‘Do Not Split’ Director Anders Hammer On Capturing Hong Kong’s Pro-Democracy Revolt, And China’s Response To Oscar Nod

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterGreg Kinnear has joined the cast of “Sight,” a biopic about pioneering medical entrepreneur Dr. Ming Wang, led by actor Terry Chen.The Open River Entertainment project has commenced a six-week shoot in Vancouver.

Hong Kong has cultivated a reputation for punching above its weight. Once producing 300 films a year, the small territory hatched global martial arts superstars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen.

Rebecca Davis editorReporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked China fourth to last out of 180 countries on its 2021 World Press Freedom Index on Tuesday, while warning that Hong Kong journalism is also now under “grave threat.”China ranked 177th in 2019, 2020 and 2021, down from a period at 176th from 2015 to 2018.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang's harrowing youth drama Better Days is the rare Oscar best international film nominee that was both critically acclaimed and a massive commercial hit. Released in mainland China in October 2019, the film grossed $223 million, which is more than 40 times the total earnings of the other four international feature nominees combined.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal Pictures officially announced Friday that “F9,” the latest entry in the “Fast & Furious” saga, will hit China on May 21, more than a month ahead of its June 25 debut in North America.It had passed Chinese censorship approvals and given permission for theatrical release last week.Along with China, “F9” will also debut in several foreign territories, including Russia, Korea, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam, throughout the month of May.

Refresh for latest…: Fuel-injecting some mega muscle into the international box office landscape, Universal’s F9 is revving up for a May 21 release date in China, a full five weeks before domestic. But China won’t be the only overseas market to release early, as I hear several other key hubs are also going throughout the month of May including Korea (which is expected to kick things off on May 19), Russia, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNews over the weekend of a record breaking $2.8 billion fine for Chinese tech giant Alibaba produced a huge relief rally.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese media group CMC Inc. is being readied for a share listing in Hong Kong.

Nicky Shen.After suddenly returning home following a three-year detour in China, the heroine finds herself trying to mend her relationship with her family after abandoning them for monastery life in China.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMainland China youth drama “The Day is Over” was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina is set to host the winter Olympics in February, but the extent of American involvement is on shaky ground. There’s plenty of precedent for Olympic-scale strife — in 1980 and 1984, the U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeading Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming will take a production role on selected film titles emerging from Stars Collective, the talent incubator program backed by China- and Los Angeles-based financier Starlight Media.Huang, who has credits including “The Message” and “American Dreams in China,” will lead Stars Collective’s talent discovery efforts in China, be a mentor to the selected filmmakers and take a formal producer role on selected, individual projects the

Godzilla vs Kong which has already released in a few countries like China, India and more, has been enjoying good box office collections. The film has managed to emerge as one of the biggest successes in the pandemic phase and recently also became the highest-grossing international release in China since the pandemic began.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJohn Sudworth, China correspondent for the BBC has left the Chinese mainland and relocated to Taiwan. His move follows mounting East-West tension over Xinjiang and Hong Kong and accusations that the BBC in particular has defamed China.Sudworth’s move was announced Wednesday by the BBC in a Twitter message.

TheHong Kong International Film Festivalhas scrapped its opening-night world premiere of Where the Wind Blows, a widely anticipated crime thriller directed by local industry veteran Philip Yung.

Godzilla vs Kong has turned out to be among the top earners amid the pandemic releases at the global box office. The film debuted with a collection of over USD 121.8 million at the foreign box office, as per Hollywood Reporter.

Bloomberg).But the move comes amid reports that China’s Communist party told all local media outlets to downplay live coverage of the ceremony stemming from the nomination of the documentary short “Do Not Split,” which focuses on the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and past comments made by Chinese-born “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao.Other local TV broadcasters in Hong Kong also do not have the broadcast rights, as reported by the Hong Kong news outlet The Standard.Also Read: Why

Despite securing its first Oscar nomination since 1993, Hong Kong looks set to not broadcast the Academy Awards this year after local station Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) opted not to renew its deal.

Better Days,” the territory’s leading free-to-air TV network Television Broadcasts (TVB) will be dropping television coverage of the Oscars ceremony.The network Monday confirmed that it did not have rights to broadcast the show this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIn Hong Kong, where unsmiling mainland Chinese authorities have asserted their “comprehensive jurisdiction,” satire has become a dangerous form of humor. But at least one new satirical segment is soon set to brave the Special Administrative Region’s airwaves.From next month, activist and broadcaster James Ockenden is launching “The Alphard Wars” on RTHK.