Taking on a businessman’s biography writing job, she hikes into the misty mountains, where a chain of outbursts with her dysfunctional family, grumpy client, misogynistic co-worker and dreamlike romantic interest hilariously unfold. As deeply moving as it is luminously witty, writer-director Teng Congcong’s debut waltzes across the bitterness swallowed by her generation of women born under China’s One Child Policy, unprecedentedly burdened to “surpass men” while trying not to be “leftover women” at the same time. Saluting the 18th-century Chinese literature classic Dream of the Red Chamber in its title, the enchanting gem refreshes the novel's transcendent contemplation on desire, death and womanhood from a modern cinematic perspective.

OPENING IN THEATERS

9/20-9/26 LOS ANGELES Downtown Independent

9/20-9/26 VANCOUVER Cineplex SIlvercity Riverport

9/20-9/26 TORONTO Cineplex Yonge & Dundas

9/27-10/3 SAN FRANCISCO Four Star Theater

9/27-10/3 SAN JOSE 3 Below Theaters and Lounge

10/11, 10/12 MINNEAPOLIS Walker Art Center

MORE THEATERS ADDED WEEKLY at: SendMetotheClouds.com

Cheng Cheng acquires North American rights to SEND ME TO THE CLOUDS

Send Me to the Clouds / Song Wo Shang Qing Yun

Directed by Teng Congcong

China, 2019, 99 minutes

New York-based distributor Cheng Cheng has picked up North American all rights to first-time filmmaker Teng Congcong's comedy drama Send Me to the Clouds. The film starring Yao Chen (Monster Hunt, Lost Found), who's also its producer, follows an ovarian cancer patient's desperate quest for an unforgettable sexual experience before her surgery. The picture opened in Chinese theaters last weekend after bowing at Shanghai International Film Festival and FIRST International Film Festival. Its humorous touch on struggles faced by a generation of women born under China's One Child policy won it a 100% score in verified influencers' recommendations on Weibo, China's answer to twitter. The distributor behind Chinese language films including The Great Buddha+, Crosscurrent and SoulMate is planning a theatrical release in fall 2019.

"Cheng Cheng has always championed films with strong female leads. Now we'd also like to show how Chinese women have contributed to Chinese language cinema from leading roles behind the scene. If our team with imperfect English proficiency and unbeatable math skills has read "gender equality" correctly, it means we need to focus our resources and efforts on releasing women-directed films until its number is equal to that of men-directed films in our catalogue. We make that commitment to ourselves and our audience. Send Me to the Clouds is a perfect start." stated by the distributor founded in 2015.

The deal was signed by Tony Yin, Director of Business Affairs at Cheng Cheng Films, and Julian Chiu, Senior Manager of International Sales and Distribution at Hong Kong's Edko Films. It's the second time the two companies join forces.

Synopsis:
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer, iron-willed journalist Sheng Nan (“Surpass Men” in Chinese) is pressured to make a quick fortune and find mindblowing sex before the costly surgery numbs her senses. Taking on a businessman’s biography writing job, she hikes into the misty mountains, where a chain of outbursts with her dysfunctional family, grumpy client, misogynistic co-worker and dreamlike romantic interest hilariously unfold. As deeply moving as it is luminously witty, writer-director Teng Congcong’s debut waltzes across the bitterness swallowed by her generation of women born under China’s One Child Policy, unprecedentedly burdened to “surpass men” while trying not to be “leftover women” at the same time. Saluting the 18th-century Chinese literature classic Dream of the Red Chamber in its title, the enchanting gem refreshes the novel's transcendent contemplation on desire, death and womanhood from a modern cinematic perspective.

THE GREAT BUDDHA+ coming to DVD and Blu-ray on April 26, 2019

Cheng Cheng FIlms

Presents

The Great Buddha+

Written and Directed by HUANG, Hsin-Yao

Starring: CHUANG, Cres / CHEN, Bamboo/ DAI, Leon

Taiwan, 2017, 104 minutes

The Great Buddha+, a terrific Taiwanese satire, will become available on DVD and Blu-ray on April 26th, 2019. The release will include these bonus features: The Great Buddha (short film), Making-of, and Trailer.

