13th Spring Film Festival at the Red Carpet

The countdown for the Year of the Pig begins at the 13^th Spring Film Festival, a celebration of the Filipino-Chinese community, happening this January 30 to February 5, 2019 at the Shangri-La Plaza.

Presented by Ateneo de Manila University’s Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies, together with Shangri-La Plaza and Red Carpet Cinema with the cooperation of Film Development Council of the Philippines, Ateneo Celadon, ChinoyTV, and Credit Suisse, this year’s edition will feature a main selection of six contemporary Chinese films free of charge at the new Red Carpet at Shangri-La Plaza.

The festival kicks off with the Gala Night on January 30 with a special program featuring the traditional dragon and lion dance, the Little Mr. and Ms. Chinatown Cultural Costume Parade, saxophonist Joshe Tiu and, the one-time screening of the film Our Time Will Come/明月幾時有. Directed by Ann Hui and starring Zhou Xun, Eddie Peng, and Wallace Huo, this 2017 war film is set in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, where a schoolteacher and her would-be-fiancé link up with Chinese guerrilla fighters to forge their own path to freedom.

While Our Time Will Come is not part of the regular free film screenings, the six other films that actually are include Detective Chinatown/唐人街探案, I Belonged to You/从你的全世界路过, Lost in Hong Kong/港囧, Lost in White/冰河追凶, A Tale of Three Cities/三城记, and The Third Way of Love/第三種愛情. But the 13^th Spring Film Festival isn’t all about just the films. As always, there will be other events promoting Chinese culture happening throughout the festival.

Kicking the festivities off will be the Kim Hwa Chinese Ensemble with a unique performance of their contemporary repertoire on traditional Chinese musical instruments on January 27, 7:00 PM, at the Grand Atrium. 

Running through the entire run of the 13^th Spring Film Festival from January 30 to February 5), the Confucius Institute Chinese Painting Exhibit, presented by the Ateneo Confucius Institute and Shangri-La Plaza, will feature a collection of Chinese paintings in scrolls and fans on display at the Grand Atrium.

From February 1 to 10, the Chinese Bazaar at the Grand Atrium will be the place to be for traditional Chinese delicacies and items.

On February 2, at 2:00 PM, the Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies and Shangri-La Plaza present the Spring Serenade: A Chinese Musical Event. This afternoon of music will feature the musical talents of Chinese-Filipinos that include singers Venisse Nicole Siy and Aleksandra Sofiya Mari Y. Sy, the Philippine Tenors, and the Kim Hwa Chinese Ensemble. Later at 8:00 PM will be the highly-anticipated Chinese New Year Fireworks Show along with dragon eye-dotting ceremony and ceremonial blessing and a dragon and lion dance.

The festival will not be complete without the popular Chinese Painting Workshop presented by the Ateneo Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies and Shangri-La Plaza. Happening on February 3, 2:00 PM, the free demonstration and workshop will be conducted by President of Art Association of the Philippines, Master Fidel M. Sarmiento together with Vice President Roger Santos.

Capping the celebrations is the Dragon & Lion Dance Exhibition by the Philippine Ling Nam Athletic Federation on February 10, 2:00 PM at the Grand Atrium

Here are the six main selection films to be screened at the festival.

Detective Chinatown/唐人街探案 (2015)

Director: Chen Sicheng

Cast: Wang Baoqiang, Liu Haoran, Tong Liya, Chen He

A budding Chinese Sherlock Holmes meets his partner Watson in Bangkok and solves a locked-room murder in singer-actor-director Chen Sicheng’s “Detective Chinatown,” a carefully constructed mystery that blends screechy comedy and crazed action in high-spirited but somewhat ungainly fashion. This eclectic genre mash-up reps quite a novelty in mainland Chinese commercial cinema, and its instant  success points to further opportunities for cerebral, plot-driven concepts to be injected into crowd pleasing hits. 

I Belonged to You/从你的全世界路过 (2016)

Director: Zhang Yibai

Cast: Deng Chao, Bai Baihe, Yang Yang, Zhang Tianai, Yue Yunpeng, Du Juan, Liu Yan

Based on the bestselling series of short stories by renowned Chinese writer Zhang Jiajia, I Belonged To You is a touching romantic tale revolving around two radio disc jockeys and the world they inhabit. They find the audience they reach reflects their own love and heartbreak, and forces them to deal with issues larger than just their own lives.

Lost in Hong Kong/港囧 (2014)

Director: Xu Zheng

Cast: Xu Zheng, Zhao Wei, Bao Bei'er, Du Juan

The film follows Xu Lai, a former artist whose dreams were dashed when the responsibilities of life set in. With his life now revolving around his wife Cai Bo who is obsessed with having children, the quirks of his eccentric family and his mediocre, ordinary existence, Xu Lai hopes to reconnect with his first love Yang YIi on an upcoming vacation. However, his hopes are dashed when he finds himself wrapped up in a murder investigation that proves truth is often stranger than fiction.

Lost in White/冰河追凶 (2016)

Director: Xu Wei

Cast: Tony Leung Ka-fai, Tong Dawei, Zhou Dongyu, Deng Jiajia, Vision Wei, Cao Weiyu

In a small village, where the land was covered with thick snow, a dead body was found in an iced river. Detective Zhou Peng and Wang Hao went to the village searching for perpetrator. What they found is a much more complicated truth.

A Tale of Three Cities/三城记 (2015)

Director: Mabel Cheung

Cast: Ching Wan Lau, Wei Tang, Hailu Qin

The film is about the real love story of Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, parents of Jackie Chan who met in Wuhu during the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s, separated in Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, and finally reunited in Hong Kong in the 1950s while their children from previous marriages were left behind in mainland China (whom they would not see again until 38 years later).

The Third Way of Love/第三種愛情 (2015)

Director: John H. Lee

Cast: Liu Yifei, Song Seung-heon

The love story of Lin Qi Zheng (Song Seung-Heon), who is from a rich family, and Zhou Yu (Yifei Liu) who is a smart and beautiful lawyer.

Here is the screening schedule of the 13^th Spring Film Festival at the Red Carpet.

January 30, 2019

1:00 PM Lost in White

3:30 PM Lost in Hong Kong

7:30 PM Our Time Will Come (Gala)

January 31, 2019

2:00 PM The Third Way of Love

4:30 PM I Belonged to You

7:00 PM A Tale of Three Cities

February 1, 2019

2:00 PM Lost in Hong Kong

4:30 PM I Belonged to You

7:00 PM Detective Chinatown

February 2, 2019

1:30 PM Lost in Hong Kong

4:00 PM Detective Chinatown

7:00 PM A Tale of Three Cities

February 3, 2019

1:30 PM A Tale of Three Cities

4:30 PM Lost in White

7:00 PM The Third Way of Love

February 4, 2019

1:30 PM The Third Way of Love

4:30 PM I Belonged to You

7:00 PM Detective Chinatown

February 5, 2019

1:30 PM Lost in White

4:00 PM A Tale of Three Cities

7:00 PM Lost in Hong Kong

The 13^th Spring Film Festival is presented by Ateneo Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies, Shangri-La Plaza, Red Carpet Cinema, Embassy of The People’s Republic of China in The Republic of The Philippines, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Credit Suisse, Ateneo Celadon, ChinoyTV, Flexo Marketing Corporation, Richprime Global Inc, Ateneo Confucius Institute, Auto Nation Group Inc. Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc., When in Manila, What’s Happening.PH, Asian Dragon Magazine, Philippine Primer, adtig.ph, Spark Up, The Philippine Star, and ChinatownTV.