News

The career path of George Hu has been a serendipitous one: The native New Yorker was talent scouted whilst on a family visit to Taiwan, despite being unable to fluently speak Mandarin, or Taiwanese. That didn’t stop Hu from becoming one of Taiwan’s most popular television and film actors. In director Huang Chao-liang’s semi-biographical opus, Han Dan, Hu seethes volcanically as the good boy bullied into going bad. Hu sat for an exclusive chat with Lmd about the movie’s combustible mix of internalised rage and firecrackers. The Lady Miz Diva: How did the role of Lin {Zheng-Kun} come to you? George Hu: Well, we {director Huang Chao-liang} worked together {Summer Fever}, so he had the image of me playing this role. ...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

A box office success in his native Taiwan with films like Summer Times, Love Is Sin, and Hanky Panky, director Huang Chao-liang turns his eye to the rituals of his rural hometown. At the New York Asian Film Festival, director Huang spoke exclusively with Lmd about Han Dan, his semi-autobiographical exploration of two young men’s coming-of-age against an explosive backdrop of societal pressures and fireworks. The Lady Miz Diva: I understand that the firecracker ceremony was a ritual where you grew up, but what inspired you to make a film with it as your centre? Huang Chao-liang: I am Taitung born. I grew up there. When I was a kid, looking at these grown men in the middle of all these firecrackers...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Huang Chao-liang is one of Taiwan’s most successful directors in recent years. His films, “Hanky Panky” and “The Wonderful Wedding” were both huge domestic box office hits. He is known for his artistic portrayal of everyday life in films that are both genuine and emotionally charged.

George Hu is an American-born actor and singer based in Taiwan. He made his film debut in 2014 with Where the Wind Settles” but he has been acting on TV since 2006.

On the occasion of their film, “Han Dan” screening at New York Asian Film Festival, we talked with the director and the protagonist to talk about the Han Dan ritual, the firecrackers in the movie, male friendship and many other topics.

Why did you decide to shoot a movie about the particular ritual and can you give us some more details about its practice in nowadays Taiwan?

I was born in Taitung, so...

Han Dan is a rather impressive but also very dangerous ritual in Taiwan, where half-naked young men stand on a palanquin holding a kind of bouquet while real firecrackers are tossed at them. The practice supposedly brings prosperity and fortune and also highlights the bravery of the participants, who also suffer burns in the whole of their body during the procedure. “Han Dan” uses this tradition as a base to present a tale about male friendship.

“Han Dan” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff) 2019

The story begins in 1996, and revolves around two young men whose life follows completely different paths. A-yi is the personification of “slick”, being handsome, strong and having a gorgeous girlfriend named Xuan-xuan, who stays faithful to him despite the fact that she has moved far away, to Taipei. Lin Jen-kuen is timid and shy, two characteristics that are heightened even more by an...

New York, NY – Film at Lincoln Center and the New York Asian Film Foundation announce the 18th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff), June 28 – July 14, 2019.

After last year’s Savage Seventeen, this year’s program is dubbed the “Still Too Young to Die” edition with five international premieres, 23 North American premieres, four U.S. premieres, and eight New York premieres, showcasing the most exciting action, comedy, drama, thriller, romance, horror, and art-house films from East Asia, and bringing close to 30 directors and nine actors from Asia.

Eighteen – Still Too Young to Die: Many will recognize the cheeky reference to Nyaff 2016 audience award winner, Kudo Kankuro’s Too Young to Die!, in which a busload of high-school students plummet to their deaths. They either end up in heaven or hell, both of which defy expectations. Graduating into adulthood, Nyaff aims to defy expectations cinematically.

With the irreverent action-comedy...

Vietnamese star Veronica Ngo to receive Daniel A. Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema.

Kim Yoon-seok’s Another Child from South Korea and Huang Chao-liang’s Han Dan from Taiwan are among seven entries that will vie for the Uncaged Award for best feature film in the 2019 New York Asian Film Festival main competition.

Rounding out the competition entries are: Moon Sungho’s 5 Million Dollar Life (Japan), Katsumi Nojiri’s Lying To Mom (Japan), Kenneth Lim Dagatan’s Ma (Philippines), Yi Ok-seop’s Maggie (South Korea), and Wu Nan’s Push And Shove (China). The festival runs from June...