Press Kit - Memento Films International

Xstreams presents
a film by Jia Zhang-Ke
2006 / HONG KONG CHINA / COLOR / 108 mins / HD / 35mm
INTERNATIONAL SALES
MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL
6 cité Paradis - 75010 Paris
Tel + 33 1 5334 9028
Fax+ 33 1 4247 1124
sales@memento-films.com
wwww.memento-films.com
For downloadable images and press kit www.memento-films.com

SYNOPSIS
Fengjie’s old town is already under water, but its new neighborhood hasn’t been finished yet. There are things to
salvage and there are things to leave behind…
Han Sanming, a miner, travels to Fengjie to look for his ex-wife who he has not seen in 16 years. Seeing each
other by the Yangtze River, they decide to remarry.
Shen Hong, a nurse, travels to Fengjie to look for her husband who hasn’t come home in two years. They hug in
front of the Three Gorges Dam. Despite a dance, they sadly call it quits and decide to divorce.

DIRECTOR’S
STATEMENT
Once I walked into someone’s room by accident and saw dust-covered articles on the desk. Suddenly it
seemed the secrets of still life fell upon me. The old furniture, the stationery on the desk, the bottles on
the windowsills and the decorations on the walls all took on an air of poetic sorrow. Still life represents
a reality that has been overlooked by us. Although time has left deep marks on it, it still remains silent
and holds the secrets of life.
STILL LIFE was shot in the old town of Fengjie. Great changes have come to this place due to the
construction of the Three Gorges hydro project: countless families who lived there for many generations
had to relocate to other cities. Fengjie’s old town, which has a 2000-year history, was torn down and
submerged forever.
I entered this condemned city with my camera and I witnessed demolitions and explosions. In the
roaring noise and fluttering dust, I gradually felt that life really could blossom in brilliant colors even
in a place with such desperation.

10 11

JIA ZHANG-KE
Director
YU LIKWAI
Director of Photography
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
film XIAO WU in 1998. He is now settled in Beijing and actively involved in independent filmmaking over China.
Filmography :
2006 SANXIA HAOREN (STILL LIFE) 108mins, Venice, GOLDEN LION
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) 105mins, Competition, Venice
2002 REN XIAO YAO (UNKONWN PLEASURES) 113mins, Competition, Cannes
2001 IN PUBLIC 31 mins (documentary)
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) 193mins/154mins, Competition, Venice
1998 XIAO WU 107mins Forum, Berlin Wolfgang Staudte Award, NETPAC Prize
Born in 1966 in Hong Kong, Yu Likwai graduated from INSAS (Institut National Superieur des Arts de Spectacle, Belgium) in 1994, majoring in
cinematography. He made his directional debut in 1996. He is now actively involved in productions both in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Filmography – Cinematographer
2004 SANXIA HAOREN (STILL LIFE) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKONWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2000 IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2nd Unit Cinematographer) by Wong Kar Wai
1998 ORDINARY HEROES by Ann Hui
1997 XIAO WU by Jia Zhang-Ke
Filmography – Director
2003 ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES, Official Selection - Un Certain Regard, Cannes
1999 LOVE WILL TEAR US APART, Competition, Cannes
1996 NEON GODDESSES, 16mm (Documentary)
12 13

THE CAST
ZHAO TAO (as Shen Hong)
Zhao Tao graduated from the Folk Dance Department of Beijing Institute of Dance in 1998.
Her beautiful stature and techniques had granted her numerous awards. After graduation, she
became the dance instructor in Normal University of Shanxi. Her acting talent was discovered
by Jia Zhang-Ke in 1999 during his scouting for cast in her classroom. In 2003, she further her
studies in Master of Dance Education at the Beijing Institute of Dance.
Filmography:
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKNOWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke
HAN SANMING (as Sanming)
Born in Fenyang of Shanxi Province in 1971. He was born in Fenyang, a small county city of
Shanxi Province of China. He is a mining worker in the local coal mine. Starting from 2000, he
become one of the important figure in Jia Zhang-Ke’s films.
Filmography:
2004 SHIJIE (THE WORLD) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2001 REN XIAO YAO (UNKNOWN PLEASURES) by Jia Zhang-Ke
2000 ZHANTAI (PLATFORM) by Jia Zhang-Ke
14 15

