The First Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival (PYIFF) will take place in the Ancient World Heritage city from 28 October until 4 November 2017.
The project is the brainchild of award-winning filmmaker Jia Zhangke (Mountains May Depart), Marco Müller is artistic director and award-winning actress Fan BingBing (I Am Not Madame Bovary) its Ambassador. PYIFF will be held amid the magnificent Ming Dynasty site of Pingyao from October 28 – November 4, with a brand new festival Complex, incorporating a 1500-seat open-air arena, showcasing this arthouse extravaganza.
Fan Bingbing is one of China’s best loved actresses and took part in the the jury at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival this May. Jia Zhangke’s hope is to create an industry meeting place in Pingyao ‘dynamising the Landscape of Cinema’ with the creative input of new and established Chinese filmmakers; international auteurs; programmers; producers and investors. The main Jury will consist of: Feng Xiaogang, Johnnie To, Walter Salles, Aleksandr Sokurov, Olivier Père, Anurag Kashyap, James Schamus, Roger Garcia, Alexander Rodnyansky and Tony Cao.
RETROSPECTIVE
This year’s retrospective will tribute the Centennial of Jean-Pierre Melville, the “Father of the French New Wave” with 10 recently restored Melville classics, including: The Red Circle, Le Samourai, A Cop and Army of Shadows. Melville’s films have been an enriching influence on Chinese cinema over the years, particularly for John Woo, Johnnie To and Ann Hui. Besides screening the restored version of most Jean-Pierre Melville’s films, the festival will also include two Chinese language films deeply influenced by his work. The symposium will provide a forum for well-known directors, researchers and filmmakers to discuss and examine their own cinema in relations to Melville’s output. Rémy Grumbach, nephew of Jean-Pierre Melville and co-founder of the Melville Foundation will be there to take part. PYIFF will also hold an exhibition of Melville trailers, posters and film stills in the festival’s main site Pingyao Festival Palace.
The festival’s comprises 6 strands: “Crouching Tiger” (section for new directors), “Hidden Dragon” (special focus on genre film), “Galas”, “New Generation China”, “Best of Fest” and “Retrospective/Tributes”. The “Retrospective & Tributes” section will screen classics to pay tribute to filmmakers who have contributed to the international film industry.
PINGYAO CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL http://www.pyiffestival.com