Underlining the gap between the olifves of the have-nots and the elites by switching between black and white and glamorous colors, Taiwan's 91st OSCARS® entry The Great Buddha+ vividly illustrates a corrupted village in rural southern Taiwan with memorable style, heartfelt empathy, and whimsical humor. Security guard Pickle and his trash collector friend Belly Button kill time together in night shifts watching the American-educated boss's dash-cam recordings of his various sexual encounters with women. Against the buddies’ will, something horrifying rather than erotic reveals.

DIDI'S DREAMS, a Chinese fantasy comedy, is available at Amazon Video and Vimeo on Demand

Cheng Cheng Films

Presents

Didi's Dreams / 'Chi chi' de ai

Directed by Kevin Tsai

Taiwan/China, 2017, 91 minutes

With this one-of-a-kind fantasy comedy, talent from the most influential Chinese language TV show Kangsi Coming pay tribute to the golden age of Taiwan variety entertainment. Didi is an aspiring actress who keeps having the same dream about a spaceship noodle shop owner's love affairs. After countless hardships, she finally reaches her career breakthrough, but her life takes an unexpected turn, and the truth about her dreams start to unveil.

THE GREAT BUDDHA + plays in Seattle on Sunday July 1, 2018

Cheng Cheng Films

Presents

THE GREAT BUDDHA +

Written and directed by HUANG Hsin-Yao

Producer by YEH Jufeng and CHUNG Mong-Hong

Starring CHUANG Cres, CHEN Bamboo, and DAI Leon

Taiwan, 2017, 104 minutes

THE GREAT BUDDHA +, a wonderful drama from Taiwan, will be playing in Seattle on Sunday, July 1, 2018 at SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N.

Synopsis:
Provincial friends Pickle and Belly Button idle away their nights in the security booth of a Buddha statue factory, where Pickle works as a guard. One evening, when the TV is on the fritz, they put on video from the boss’s dashcam—only to discover illicit trysts and a mysterious act of violence. Expanded from a short, Huang Hsin-yao’s fiction feature debut The Great Buddha + (the plus sign cheekily nodding to the smartphone model) is a stylish, rip-roaring satire on class and corruption in contemporary Taiwanese society. (New Directors New Films)

I saw the film this past April in conjunction with its New York Premiere at the New Directors New Films series jointly presented by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; highly recommended.

SOULMATE receives 7 nominations at Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards, now in North American theaters

Soulmate, a drama about two girls' decades long friendship, received 7 nominations from Taiwan Golden Horse Film Awards, the Chinese cinema’s equivalent of Oscars. Both actresses, Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun are nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The nominees were announced on Saturday in Taipei.

The film was adapted by veteran Hong Kong film director Peter Chan (Comrades Almost a Love Story, Dragon) from a online novel written by Anni Baobei. Soulmate was nominated for Best Director, Best Leading Actress (two) , Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Original Film Song.

Producer Peter Chan, director Derek Tsang, two leading actresses Zhou Dongyu and Masichun reacted to the nomination.

Peter Chan: I’m gratified and relieved. (Both actresses you picked for the roles are nominated) It’s perfect! Both of them are indispensable.

Director Derek Tsang: I’m very grateful. I’m so excited! I don’t know what to say. My mind has gone blank. (You were nominated for Best New Director in 2010. Now you are in the same category with Feng Xiaogang and Johnnie To) It’s a great honor to be nominated together with them. I feel I have already won. They are both masters. Their films are great. (Both actresses are nominated for Best Leading Actress?) Both of them getting nominated actually is exactly what I have been hoping for. Because both of them did such wonderful job in Soulmate. This is what I have wanted to see. Now I have finally seen it happen. Don’t know what to say. I am thrilled.

Zhou Dongyu: Hahaha…Happy! I don’t always get nominated. The photo…(Talking about the still used for nomination announcement) The teeth, the eyes…so tight. Thanks to the director! Thanks to July. Thanks to Soulmate. Thanks to everybody!

Ma Sichun: (Teared up) It’s my first time getting nominated for Best Leading Actress. I’m shocked, moved and surprised. It’s a special thing. I’m grateful I have a wonderful co-star Zhou Dongyu. I am happy for her. I am happy for all of us. Thanks to the director, our producer and the entire team. They lifted us up. My special thanks to Dongyu. We had great chemistry. This is my second Golden Horse nomination. I thought I wouldn’t be so lucky to get nominated twice in a row. I can’t thank enough.

The film is now playing in theaters in North America. Full theater list is at filmsoulmate.com.