Ties That Bind project MR. ZHANG BELIEVES featured on FESTIVAL SCOPE
Press release
AFTER PREMIERING AT THE LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL AND SCREENING AT VARIOUS FESTIVALS AROUND THE WORLD, THE CHINESE EXPERIMENTAL DRAMA, MR. ZHANG BELIEVES, IS NOW AVAILABLE ON FESTIVAL SCOPE.
MR. ZHANG BELIEVES directed by Jiongjiong Qiu and produced by EAVE graduate Lihong Kong, recounts 30 years of China’s 20th-century history through the story of Mr. Zhang Xianchi and the interacting forms of theatrical fiction and autobiography. Born in a nationalist Kuomintang family in the 1930s, Zhang was a progressive young “leftist” and Communist Party supporter but after the founding of the New China in 1949, he was dubbed a counter-revolutionary “rightist,” a public enemy, and jailed in 1957.
The project was developed at Ties That Bind in 2013 by producer Lihong Kong: "When Qiu Jiongjiong handed me the script, I didn't know where to start, since although this is his fourth film and he is well known in China both as an artist and a talented film director, he is still a newcomer on the international scene. I was very lucky to be able to participate in the TTB-EAVE Coproduction Workshop with the project. During this period, the project gradually matured and the production skills I learned helped me to find the necessary funding. Thank you, TTB-EAVE!."
Many projects developed through EAVE's flagship programme, the EAVE Producers Workshop, as well as our international programmes, TIES THAT BIND, PUENTES and B'EST, have been successfully produced, critically acclaimed and distributed internationally. The co-operation with FESTIVAL SCOPE promotes hand-picked, recently finalised films developed through EAVE. This will give more visibility to the finished films that have gone through the EAVE programmes and enhance their circulation. Other recent films developed at EAVE and featured through the EAVE & FESTIVAL SCOPE partnership are:
LUCIFER by Gust Van den Berghe and produced by EAVE graduate Tomas Leyers, is the third instalment in Gust Van den Berghe’s triptych about the emergence of human consciousness after LITTLE BABY JESUS OF FLANDR and BLUE BIRD. The film has been selected in over 25 festivals around the world and won numerous awards (Grand Prix -T-Mobile New Horizons FF and Tallinn Black Nights FF, Best Feature Film Mexico - Guanajuato IFF etc.).
MONSTERMAN by Antti Haase, produced by Venla Hellstedt and Jouko Aaltonen, tells the moving story of the heavy metal monster band Lordi, that unexpectedly won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006, and its front man Tomi Putaansuu aka Mr. Lordi.
Ties That Bind project LITTLE FATHER, SMALL FATHER AND OTHER STORIES is the second feature of director Di Phan Dang after Phan’s Cannes-premiered debut, “Bi, Don’t Be Afraid!”. It is co-produced by EAVE graduates Claire Lajoumard and Denis Vaslin and has premiered in Berlinale Competition.
EAVE project MY SKINNY SISTER by Sanna Lenken, producer: EAVE graduate Annika Rogel received the Crystal Bear for Best Film, International Jury Generation Kplus Special Mention in Berlin and the Audience Award at the Gothenburg Film Festival.
EAVE project WHY ME?, EAVE graduate Tudor Giurgiu’s legal thriller based on a real-life case of political corruption, produced by EAVE graduate Oana Giurgiu, co-producer EAVE graduate Emoke Vagasi premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale.
Jorge Forero’s stunning debut VIOLENCIA (developed at EAVE PUENTES), producer: PUENTES graduate Diana Bustamante, co-producer: PUENTES graduate Katrin Pors was selected for this year’s Berlinale Forum.
Find out more about the films in promotion: https://www.festivalscope.com/label/eave-1
FESTIVAL SCOPE is a B2B platform for film professionals. FESTIVAL SCOPE selects titles from the most prestigious festivals around the world and make them available to be viewed online, on demand.
For more information about the different EAVE programmes please visit: www.eave.org
Page published 3 November 2015.
