After announcing German, Italian and Japanese film screenings, Shanghai International Film Festival announced another set of outstanding films from Iran, India and Thailand on May 26; among which there are Dhoom starring the Bollywood star Aamir Khan, What\'s the Time in Your World? starring A Separation’s starring actress Leila Hatami’s new work, and popular Thai films such as The Teacher’s Diary, Love in the Moment, etc.
Many fans savor the exotic Indian style, profound Iranian culture and Thai romance. These films shared a diverse element in Asian films, standing out from typical Hollywood films.
Fascinating India, Luxurious yet Lively
So far India produces about 1,000 films every year, twice the number of the Hollywood productions. The country produces the most number of films in the world. Bollywood has become "world’s biggest filmmaking industry in history."
Indian films express its local lifestyles. Its exotic taste garnered a large fan base around the world. P.K., starring Indian national star Aamir Khan and still popular around the cinemas, has surpassed 30 million RMB in three days during its first weekend in China, creating an inverse growth by strong referrals. Mr. Khan’s other film, Dhoom, will also meet the audience during the film festival.
In addition, Queen, Happy New Year, Teenage Murder will also enter screenings during the festival. Queen is the most outstanding film produced by one of the hottest Indian stars in the country, Kangana Ranaut. Abundant luxurious scenes, endless Indian singings and dances, and unfettered relaxation in France, mixed in with pain from old love versus new friendships, the film has every necessary element of a Bollywood film, sketching a journey encompassing thousands of senses and satiating every audience\'s taste. Happy New Year, starring Bollywood A list star Shahrukh Khan continues the classic Bollywood storyline. Its exciting content, beautiful layout, lively rhythm and Indian dancing easily broke the box office record of his other film Three Idiots. Differentiating itself from other happy and lively Bollywood movies, Teenage Murder is a blood-stained modern Indian detective story. Using Agatha Christie\'s inference techniques, the director successfully deducted the origins of a family’ tragedy, resonating a picture across different social ladder and believes in the modern Indian society.
It is worth mentioning that a delegation from Indian\'s film industry will also be visiting during the film festival this year. Here they will share their experience on how to build an indispensable Bollywood industry with Chinese filmmakers.
Cultural Iran, Profound yet Timeless
Because of its conservative practices, many artistic expressions cannot take root in Iran, but TV is an exception. Even though Iranian stars have many restriction, however, from The Children of Heaven and Smak wisni during the 90’s, to Oscar-received A Separation, Iran has perpetually surprised the world.
This year, many Iranian productions including A Minor Leap Down, What\'s the Time in Your World?, Ghesse-ha, and Melbourne will hold screenings during the Shanghai International Film Festival. Among which, A Minor Leap Down has been nominated during the Berlin Film Festival Panorama unit and received the FIPRESCI Critics Award. The film demonstrated different interactions between husband and wife, parents and children and friends. It thought-provokingly reflected the middle-class complacency and emotional gap between people. What\'s the Time in Your World? starring A Separation’s starring actress Leila Hatami. The director has a background in documentary. The film exercises a sense of calm and restrained. Starting from triviality, the two protagonists gradually experience their seemingly placid life from conversation and eye contacts, and learning philosophical meaning in life. Ghesse-ha consists of 7 different stories, exhibiting modern taste and style Iranian society. The film was nominated during the Venice Film Festival competition unit and received a Golden Lion Award for Best Screenplay. Its director, Rakhshan Bani-E\'temad used to be a jury member for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Most of Melbourn took place indoors. Its strong indoor rhythm well tested the director\'s workmanship. Limited scenes opened up bonds between husband and wife, immigration, relationships between neighbors and aging problem. Its fascinating story creates sensational emotions.
Iranian films focus on social realities and reflect human nature. Though the storylines are simple, they contain profound meaning, bringing fresh air into the heavily commercialized film market.
Romantic Thailand, Endlessly Fresh
By the end of 90s, Thai movies stuck in a trough upon the impact of Hollywood films and the Asian financial crisis. With the coming of the new age, Thai films rapidly gained ground in the international film market, creating a new wave of Asian films after Iran, Japan, China and South Korea.
This year, Shanghai International Film Festival introduces Nologo, the Teacher’s Diary, Ai Fai.. Thank You..Love You, Love in the Moment, Call Me Bad Girl, Make Me Shudder for the first time.
Among which, Nologo tells three love tales. Elegant music, poetic expression, smooth translation and natural story extended throughout the film. The film was widely acclaimed during its debut in 2014 Toronto Film Festival, where both popular Thai star Ananda Everingham and Taiwanese star Chung-tien Wu exhibited outstanding performance. The Teacher’s Diary, Ai Fai.. Thank You..Love You, Love in the Moment,Call Me Bad Girl are all classic Thai love comedies. Their simple and fresh storylines, along with eye-pleasing male and female protagonists, encourage young people to love with courage, enjoy the moment, where they share their values with the younger generation. Make Me Shudder is also a hot pick in Thailand now. It detailed a couple teenagers exploring the prohibited area of the campus, extremely funny indeed. In addition, as a film geared toward younger generation, the film eventually talked about the relationship between teachers and students as well as teenager education problems.