HKIFFS Collaboratees with Heaven Pictures to launch "B2B A Love Supreme" Project!

20 June 2019 (Hong Kong) – The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) and China’s Heaven Pictures are teaming up with six prominent Asian filmmakers to go back to the basics.

In the project entitled “B2B A Love Supreme” announced in a press conference in Shanghai today – the “B2B” stands for “Back to Basics” – each filmmaker will be assigned a budget of RMB¥1,000,000 (approximately US$145,000) and challenged to demonstrate how they can produce a high quality film inexpensively.

Jacob WONG of the HKIFFS (8th from the left) and the six prominent Asian filmmakers attended the press conference in Shanghai. They include ZHANG Lu (5th from the left), ISHII Yuya (6th from the left), LEE Kang Sang (represents TSAI Ming-Liang, 7th from the left), TAN Chui Mui (9th from the right), Philip YUNG (3rd from the right), and YANG Jin (1st from the right).

The participating filmmakers range from acclaimed masters to emerging directors. They include the celebrated Taiwanese auteur TSAI Ming-Liang [Vive L’amour (1994) and Stray Dogs (2013)], multiple award-winning Japanese helmer ISHII Yuya [The Great Passage (2013), The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always The Densest Shade of Blue (2017)], veteran Korean-Chinese director ZHANG Lu [Dooman River (2010), Fukuoka (2019)], Chinese independent filmmaker YANG Jin [The Black and White Milk Cow (2004), Don’t Expect Praises (2012)], leading Malaysian New Wave director TAN Chui Mui [Love Conquers All (2006), Year Without A Summer (2010)], and Hong Kong director Philip YUNG, whose crime thriller Port of Call (2015) won seven Hong Kong Film Awards.

“Through this initiative, we aim to strip away the artifice of much contemporary movie-making, returning cinema to something raw and exciting,” said Jacob WONG, Director of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) and the Film Industry Services Office (FIS), under HKIFFS.

“We hope to tap into the amazing potential of film made under a limited budget, and to explore creative inspiration and embrace the core values of filmmaking,” echoed YANG Jin, General Manager of Heaven Pictures.

All six films will be co-produced by HKIFFS and Heaven Pictures. When completed, they will be released over the next three years. The HKIFFS will handle international sales and festival strategies through its HKIFF Collection.