The Pingyao International Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 10th edition, with a 4K restoration of Fei Mu’s 1948 classic “Spring in a Small Town” opening the anniversary program and Hong Kong dramedy “Good Trip” set to close it. The festival, founded by Jia Zhangke in Shanxi province, will run Sept. 24-30. Jia’s own short “Torino Shadow,” an Italy-China co-production, will screen as part of a Fenjiu Night presentation and mark an Asian premiere.
The Cinephile strand will feature Keane T.K. Wong’s Hong Kong title “Afterpiece.” The Hidden Dragons competition includes three world premieres: Malaysian director Kethsvin Chee’s “Dead Tide,” Chengjie Cai’s “Suzhou Quartet” and Niu Niu’s “Final Payment.” The section also features Dongnan Chen’s documentary “Whispers in May,” a Netherlands-Sweden-South Korea-Hong Kong co-production, and Zou Jing’s France-China co-production “A Girl Unknown.” The Crouching Tigers section spans a wide geographic range, with entries including Colombia-Portugal co-production “Gemstones” from Simón Vélez, Russian director Anastasia Kuzina’s “Bo Bo” and Philippines-Singapore-France-Netherlands-U.K. co-production “Filipiñana” from Rafael Manuel on which Jia is an executive producer. The lineup also features Rwanda-Gabon-France-Norway co-production “Ben’Imana,” from Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, and multi-country production “Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep,” directed by Rakan Mayasi.
The Galas section brings together established auteurs, including Cristian Mungiu’s Cannes-winning Norway-Romania-Sweden-Finland-Denmark-France co-production “Fjord,” James Gray’s U.S. title “Paper Tiger” and Marie Kreutzer’s Austria-France-Germany-Sweden co-production “Gentle Monster.” South Korean director Na Hong-Jin’s “Hope” and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” will both have mainland China premieres, while Fernando Eimbcke’s “Flies” and Kent Jones’ “Late Fame” mark China premieres. Special Presentations will showcase Liu Wenpu’s world premiere “A Better Jianghu” alongside a 4K restoration of Allen Fong’s 1986 film “Just Like Weather.” A restoration of festival juror Ann Hui’s (Hui On Wah Ann) 1981 film “The Story of Woo Viet” anchors the East-West Contribution strand. Marking the festival’s 10-year milestone, PYIFF has built out several retrospective sections.
The Pingyao 10 Years·Tributes strand pairs the “Spring in a Small Town” restoration with Pan Yilin’s new documentary “Echoes of Fei Mu,” alongside Roberto Rossellini’s 1959 film “Generale Della Rovere” and Alessandro Rossellini’s 2020 documentary “The Rossellinis.” A memorial program will screen restorations of “Phony Phoenixes,” which includes a video introduction recorded by the late Tony Rayns, and “Aces Go Places,” dedicated to the memory of Nansun Shi, the driving force behind the film, alongside Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” dedicated to the memory of producer Simon Field. A separate Pingyao 10 Years·Start From Pingyao Corner strand traces the trajectories of filmmakers first spotted in the festival’s short-film program, pairing early shorts with the directors’ subsequent Hidden Dragons features, including Wei Shujun’s “Only the River Flows” and Kong Dashan’s “Journey to the West.” OPENING FILM“Spring in a Small Town” (4K restoration, 1948) – China, dir. Fei Mu – Asian premiere CLOSING FILM“Good Trip” – Hong Kong – dir.
Norris Wong Yee Lam, Hoi Wong – mainland China premiere FENJIU NIGHT SPECIAL PRESENTATION“Torino Shadow” (short) – Italy/China – dir. Jia Zhangke – Asian premiere CINEPHILE“Afterpiece” – Hong Kong – dir. Wong HIDDEN DRAGONS“Whispers in May” (documentary) – Netherlands/Sweden/South Korea/Hong Kong – dir.
Dongnan Chen – Asian premiere“Zoom In, Zoom Out” – China – dir. Dong Jie – Asian premiere“Replica” (documentary) – Australia/France – dir. Chouwa Liang – Asian premiere“Dead Tide” – Malaysia – dir.
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