China, Hong Kong & Taiwan at the Dragon Film Festival

A scene from ‘Love off the Cuff”

The 5th annual Dragon Film Festival will take place from May 3 – 8, featuring films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at two different locations: Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Center in Prato (viale della Repubblica, 277) and Cinema La Compagnia on via Cavour 50/R. All films will be in their original languages with English and Italian subtitles.  Admission: festival pass € 25; afternoon ticket € 4; evening ticket € 5.

The festival will open on Thursday, May 3 at 8:30 pm at Cinema La Compagnia with the comedy “Love off the Cuff” by writer/director Pang Ho-cheung. The film is the last one in the trilogy of “Love in a Puff” (2010) and “Love in the Buff” (2012). The Florence part of the festival will close on Sunday, May 6 at 8 pm with a family drama called “Mad World” by Wong Chun, an award-winning director whose work has been compared to the infamous Wong Karwai.

Selected in collaboration with Beijing International Film Festival, the films in the “Popular China” program present the best recent cinematographic works from China including “Ghost in the Mountains” by Yang Heng (May 5), presented in the Panorama section at the 67th Berlin Film Festival. Other movies in this section include “Have a Nice Day” by Liu Jian, which debuted in competition at the 67th Berlin Film Festival and won the award for best animation film at the 54th Golden Horse Awards as well as “The Taste of Rice Flower” by director Peng Fei, a film about the mother-daughter relationship which will be shown on May 5.

“29 + 1”, the debut film by Kearen Pang in the Hong Kong section follows the lives of two 30-year-old women. “Adieu”, a drama by Kenneth Lau (May 6) which will make its world premiere at the Dragon Film Festival focuses on touching stories of three different characters, reflecting philosophical ideas on life and death. Among the films to be featured from Taiwan is the crime thriller “Who Killed Cock Robin” (May 4), written and directed by Cheng Wei-hao. The film follows the story of the journalist Hsiao-chi (Kaiser Chuang) investigating a long-forgotten accident.

The Dragon Film Festival will move to Prato for its last two days, at the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art with screenings of “Chasing the Dragon” and  “Aftershock” scheduled on May 7 and “Love off the Cuff” on May 8.

“The Impossible Black Tulip” exhibition curated by Livia Dubon will open on Wednesday, May 3 at 5.30 pm at Le Murate. The exhibition aims to explore the gray area between Chinese and European identities, challenging the ideas of exoticism and stimulating the knowledge of the “Other” with the works of three Macau artists; Eric Fok, Gue Jie Cai, and Ka Long Wong. The exhibition will be open until June 3 (free admission from Tuesday to Saturday 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm, closed on Sundays and Mondays).

For more info: 055 5048516 | info@dragonfilmfestival.com | www.dragonfilmfestival.com.  (berfin altinisik)