Bridging the Dragon at Venice Film Festival 2016

The Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section is officially partnering with Bridging the Dragon, the platform that brings together the European and Chinese film industries, to launch several new initiatives, including the Trentino Film Commission and Doc/it for the second module of our Sino-European Project Lab and the China Film Forum at Venice Days 2016.

The lab will consist of a 5-day event from the 28th August to 2nd September 2016 with the main focus on networking. From the 28th August to the 1st September the Lab will stay in Levico, which is about 2 hours away from Venice. The core lab activities will be from the 29th to 30th August, followed by a location tour in the Garda Lake area on the 31st August. On the 1st September, networking drinks will be hold on the Venice Film Festival.

On the 2nd September, within the China Film Forum, Bridging the Dragon will organize a Sino-European panel on scriptwriting and a production seminar. On the 3rd September, Cristiano Bortone’s first official Chinese-Italian-Belgian co-production film Coffee will have its premiere, followed by a party.

Selected projects for Venice

·       Da Ming Treasure Ship, 1905 Pictures, China, Prod: Luo San, Writer: Chen Yugang – Chen Chen, a ten year-old boy living with a tribe on an isolated island on the Indian Ocean longs to see the world. But as he finally gets the chance to do so, great troubles entail.

·       Diplodocus, Human Ark, Poland, Prod: Anja Sosic & Maks Sikora, Dir: Wojtek Wawszczyk – a warm-hearted family animation about a young dinosaur who, searching for his parents, finds his own place in the world.

·       Dust to Dust, Zeng Zeng Media, China, Prod: Cheng Rui, Writer & Dir: Zeng Zeng – Xiaoshu’s father dies in a car accident. When she discovers at his funeral that he was actually murdered, she decides to take her own revenge.

·       Honeymoon Jungle, Alcatraz Films, Wild Bunch, France, Prod: Laurence Clerc, Writer: François Renaud Labarthe – a comedy about a young, freshly married Chinese couple flies to Uganda for what they wrongly think will be the perfect honeymoon.

·       Ivory Love, Yunnan Lucent Pictures, China, Prod: Yang Yuming, Writers: Si Da, Xia Ziyue – a story about breaking social norms, about love and hate between three generations of Chinese and French families throughout 100 years of history along the Vietnam-Yunnan railway.

·       Kinkaseki, Bright Cold Day Films, UK, Prod: Peter Smyth, Writer: James Leighton – a compelling true-life thriller about a man whose quest for vengeance threatens to destroy him.

·       Lezioni di Italiano, Dauphine Film, Italy, Prod: Roberta Manfredi, Writer: Alberto Simone – a famous young violinist comes to Rome for a major concert. He meets a young Chinese chef who is trying to find her breakthrough in the world of high cuisine. During a magical night, their encounter will change their lives forever.

·       My Team vs. Real Madrid, Juben Pictures, Prod: Luna Wang, Zhu Li, Writer: Han Jinglong – a toilet salesman accidentally invests in a La Liga football team in Spain. When he receives an invitation to watch his team play, together with his childhood friend, his puppy love and silver spoon kid, he embarks on a hilarious and curious trip to Spain.
·       Qingdao, Eikon West, Germany, Prod: Katarina Cvitic, Writers:Ulrike Zinke, Adrienne Bortoli – the story of a forbidden love interwoven into the events of the Boxer Uprising in 1900 in China.

·       Secret of the Blue Dragon, Norsk Superfilm, Norway, Prod: Kjetil Omberg, Dir: Stig Svendsen – three Norwegian families go together on  a holiday to China and their children try to save an elephant sanctuary.

·       Springtime for Baihe, Chengdu Guangxin Le Chuang, Prod: Wu Jing, Writer & Dir: Huang Li – a mother released from wrongful imprisonment goes on a journey to look for her son in the Netherlands.

·       The Sea Monster Who Couldn’t Swim, Maipo Film, Norway, Prod: Synnove Horsdal, Writer: Karsten Fullu – an animated family adventure about one sea monster’s lonely quest to save his world from being discovered by humans.

·       Via Indipendenza, 96 (fomer title Live Again in Italy), Handcraft Films, China, Prod: Zhang Siyu, Writer: Lei Yahan – a Chinese boy and girl, who are in Italy to escape from their past, fall victim to a mafia-run trap. 

Selected tutors for Venice

·       Alex Jia, Shanghai New Culture Pictures, China

·       Kate Leys,

·       Marilyn Milgrom, UK

·       Shu Huan, China

·       Yuan Yuan, China

·       Andreas Eicher, Lightburst Pictures, Germany

·       Rikke Ennis, TrustNordisk / Zentropa China, Denmark

·       Martin Gondre, Indie Sales, France,

·       Ulf Israel, Senator Film Produktion, Germany

·       Ben Erwei Ji, Reach Glory, China

·       Charles Lei, Thunder Communications International, China

·       Leontine Petit, Lemming Film / Hamster Film, Netherlands & Germany,

·       Wu Sisi, Jetavana Entertainment, China