MARCH 5–11 2021 MELBOURNE AUSTRALIAN CHINESE FESTIVAL

PRESENTED BY

PARTNERS GOOD TIMES MADE GREAT

Don’t miss out on super savings all day, every day!

It’s easy and free to sign up to Vrewards:

1 VISIT VILLAGECINEMAS.COM.AU/VREWARDS 2 CLICK “JOIN NOW” 3 ENTER YOUR DETAILS AND CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT

JOIN FREE AT VILLAGECINEMAS.COM.AU2 3 WELCOME 欢迎

On behalf of Village Cinemas, it’s a privilege to launch the inaugural Melbourne Australian Chinese . At Village Cinemas movies mean more. This festival will showcase brilliant stories that connect people and communities. A special thank you to our presenting partner Crown Resorts and to our Festival Organiser China Lion Film Entertainment for curating a rich content schedule. We welcome our Chinese community and all film lovers alike to enjoy the Melbourne Australian Chinese Film Festival.

Regards, KIRK EDWARDS CEO – VILLAGE ENTERTAINMENT

2 3 LOCATIONS

1 2 VILLAGE CINEMAS VILLAGE CINEMAS DONCASTER CROWN

619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster Shop 50, 8 Whiteman St, VIC 3108 Southbank VIC 3006

Parking: Parking: Two main entry points: Doncaster Rd West End Car Park, corner of and Williamsons Rd. Get four hours Clarendon & Whiteman St of free parking with the Westfield Crown basement car park Plus App. Melbourne Exhibition Centre

3 4 VILLAGE CINEMAS VILLAGE CINEMAS CENTURY CITY WERRIBEE

285-287 Springvale Rd, Glen Cnr Heaths & Derrimut Rds, Waverley VIC 3150 Werribee VIC 3030

Parking: Parking: 4-hour parking located 200 meters Werribee Plaza Shopping Centre from the Kings Way entrance car park

4 5 VILLAGE CINEMAS DONCASTER

VILLAGE CINEMAS CROWN

VILLAGE CINEMAS WERRIBEE VILLAGE CINEMAS CENTURY CITY

PORT PHILLIP BAY

4 5 BUY TICKETS NOW AT VILLAGECINEMAS.COM.AU/EVENTS/MACFF

BALLOON TRACEY A FIRST FAREWELL 气球 翠丝 第一次的离别

DIRECTOR: Pema Tseden 万玛才旦 DIRECTOR: Jun Li 李骏硕 DIRECTOR: Lina Wong 王丽娜 STARRING: Sonam Wangmo STARRING: Philip Keung Ho-Man STARRING: Isa Yasan 艾萨 ·亚森 / 索朗旺姆 / Jinpa 金巴 / 姜皓文 / Ying Hung Kalbinur Rahmati 凯丽比努尔· Yangshik Tso 杨秀措 惠英红 / River Huang 黄河 / 热合米图力 / Alinaz Rahmati 艾力 Fu-wah Yuen 袁富华 / Jennifer Yu 乃孜·热合米图力 / Musa Yasan On the Tibetan grasslands, Dargye 余香凝 穆萨·亚森 / Yasan Kamisu 亚森· and Drolkar live a serene and 卡斯木 / Ugulem Sugur 乌古来木· ordinary life with their three sons A phone call about an old 苏吾尔 / Tajigul Heilmeier and the grandfather. A condom classmate’s death triggers a 塔杰古丽·海麦尔 / Rahmati sparks a series of embarrassment middle-aged man to look back Kuramu 热合米图力·克然木 / and dilemma, breaking the on his past and the pained wish Kuramu Kasimu 克然木·喀斯木 harmony of the family. What for a different past that may matters more in the circle of life and change his future. Deep in northwestern China, death, soul or reality? surrounded by cotton fields and 2019 desert, lies the Uyghur village that VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2019 Best Supporting Actress (Winner) Best Film (Nominee) Isa calls home. When Isa is not at TAIPEI GOLDEN HORSE FILM school or working on his parents’ FESTIVAL 2019 farmyard, he spends carefree days Best Supporting Actor (Winner) with his friends – until the outside HONG KONG FILM world starts forcing him to say one AWARDS 2019 goodbye after another. Best Supporting Actor (Winner), Best Supporting Actress (Winner) TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018 Asian Future Best Film (Winner) BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019 Generation Kplus (Winner)

6 7 WU HAI 乌海

DIRECTOR: Ziyang Zhou 周子阳 STARRING: Xuan Huang 黄轩 / Zishan Yang 杨子姗 Yang Hua and Miao Wei form a happily married couple living in Wuhai, a small city surrounded with astonishing desert scenery in Inner Mongolia. Yet, the husband, Yang Hua, often feels stressed over the financial differences between his and his wife’s families. He partners with his friend Luo Yu in commercial lending, but unfortunately the business fails and he becomes bogged down in debts. One day, Yang Hua’s family, friends, debts collectors, and debtors come one after another, depriving him of his last bit of dignity. OFFICIAL SELECTION OF SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

