We came across some interesting tidbits in the news today. First off, Yu Lik-wai (余力為) the Hong Kong director/cinematographer that lensed most of Jia Zhangke’s movies, will be starting principal shooting on his new film Plastic City 《塑料城市》. This film is a 2006 Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum alumni, and will begin shooting in Sao Paolo, Brazil — a location which intrigues us very , very much. We didn’t find out what the movie was about, but it’s been said that it will involve actors Anthong Wong (黄秋生) and Huang Yi (黄奕), and Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (小田切讓) — reports say that the film is a Chinese/Japanese co-production.
The other piece of news that we found interesting was that another HAF alum, the Taiwanese actor/director Lee Kangsheng (李康生), is screening his movie at the film festival in Hong Kong. The movie is called Help Me Eros (幫幫我愛神), was directed by and stars Lee Kangsheng, and was produced and art directed by his long-time collaborator and mentor, Tsai Mingliang (蔡明亮). They say the film features a lot of brooding, melancholy, alienation, and graphic sex — which is not surprising, given the two guys behind it. Should be a good one. We’ll be looking out for it on the DVD shelves in Shanghai soon.