THE CREW
Screenplay/Director
JIA ZHANG-KE
Associate Screenwriter
SUN JIANMIN, GUAN NA
Artistic Consultant
LIN XUDONG
Director of Photography
YU LIKWAI
Art Directors
LIANG JINDONG, LIU QIANG
Music Composer
LIM GIONG
Editor
KHUNG JINLEI
Production Director
WANG YU
Producers
XU PENGLE, WANG TIANYUN, ZHU JIONG
Executive Producers
CHOW KEUNG, DAN BO, REN ZHONGLUN
16 17

THE
THREE GORGES
HYDRO PROJECT
The Yangtze River is the longest river of Asia, stretching 6,300 km (3,900 miles)
in length from East to West across China. The river passes through the Yangtze
Gorges. More than 1,683,500 sq km of territory is drained by the Yangtze and its
branches. During periods of heavy rains, floods caused by the river occasionally
have caused destruct of life and property.
Three Gorges Hydro project on the Yangtze River was first conceived by the Chinese
leader Mr. Sun Yat-Sen. He ordered engineering prospects at the beginning of the
20th century. Soon after the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, Mao
Tzedong proposed the Three Gorges Project again and did surveys in the Three
Gorges area in person. The prospect, design and argumentation of the Project
took about 4 decades to be completed. In 1994, the construction began officially.
Scheduled for completion in 2009, the dam will measure about 180 m (about 600
ft) high and about 2.5 km (about 1.5 mi) wide. It is expected to help control the
flooding of the Yangtze River valley; in addition, river flows will make the Three
Gorges complex the largest electricity-generating facility in the world. A lake about
650 km (about 400 mi) long will form behind the dam, forcing the relocation of
more than 1 million people and permanently flooding many historical sites.
18 19

PRODUCER
XSTREAM PICTURES
Xstream Pictures was created by Jia Zhang-Ke, Chow Keung and Yu Likwai in 2003. It has
offices both in Hong Kong and Beijing. It’s aim is to explore and to promote talented Chinese
directors. The first production of Xstream Pictures was the film of Jia Zhangke, THE WORLD,
a co-production with Office Kitano, Celluloid Dreams and Shanghai Film Studio. Its second
production is WALKING ON THE WILD SIDE, a co-production with Les Petites Lumières, directed by
first time director Han Jie. The film won the Tiger Award (Best Film) in Rotterdam International
Film Festival 2006.
SALES
MEMENTO FILMS INTERNATIONAL
Memento Films International (MFI) is an International Sales film company launched in Cannes last
year designated in tracking high-quality foreign films to promote and distribute them. Attending
major industry events (Cannes, Berlin, Tokyo FF, Hong Kong Filmart, Venise, Toronto, AFM, Pusan),
our ambition is to nurture and to consolidate talents around the world, with an award winning,
original and innovative line-up. We want to find appropriate solutions in regards to give the best
of ourselves to the films and to establish a long-time synergised relationships with worldwide
partners.
20 21

Memento Films International’s line-up :
2006 STILL LIFE
by Jia Zhang-Ke
Venice / GOLDEN LION
China, 500 000 euros
2006 AURORE
by Nils Tavernier
Competition Moscow
France, 5.3 million euros
with Carole Bouquet, François Berléand
2006 EL VIOLIN
by Francisco Vargas
Official Selection Un Certain Regard,
Cannes 06
BEST ACTOR PRIZE
Mexico, 800 000 euros
2005 KILOMETRE ZERO
by Hiner Saleem,
Competition Cannes
France/Kurdish Irak, 1 million euros
MFI has a created a label called ARTSCOPE aiming to (re)establish a full status of work of ART
to selected masterpieces. With ARTSCOPE we develop event screenings in relation with non
commercial circuits and places of culture (museums, houses of photography, galleries). Our
titles.
2006 DONG by Jia Zhang-Ke
Horizontes Venice
2006 JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA
by Pedro Costa
Competition Cannes
22 23

24 25