Three Taiwanese films, including one by the late director Edward Yang (楊德昌), will be screened at this year’s London Film Festival.
The films are When Love Comes (當愛來的時候), a new movie directed by Chang Tso-chi (張作驥); Taipei Exchanges (第36個故事), directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan (蕭雅全); and Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件).
Yang’s film, a romantic drama based on a real-life incident from the director’s school days, was selected for the festival 19 years after it was made and three years after his death.
The film won several awards at the Asian Pacific Film Festival, Kinema Junpo Awards and Tokyo International Film Festival.
A total of 197 feature-length films and 112 shorts from 67 countries will be screened at the London festival from Oct. 13 to Oct. 28, Sandra Hebron, artistic director of the festival, said on Thursday.
The lineup this year features the “pick” of British and world cinema, Hebron said, adding that 11 films would be shown in an international setting for the first time.
Hebron said another interesting aspect of the festival is that 57 of the films were directed by women, the highest number ever.
The organizers have been seeking to achieve a higher degree of diversification and internationalization, she said.
The festival will open with Never Let Me Go, adapted by Alex Garland from Kazuo Ishiguro’s highly acclaimed novel, and starring George Clooney, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan.
Danny Boyle’s thriller 127 Hours will close the festival. It is based on the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston, who was forced to amputate his own arm to survive after he was trapped by a boulder in a Utah canyon.
Boyle’s last film, Slumdog Millionaire, closed the festival in 2008.
Other highlights of the festival will include The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI, the British monarch during World War II who struggled to overcome a severe stutter, and Conviction, starring Hilary Swank as a woman on a quest to clear her brother of murder charges.
Five films from China are also in the lineup.
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