Press Kit - Memento Films International
Press Kit - Memento Films International
Press Kit - Memento Films International
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Xstreams presents<br />
a film by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2006 / HONG KONG CHINA / COLOR / 108 mins / HD / 35mm<br />
INTERNATIONAL SALES<br />
MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL<br />
6 cité Paradis - 75010 Paris<br />
Tel + 33 1 5334 9028<br />
Fax+ 33 1 4247 1124<br />
sales@memento-films.com<br />
wwww.memento-films.com<br />
For downloadable images and press kit www.memento-films.com
SYNOPSIS<br />
Fengjie’s old town is already under water, but its new neighborhood hasn’t been finished yet. There are things to<br />
salvage and there are things to leave behind…<br />
Han Sanming, a miner, travels to Fengjie to look for his ex-wife who he has not seen in 16 years. Seeing each<br />
other by the Yangtze River, they decide to remarry.<br />
Shen Hong, a nurse, travels to Fengjie to look for her husband who hasn’t come home in two years. They hug in<br />
front of the Three Gorges Dam. Despite a dance, they sadly call it quits and decide to divorce.
DIRECTOR’S<br />
STATEMENT<br />
Once I walked into someone’s room by accident and saw dust-covered articles on the desk. Suddenly it<br />
seemed the secrets of still life fell upon me. The old furniture, the stationery on the desk, the bottles on<br />
the windowsills and the decorations on the walls all took on an air of poetic sorrow. Still life represents<br />
a reality that has been overlooked by us. Although time has left deep marks on it, it still remains silent<br />
and holds the secrets of life.<br />
STILL LIFE was shot in the old town of Fengjie. Great changes have come to this place due to the<br />
construction of the Three Gorges hydro project: countless families who lived there for many generations<br />
had to relocate to other cities. Fengjie’s old town, which has a 2000-year history, was torn down and<br />
submerged forever.<br />
I entered this condemned city with my camera and I witnessed demolitions and explosions. In the<br />
roaring noise and fluttering dust, I gradually felt that life really could blossom in brilliant colors even<br />
in a place with such desperation.
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JIA ZHANG-KE<br />
Director<br />
YU LIKWAI<br />
Director of Photography<br />
Jia Zhang-Ke was born in 1970 in Fanyang, Shanxi Province of China. He was graduated from Beijing Film Academy and made his first feature<br />
film XIAO WU in 1998. He is now settled in Beijing and actively involved in independent filmmaking over China.<br />
Filmography :<br />
2006 SANXIA HAOREN (STILL LIFE) 108mins, Venice, GOLDEN LION<br />
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) 105mins, Competition, Venice<br />
2002 REN XIAO YAO (UNKONWN PLEASURES) 113mins, Competition, Cannes<br />
2001 IN PUBLIC 31 mins (documentary)<br />
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) 193mins/154mins, Competition, Venice<br />
1998 XIAO WU 107mins Forum, Berlin Wolfgang Staudte Award, NETPAC Prize<br />
Born in 1966 in Hong Kong, Yu Likwai graduated from INSAS (Institut National Superieur des Arts de Spectacle, Belgium) in 1994, majoring in<br />
cinematography. He made his directional debut in 1996. He is now actively involved in productions both in Hong Kong and mainland China.<br />
Filmography – Cinematographer<br />
2004 SANXIA HAOREN (STILL LIFE) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKONWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2000 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2nd Unit Cinematographer) by Wong Kar Wai<br />
1998 ORDINARY HEROES by Ann Hui<br />
1997 XIAO WU by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
Filmography – Director<br />
2003 ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES, Official Selection - Un Certain Regard, Cannes<br />
1999 LOVE WILL TEAR US APART, Competition, Cannes<br />
1996 NEON GODDESSES, 16mm (Documentary)<br />
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THE CAST<br />
ZHAO TAO (as Shen Hong)<br />
Zhao Tao graduated from the Folk Dance Department of Beijing Institute of Dance in 1998.<br />
Her beautiful stature and techniques had granted her numerous awards. After graduation, she<br />
became the dance instructor in Normal University of Shanxi. Her acting talent was discovered<br />
by Jia Zhang-Ke in 1999 during his scouting for cast in her classroom. In 2003, she further her<br />
studies in Master of Dance Education at the Beijing Institute of Dance.<br />
Filmography:<br />
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKNOWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
HAN SANMING (as Sanming)<br />
Born in Fenyang of Shanxi Province in 1971. He was born in Fenyang, a small county city of<br />
