Feature Film Programmes

Mint feature film programme will create insight and sound during this three-day festival journey. 

In the spirit of reclaiming the Chinese film heritage, we selected a handful of films spanning from 1998 to 2022, which across the festival-awarded Chinese arthouse: A New Old Play(2021), Virgin Blue (2021), the prominent wuxia film (martial art film), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000）by Ang Lee, and a tactile documentary, Yang ± Yin: Gender in Chinese Cinema（1998）by Stanly Kwan. We challenge the boundary of Chinese cinema and emancipate the definition from films produced by Chinese in China to films made in relevance to Chinese people from near and afar. The integration of Piccadilly (1929), a British silent masterpiece starring the first ever Chinese-American Hollywood star Anna May Wong, marks the uniqueness of Mint CFF  in  rethinking the Chinese diaspora and exotic flair since the era of early cinema.

In the hopes of shedding light on the perspective of Asian women to a diverse audience, we will bring to the UK the premiere of three talented women-made films:  Double Life(2022) by first time Japanese-based Chinese filmmaker B for Busy(2021), a phenomenal Chinese feature by Yihui Shao, and Barbarian Invasion(2021) by indie filmmaker and pioneer of Malaysian New Wave Cinema, Tan Chui Mui, to the Keswick Alhambra cinema.

The full-length film programme focuses on the multilayered representation of the female image under the male, the female and the queering gaze,  delving deeper into women and gender issues in different social contexts and generations. These films vividly portray Chinese women from the mainland, overseas, and in Chinese-speaking regions, including one of the significant female images in Chinese film culture. The hectic pace of contemporary life has created new problems for women. It is recognised in Mint CFF's programme of feature-length films that observe women's struggles from various perspectives of genders, generations, and cultures. Deriving from the traditional character of Xia Nv(侠女), women who grow under Chinese cultural influences now rebel not only against the traditions but the renewed expectation. We shall revisit this discussion from the actress under martial art training in Barbarian Invasion and a Japanese contemporary dancer who attempts to think introspectively into her marriage.