Ning Hao On China’s TikTok Generation & Working With Andy Lau In ‘The Movie Emperor’ – Pingyao
18.10.2023 - 03:07
/ deadline.com
Chinese director Ning Hao has flown directly from Busan film festival in South Korea to China’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF) with his latest film, The Movie Emperor, starring Andy Lau.
After premiering in Toronto, the satirical comedy played as the closing film in Busan; one of two ‘Pingyao Surprise’ films at PYIFF, and will next screen at Tokyo International Film Festival. It will receive a wide theatrical release in China and international territories, including North America, on November 17.
In a thinly veiled satire of China’s film industry, Lau plays an old school movie star trying to regain relevance in the TikTok era by playing a pig farmer in a ‘serious’ Chinese drama aiming for film festival exposure. In order to get into character, he immerses himself in rural life, while still madly schmoozing to bring in investment, and insists on doing all his own stunts. Ning also stars as the artsy director making the film.
Never afraid of controversy, Ning started his directing career with satirical arthouse films such as Mongolian Pingpong (2005) and Crazy Stone (2006) and has more recently delivered blockbuster hits including Breakup Buddies (2014) and Crazy Alien (2019).
He also supports new directing talent through his Beijing-based production outfit Dirty Monkey, which produced Wen Muye’s Dying To Survive and Shen Ao’s cyber fraud drama No More Bets, which grossed more than $500M in China over the summer.
DEADLINE: What gave you the idea for the film and did you always plan to cast Andy Lau?
NING HAO: I’ve always wanted to partner with Andy Lau because 17 years ago he invested in my film Crazy Stone, at a time when it was really difficult for new filmmakers to raise finance, but we could never