China’s secret police have invaded American shores: human rights advocate

Silent era movie icon Anna May Wong is now a different kind of star. Starting Monday, her image will appear on new quarters, making her the first Asian American to appear on US currency.

A busy main road was closed off on Wednesday with a police car left in tatters after smashing into a metal barrier. Ashton Road, in Oldham, was cordoned off by the emergency services on Wednesday evening (October 19) after the crash, which is thought to have required people to be rescued from the wreckage.

A jury heard there was a 'weird atmosphere' at the Cheshire home of Benjamin Mendy on the night a woman was allegedly raped there. A woman who had been out at a Manchester nightclub was invited to the house in Prestbury, after meeting another woman in the club, known as Woman Eleven, who would later accuse the Manchester City player's 'fixer' of raping her.

EJ Panaligan editor As part of a new initiative, the United States Mint will honor Anna May Wong, star of movies such as “Shanghai Express,” by making her the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency, placing her likeness on quarters with production starting Oct. 18. The printed quarter shows an image of Wong resting on her hand, serving as a tribute to what most consider the first Chinese American movie star. She was born in 1905 in Chinatown, Los Angeles and died in 1961 of a heart attack in her Santa Monica home. Wong started her career in the entertainment business at 14 years old, talking her way into her first movie role. In the following years, she rose to stardom as among the first Asian American stars in Hollywood and appeared in more than 50 films. Though the quarter seeks to pay tribute to her career in the film industry, it also acknowledges the difficulties that came her way trying to land meaningful roles as an Asian American actress during a time where racial discrimination and commonplace practices of putting white actors in “yellowface” to portray Asian characters was prevalent. In addition, Wong’s characters were often killed in the films she acted in, which she once joked about, saying that she had already “died a thousand deaths.”

EXCLUSIVE: Imax has inked a deal with Wanda Films, China’s largest exhibitor, to install six Imax systems in new multiplexes across top Chinese markets including Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Wanda will also relocate and upgrade three of its existing Imax systems to forthcoming locations.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks Int’l has snapped up worldwide rights to Portugal’s first stop motion animated feature “My Grandfather’s Demons,” the debut animated pic by Nuno Beato. According to FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud, it was able to outbid other contenders for the toon, which had its world premiere at Annecy. “One of the hardest tasks for my acquisition team, run by Santiago Migdal, is to find a true animation gem, not only aesthetically but narratively where the use of different animation techniques makes the story fly even higher,” said Rud. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Homecoming, a patriotic rescue movie, dominated the mainland China box office for the third successive weekend. Overall numbers remained anemic in the first full week after the National Day holiday period, sometimes referred to as a ‘Golden Week’. “Homecoming” garnered $12.1 million (RMB85.6 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy and research firm Artisan Gateway. That gave the film a 64% share of the nationwide weekend aggregate. Accordingly, it was far ahead of second-placed film “Give Me Five,” which released on Sept. 9, 2022. “Give Me Five” earned just $1.9 million over the weekend, for a six-week cumulative of $63.8 million.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Cargo Film & Releasing has acquired domestic and international rights to director Violet Du Feng’s feature documentary “Hidden Letters.” The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. It won Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the Austin Asian American Film Festival. Cargo will premiere the film theatrically starting in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 9. “Hidden Letters” follows two millennial Chinese women connected by their passion for Nushu, a secret female-only language that for centuries has allowed women to communicate privately without men understanding their correspondence.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, best-known for his single-take feature “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” has seen his “A Short Story” picked up by Kino Lorber for distribution in North America. A fairy tale that follows the relationship between man and cat, the film had its world premiere in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and now has its North American premiere in the Currents section of the New York Film Festival. Kino Lorber plans to qualify “A Short Story” for the 96th Academy Awards, showing it theatrically nationwide in early 2023 in tandem with a theatrical re-release of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” “Kino Lorber rarely acquires short films, but Bi Gan has packed more cinematic delight into the fifteen minutes of ‘A Short Story’ than many feature length films deliver in two hours,” said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell. The deal was brokered by Les Films du Losange.

HGTV is getting into the holiday movie business this season with two flicks featuring Love it or List It’s Hilary Farr and Home Town’s Ben and Erin Napier.

A sequel to “The Joy Luck Club” is on its way.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Novelist Amy Tan and Oscar-winning “Rain Man” screenwriter Ron Bass are on board to deliver a sequel to “The Joy Luck Club,” the 1993 movie that broke new ground for Asian American representation. The new film, “Joy Luck Club 2,” is set up at Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group, with Ashok and Priya Amritraj producing alongside Tan, Bass and Jeff Kleeman. A director hasn’t been announced yet. The original “Joy Luck Club,” directed by Wayne Wang, was an epic, multigenerational saga of Chinese and Chinese-American mothers and daughters, whose histories, stories and lives interweave as they navigate life. Club members included characters played by Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu and Kieu Chinh. The ensemble cast also included Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao and Russell Wong.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Patriotic rescue film “Homecoming” largely dominated the Chinese box office over the latest weekend and brought to a close a deeply-depressed National Day holiday period. “Homecoming” earned $21.5 million between Friday and Sunday to lift its ten-day cumulative to $163 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That score accounted for a 71% share of the weekend’s $30.3 million total. Second-placed film “Ordinary Hero” earned just $2.2 million, giving it a ten-day total of $19.7 million. Previous top-ranking film, “Give Me Five” held on to third place, despite the volley of new releases on either September 30 or October 1. It collected $1.7 million for a cumulative of $60.8 million since release on Sept. 9, 2022.

Environmental Progress founder Michael Shellenberger is sounding the alarm on President Biden's "woke green energy" agenda for threatening U.S. security.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong multi-hyphenate Peter Chan Ho-sun is far too intellectual to call himself an “arms dealer,” as Sony Pictures has in casting itself as an unattached supplier to streaming platforms. But politeness and Bob Dylan references aside, Chan’s new company, Changin’ Pictures, aims to become a major independent purveyor of premium Asian TV content for the streamers. The company is using this week’s Busan International Film Festival as its launchpad and will unveil the first five series of its 20-title pan-Asian slate.  Chan’s thesis is that global audiences are hungry for Asian content but have not been able to access it easily under legacy film and TV distribution systems. With streaming making everything accessible everywhere, and audiences no longer balking at subtitles, quality Asian drama can and will travel.

It was a varied offering at the international box office this weekend with newcomers from Hollywood and offshore markets, as well as notable holds, as we inch closer to full-on action later in October.