Shanxi Province of China. He is a mining worker in the local coal mine. Starting from 2000, he<br />
become one of the important figure in Jia Zhang-Ke’s films.<br />
Filmography:<br />
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKNOWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
14 15
THE CREW<br />
Screenplay/Director<br />
JIA ZHANG-KE<br />
Associate Screenwriter<br />
SUN JIANMIN, GUAN NA<br />
Artistic Consultant<br />
LIN XUDONG<br />
Director of Photography<br />
YU LIKWAI<br />
Art Directors<br />
LIANG JINDONG, LIU QIANG<br />
Music Composer<br />
LIM GIONG<br />
Editor<br />
KHUNG JINLEI<br />
Production Director<br />
WANG YU<br />
Producers<br />
XU PENGLE, WANG TIANYUN, ZHU JIONG<br />
Executive Producers<br />
CHOW KEUNG, DAN BO, REN ZHONGLUN<br />
16 17
THE<br />
THREE GORGES<br />
HYDRO PROJECT<br />
The Yangtze River is the longest river of Asia, stretching 6,300 km (3,900 miles)<br />
in length from East to West across China. The river passes through the Yangtze<br />
Gorges. More than 1,683,500 sq km of territory is drained by the Yangtze and its<br />
branches. During periods of heavy rains, floods caused by the river occasionally<br />
have caused destruct of life and property.<br />
Three Gorges Hydro project on the Yangtze River was first conceived by the Chinese<br />
leader Mr. Sun Yat-Sen. He ordered engineering prospects at the beginning of the<br />
20th century. Soon after the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Mao<br />
Tzedong proposed the Three Gorges Project again and did surveys in the Three<br />
Gorges area in person. The prospect, design and argumentation of the Project<br />
took about 4 decades to be completed. In 1994, the construction began officially.<br />
Scheduled for completion in 2009, the dam will measure about 180 m (about 600<br />
ft) high and about 2.5 km (about 1.5 mi) wide. It is expected to help control the<br />
flooding of the Yangtze River valley; in addition, river flows will make the Three<br />
Gorges complex the largest electricity-generating facility in the world. A lake about<br />
650 km (about 400 mi) long will form behind the dam, forcing the relocation of<br />
more than 1 million people and permanently flooding many historical sites.<br />
18 19
PRODUCER<br />
XSTREAM PICTURES<br />
Xstream Pictures was created by Jia Zhang-Ke, Chow Keung and Yu Likwai in 2003. It has<br />
offices both in Hong Kong and Beijing. It’s aim is to explore and to promote talented Chinese<br />
directors. The first production of Xstream Pictures was the film of Jia Zhangke, THE WORLD,<br />
a co-production with Office <strong>Kit</strong>ano, Celluloid Dreams and Shanghai Film Studio. Its second<br />
production is WALKING ON THE WILD SIDE, a co-production with Les Petites Lumières, directed by<br />
first time director Han Jie. The film won the Tiger Award (Best Film) in Rotterdam <strong>International</strong><br />
Film Festival 2006.<br />
SALES<br />
MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL<br />
<strong>Memento</strong> <strong>Films</strong> <strong>International</strong> (MFI) is an <strong>International</strong> Sales film company launched in Cannes last<br />
year designated in tracking high-quality foreign films to promote and distribute them. Attending<br />
major industry events (Cannes, Berlin, Tokyo FF, Hong Kong Filmart, Venise, Toronto, AFM, Pusan),<br />
our ambition is to nurture and to consolidate talents around the world, with an award winning,<br />
original and innovative line-up. We want to find appropriate solutions in regards to give the best<br />
of ourselves to the films and to establish a long-time synergised relationships with worldwide<br />
partners.<br />
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<strong>Memento</strong> <strong>Films</strong> <strong>International</strong>’s line-up :<br />
2006 STILL LIFE<br />
by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
Venice / GOLDEN LION<br />
China, 500 000 euros<br />
2006 AURORE<br />
by Nils Tavernier<br />
Competition Moscow<br />
France, 5.3 million euros<br />
with Carole Bouquet, François Berléand<br />
2006 EL VIOLIN<br />
by Francisco Vargas<br />
Official Selection Un Certain Regard,<br />
Cannes 06<br />
BEST ACTOR PRIZE<br />
Mexico, 800 000 euros<br />
2005 KILOMETRE ZERO<br />
by Hiner Saleem,<br />
Competition Cannes<br />
France/Kurdish Irak, 1 million euros<br />
MFI has a created a label called ARTSCOPE aiming to (re)establish a full status of work of ART<br />
to selected masterpieces. With ARTSCOPE we develop event screenings in relation with non<br />
commercial circuits and places of culture (museums, houses of photography, galleries). Our<br />
titles.<br />
2006 DONG by Jia Zhang-Ke<br />
Horizontes Venice<br />
2006 JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA<br />
by Pedro Costa<br />
Competition Cannes<br />
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