女兒的女兒
Drama
Taiwan
Language: Mandarin
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Huang Xi
Starring: Sylvia Chang, Karena Lam, Eugenie Liu
Distributor: Andrews Film

TRAILER

Sixty-year-old Jin (Sylvia Chang) learns of the tragic death of her daughter Zuer (Eugenie Liu). Zuer was undergoing fertility treatment in New York, and Jin must now decide the fate of her daughter’s embryo. She travels to the United States, where she reunites with and is confronted by her oldest daughter, Emma, whom she gave up for adoption at the age of seventeen. A feeling of guilt from the past is conflicted with expectations of new future.

This brilliant family drama explores the deep roots of intergenerational misunderstanding and deals with the complex personalities of its characters in a nuanced way. The questions that director Huang Xi asks are universal to generations of women, surpass borders of different continents, and goes across various social norms. Jin is played by the unrivalled Sylvia Chang, whose measured acting documents her irreplaceable role (not only) in Taiwan cinema. She also co-produced the film with legendary New Wave auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Daughter’s Daughter is reminiscent of his portraits of human lives, which are distinct for stylistic coherence and an intimate understanding of characters. Huang Xi also collaborated with Hou Hsiao-Hsien on Assassin and Goodbye, South, Goodbye. And you can rest assured that thanks to her Taiwan cinema is in good hands.

阮玲玉
Drama
Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Stanley Kwan
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Chin Han, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Lawrence Ng
Distributor: Fortune Star Media

TRAILER

Ruan Lingyu was an icon of Chinese cinema in the 1930‘s. Her unmatched charisma and expressive acting style made her one of the first true stars of Chinese cinema. And her life story is the focus of Stanley Kwan’s award-winning film Center Stage. But do not expect a conventional biopic. Instead of a linear narrative, the film brings an original, conscious, and extremely sensitive dialogue with her legacy – brought on several levels.

Director Stanley Kwan combines archival footage, recollections of witnesses, and re-created scenes to make a vivid portrait of a woman whose life gradually began to resemble the melodramas in which she once starred. Purposeful narrative shifts break with the conventions of biographies, constantly surprise viewers and provide new context. Maggie Cheung holds an acting dialogue with Ruan Lingyu, her extraordinary performance going beyond simply imitating. She does not aim to capture the appearance or mannerisms of her predecessor but instead revives her presence through subtle gestures and magnetic charisma. At the same time, she implicitly comments on the acting career of Maggie Cheung herself, one of the biggest stars of Hong Kong cinema.

The combination of styles, colours, formats, and genres creates a masterpiece that goes far beyond what we normally associate with the term ‘biopic’. Stanley Kwan’s creative team, led by Maggie Cheung, has filmed a thorough polemic with the star image of the first Chinese film icon, but at the same time, an empathetic portrait of Ruan Lingyu, the woman who was hiding behind all that sparkle.

像我這樣的愛情
Drama
Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin, English
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Tam Wai Ching
Starring: Fish Liew, Carlos Chan, Justin Chu, Kate Yeung
Distributor: Emperor Motion Pictures

TRAILER

In recent years, we have been increasingly featuring independent Hong Kong filmmakers who have the courage to tackle sensitive and socially important topics. One of them is director Tam Wai Ching, whose latest film tells a deeply personal story about a desire for love, intimacy, and freedom.

The main character – Mui (Fish Liew) – is a young woman suffering from cerebral palsy since birth who struggles every day with physical limitations and a lack of understanding from those around her. When her mother decides that Mui should undergo a medical procedure that would permanently end her period – and symbolically take away her feminine identity – she decides to put up a fight. With the help of a friend, she turns to an organization that provides intimate services to people with disabilities where she meets Ken (Carlos Chan).

Their encounter gradually evolves into a gentle, but intense relationship between two vulnerable souls. Mui and Ken try to find their own path to love despite physical and social obstacles. With unprecedented empathy and sensitivity, Tam Wai Ching’s film opens up the issue of sexuality among the handicapped and shows that the desire for closeness and acceptance is universally human.

어쩔수가없다
Comedy, Drama, Thriller
South Korea
Language: Korean
Subtitles: English and Czech
Directing: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min
Distributor: Aerofilms

TRAILER

Park Chan-wook, the iconic director of Old Boy and The Handmaiden, brings his new highly-stylised vision with sardonic humour, this time starring Lee Byung-hun of Squid Game fame.

Devoted family man and veteran paper mill manager You Man-su spirals after being laid off and discarded by a ruthless job market. Humiliated by failed interviews and mocked by corporate gatekeepers, he resolves to claw back dignity by any means necessary — a decision that sends him down a path of violence where there’s no turning back.