The 65th Festival del film Locarno salutes Johnnie To with a Pardo alla carriera for his exceptional contribution to cinema as a director and producer. The presentation will be accompanied by the European Premiere screening on the Piazza Grande of Motorway (Che sau), To’s latest production, directed by Soi Cheang. Johnnie To, key figure in Asian cinema, has directed over fifty films and has as many to his credit as a producer. Born in Hong Kong in 1955, To began his career in televisi...

Summer is nearly over, and for lots of kids, it's time to go back to school. But before you head off to class, enjoy the last of your days of leisure this summer with a few back-to-school-appropriate films. Whether your idea of a great movie is tongue-in-cheek satire or an inspirational story of triumph, there's a back to school movie for you, and we've listed 20 of the best ones here. There are, of course, many more great movies appropriate for back to school viewing, but we believe thes...

About the film: Undeniably, one of the major events of the day is the arrival in Cannes of Johnny Hallyday and Hong Kong director Johnnie To for the Competition screening of Vengeance, a chillingly somber crime movie of the sort only Johnnie To knows the recipe for. France's national rock star, surrounded by To regulars like Simon Yam, Suet Lam, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, and Lam Ka Tung. He plays a retired hit man who decides to ply his trade again to avenge the murder of his daug...

 Monday, October 15--------No sooner has the New York Film Festival wrapped (screening its Closing Night film PERSEPOLIS yesterday evening) that the busy beavers at the Film Society of Lincoln Center are pulling more cinema treats out of their hats. No rest for the weary, either at the Society or among Festival audiences. Starting this Wednesday, in honor of the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong's incorporation into the Peoples Republic of China (a date either revered or loathed by the local popul...

 Monday, August 13---------Even though Hong Kong has officially been absorbed into the People's Republic of China, it remains its own political and cultural animal. This is certainly reflected in its national cinema, which has been a major international sensation for decades. To mark the 10th anniversary of the end of colonial rule, the BAMcinématek, the repertory film program at BAM Rose Cinemas, is presenting THE NEW DECADE: HONG KONG FILM, starting this Thursday, August 16th.This nineâ€...

Thierry Fremaux unveiled the Cannes Festival Official Selection in Paris on Thursday.21 competition titles are lined up including a very strong presence of American films (5) and such longtime festival friends returning to cannes: Joel and Ethan Coen's, Quentin Tarantino's, Gus van Sant, Emir Kusturica, Wong Kar Wai....The Coen brothers, Tarantino and Van Sant are all previous Palme d'Or winners, Emir won two awards from his past presentations. Good to see a german film in the lineup.Surprised ...

Wong Kar Wai has accepted the presidency of the jury of the 59th Cannes Film Festival which shall take place between May 17-28, 2006. He will be the first Chinese president in the Festival's history.Revealed at Cannes in 1989 with As Tears Go By, he presented in 1997 Happy Together in the Official Selection and was awarded the prize for Best Director. In 2000, In the Mood for Love, selected by Cannes in competition, was crowned with public success and lauded by international critics. Wong Kar Wa...

The 2005 Melbourne International Film Festival takes place from july 20 to August 7. EDGY EUROPE, CHAN FROM CHINA – NOTHING LIKE SYDNEYFrom Lukas Moodysson’s provocative A Hole in My Heart to Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s confronting 4, this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival explores edgy European cinema, as well as films direct from Cannes, and takes a look at Chinese cinema, with a focus on the revealing and entertaining director, Fruit Chan – among many other things, as Executive D...