In the run-up to the Chinese New Year, which this year falls on January 25, the China Culture Centre is organising a film festival in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv.
The festival kicks off tomorrow at 7.30pm with Ip Man 3, a 2015 action film which sees Donnie Yen returning to his iconic role as the real-life mentor of Bruce Lee.
In this sequel, certified 12A, a band of gangsters led by a crooked property developer (Mike Tyson) plan to take over the city. Master Ip is forced to take a stand.
The 2018 crime film L Storm, showing on Saturday at 3pm, is also a sequel to the 2016 movie S Storm.
Tomorrow is Another Day (2017)Independent Commission Against Corruption investigator William Luk and Joint Financial Intelligence Unit officer Lau Po-keung respectively investigate a corruption and money laundering case but are unable to find any clues. The film is certified 12A.
The award-winning 2017 drama Tomorrow is Another Day is showing on Sunday at 3pm.
The picture, certified 15, follows a woman by the name of Mrs Wong, who knows her husband is cheating on her but chooses to stay silent for the sake of their marriage and autistic son. However, the mistress has an ulterior motive and disturbs the couple’s lives.
Theatrical art troupe to perform at MCC on January 19
Mr Wong ends up leaving his matrimonial home after a fight. Feeling at a loss and struggling to watch over her son on her own, Mrs Wong begins to plot ways to avenge herself.
The 2014 historical drama Coming Home is showing on January 16 at 7.30pm. It is directed by one of the most talented Chinese directors, Zhang Yimou, and stars Chen Daoming and Gong Li, two of the most celebrated actors in China.
The plot follows Lu Yanshi (Chen) and Feng Wanyu (Gong), a devoted couple who are forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labour camp as a political prisoner.
Meanwhile, his wife is injured in an accident. Released during the last days of the Cultural Revolution, he finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife has amnesia and remembers little of her past. Unable to recognise Lu, she patiently waits for her husband’s return. The film is certified 12A.
Coming Home (2014)
L Storm (2018)
Ip Man 3 (2015)
The festival comes to a close with the 2006 award-winning drama The Banquet on January 21 at 7.30pm.
Certified 15, it is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet and features themes of revenge and fate. It is set in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th-century China and sees the emperor, the empress, the crown prince, a minister and a general plotting to finish off their enemies at a night banquet.
All films will be showing in Chinese with English subtitles.
The China Culture Centre is organising more activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which this year is dedicated to the rat, a symbol of abundancy, wealth and fertility.
These include a fair at the Chinese Garden of Serenity in Santa Luċija and a performance by a theatrical art troupe from Hebei Province at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. Both events are being held on January 19.
For more information about the film festival and tickets, visit www.kreattiva.org. For more information about the Chinese New Year celebrations in Malta, visit the Facebook page of the China Culture Centre.