6 7 BUY TICKETS NOW AT FILMS VILLAGECINEMAS.COM.AU/EVENTS/MACFF

SPRING TIDE 春潮

DIRECTOR: Lina Yang 杨荔钠 STARRING: Lei Hao 郝蕾 / 金燕玲 / Junxi Qu 曲隽希 Guo Jianbo is a journalist specializing in social news. She lives together with her mother and daughter. Many reports she covered brought her a lot of pain and agony. Her mother helps out in the local community after retirement. She is warm and friendly to all the residents and people in that community and regularly organizes singing competitions. But there seems to be an invisible glass wall between Guo and her mother. Guo’s daughter grows up and develops her own personality in the cracks of that invisible screen. The family ties that bind the three together and the nature of the times in which they each grew up have seeped into their veins like a deadly poison. FIRST YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL 2019 Best Film (Winner) SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019 Best Cinematography (Winner)

8 9 TOUGH OUT THE REUNIONS WISDOM TOOTH 棒！少年 吉祥如意 日光之下

DIRECTOR: Huijing Xu 许慧晶 DIRECTOR: Chengpeng Dong 大鹏 DIRECTOR: Ming Liang 梁鸣 STARRING: Hu Ma 马虎 / STARRING: Jixiang Wang 王吉祥 STARRING: Xingchen Lü Zhengshuang Liang 梁正双 / Jinxin / Chengpeng Dong 大鹏 / Lu Liu 吕星辰 / Xiaoliang Wu 吴晓亮 / Zhang 张锦新 / Lingfeng Sun 孙岭 刘陆 Jiajia Wang 王佳佳 / Yongzhong 峰 / Zhongjian Guo 郭忠健 Chen 陈永忠 A comedy filmmaker left Beijing In the suburbs of Beijing, a group and went back to his hometown Guliang and his sister Guxi run of troubled teenagers learn to play attempting to make a film during a fresh fish stall near China’s baseball with a famous baseball Chinese New Year about his family northern border. An oil spill leads coach, while struggling through reunion, but he encountered to the widespread contamination their internal conflicts and the something unexpected, and the of coastal waters, causing them inability to play baseball games like family members who were there to lose their livelihood. A woman professionals. When an accident for the film didn’t know this event called Qingchang appears in their took place in the winter of 2017, become the last opportunity for lives and the growing intimacy countless local residents got them to be together. between her and Guliang makes evacuated in Beijing, the baseball Guxi feel left out. Qingchang’s team, as well as their playfield were father owns a fish market and he facing the unexpected obstacle— faces his own business crisis as the relocation of their headquarter. well. You Chunbo, the fisherman With the World Series of the Little who works for him breaks into the Pony League waiting around private fishing ground of Mr. Jiang the corner, the whole team will and is beaten to death. Jiang is have to pull themselves together rumoured to be the murderer but and face the competition on the Guxi stumbles upon a recording international stage. that reveals that it is someone else.

8 9 BUY TICKETS NOW AT FILMS VILLAGECINEMAS.COM.AU/EVENTS/MACFF

BEST DIRECTOR ALL ABOUT ING 最佳导演 小伟

DIRECTOR: Xian Zhang 张先 DIRECTOR: Zi Huang 黄梓 STARRING: Jingcheng Jin 金靖承 STARRING: Janis Pang 彭杏英 / / Chuyi Jiang 蒋楚依 / Shaolong Howard Sit 薛立贤 / Ko Hon Man Wang 王少龙 高翰文 Zhang and Shanni are a couple. Everything changes for a family They live in Beijing and both are when Weiming, husband and successful. Zhang is a director who father, is diagnosed with has just won a prize abroad. Shanni terminal cancer. is a fashion magazine photographer His wife, Muling finds herself from Guangdong. They planned to becoming more isolated as her sick get a marriage certificate quickly husband and son become closer, and start a wedding trip. However, as she works to support the family. their parents are not keen on the idea and insist on a traditional Meanwhile Yiming, their son, is Chinese wedding. They force the accepted to a University in the couple to organize a traditional United States, however due to ceremony. Everyone comes to the family’s financial struggles he Zhang’s hometown of Shanxi, and decides to keep it secret. a family hell begins. Differences of Things come to a head when opinion between the young couple the conflicted family returns to and the parents, cultural differences Weiming’s hometown for the between the two families, and then tomb-sweeping ritual, and they Zhang’s ex-girlfriend turns up... discover the original mountain tomb has been replaced by new hotels.

10 11 FOLLOW: @MELB_ACFF

PRESENTED BY

PARTNERS

10 11 LIVE A LITTLE TASTIER