Birth of Melos (2023)

Red Maid, the Matchmaker

Production company Taoyuan chose for its inaugural film a comedy and Fong Yim-fun gets to take a break from playing long-suffering roles and showcase her talents in making us laugh! She plays the spritely titled character, brandishing a fresh image. The film is an adaptation of the literary classic Romance of the Western Chamber, in which the Prime Minister's daughter (Law Yim-hing), under siege from rebel soldiers, is rescued by a plan formulated by a poor scholar (Law Kim-long), with whom she is in love. But her mother (Poon Yat On) reneges afterwards on her promise to let the rescuer marry the daughter, and the clever Red Maid steps up as go-between, devising a series of sharp-witted tactics to help the lovers.

Paweł & Gaweł

Two neighbours with similar names, Paweł and Gaweł, meet a violinist girl Violetta who pretends to be a child. When Paweł learns she's not a child anymore, he falls in love with her. And vice versa.

The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

An actress, three months post-partum, reads through fragments of the archive of Suzanne Césaire as she prepares to perform excerpts of the writer's work.

A Chaos of Flowers

Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

On the Move

A poor taxi driver offered a chance for a better financial future must weigh up the cost of walking away from what he most values. // In a world first omnibus collaboration between emerging Asian movie powerhouses, China, Korea and Australia, comes the classic adaptation of Loa She’s The Rickshaw Boy. Set in three locations, across three countries each thirty minute chapter tells the story of one man’s struggle for survival amidst the age of disruptive technology and explores the intimate relationship that has come to exist between man and machine and the evolution of that relationship.

Frankenstein's Master

Driven to the wilderness to bury the key to a horrible secret, a harried scientist is confronted by his own gruesome creation. Based on excerpts from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this atmospheric and moody short film is a haunting look at what rules us.

The Judgment

Adapted from the short story by Franz Kafka, The Judgment is a psychological drama exploring themes of alienation, memory, and the lines between fantasy and reality. The film follows Georg Bendemann, a young merchant living 1900s Prague, who is struggling to maintain balance in an ever changing world. As his situation deteriorates due to complicated familial relationships, we are compelled to question the very nature of what we are seeing.

Sanctuary

In 1920s rural Mississippi, Nancy Mannigoe, an African-American servant, is placed on death row for the murder of Temple Drake's infant child. Temple, the daughter of the governor, pleads with her father to exonerate Nancy of the charges, explaining that Nancy acted in haste to prevent her from resuming her affair with a roguish Cajun called Candy Man. Details of Temple's sordid past are uncovered as she begs mercy for her faithful servant.

Mama, I Need You!

After finishing the course of junior high school, Kazuo comes up to Tokyo, leaving his mother alone in the unproductive northern district. He finds a job in a small laundry in downtown Tokyo and works hard till late at night. At a nearby restaurant a brother and sister are working, and Kazuo becomes friendly with the girl, Yoneko. Love blossoms between the two. However, Yoneko's brother objects to his sister marrying Kazuo.

Entropic

The most beautiful man in the world, who, sick of being objectified, devises a plan to free himself of other's attention.

Jack London’s Son of the Wolf

After winning a thousand dollars in gold in a boxing match, Jack Mackenzie and his wolf-dog trek south on a journey in hunt of a suitable wife.

Family

"Family" (1953), which launched the Union Film legacy, "Spring" (1953) and "Autumn" (1954) are adaptations of Ba Jin's highly regarded novel "Torrent Trilogy". In "Family", director Ng Wui skilfully condenses the voluminous first part of the novel into an emotionally powerful and intellectually focused story of youngsters struggling to survive oppression and repression in a feudalistic family. This well-received film quickly established the company's reputation.

Phantom of the Opera

Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.

Hot Milk

Rose and her daughter Sofia travel to the Spanish seaside town of Almería to consult with the shamanic Dr. Gomez, a physician who could possibly hold the cure to Rose’s mystery illness, which has left her bound to a wheelchair. But in the sultry atmosphere of this sun-bleached town Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid.

The Top of Mount Fuji

A touching drama based on the novel of the same name by Eikichi Hashimoto. In the 23rd year of the Meiji period, weather forecasts were rarely correct, and people endlessly suffered from typhoons and natural disasters. Nonaka Itaru, a private meteorologist, settled on Mount Fuji during the harsh winter, where it was thought impossible to overwinter, and opens up the future of high-altitude weather observations in Japan.

David Copperfield

After ten happy childhood years, the life of David Copperfield takes an obscure turn. His mother passes away and a cruel stepfather crushes young Copperfield’s dreams and sends him to work in London. From here, the poor soul must fend for himself. Through the hard school of life, he experiences fun and tragedy, love and heartache, friendship, and deception, until he finally rediscovers his place with a dear friend from his happy childhood days. (stumfilm.dk)

Seven Days… Seven Nights

Anne Desbarèdes is a young woman who is married to a wealthy businessman and lives a monotonous existence in the small commune town of Blaye. After indirectly witnessing a murder in a café, she returns to the scene of the crime the next day and meets Chauvin, who informs her in more detail about the events that took place. Mentally unbalanced, Anne begins to believe that Chauvin intends to kill her.

The Monk

Ambrosio is a monk who is sexually tempted by an emissary of the Devil, a young girl in monk's robes. After he has committed numerous crimes, it appears that he will be caught and punished by the Inquisition. Instead, he signs up on the Devil's team and wins his freedom.. and eventually, the papacy.

Fortress

Filmed entirely inside Civitavecchia prison, with the inmates themselves as protagonists and co-authors, Fortezza is the reinterpretation of one of the most important novels of the 1900s: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati. Three soldiers arrive at a solitary military garrison which no longer serves any defensive function. Here, time is at a standstill and is marked by strict regulations, power dynamics, engrained idleness and habit. Waiting in vain for an enemy that will not arrive, the military officers are consumed by the need to give their stay meaning, and resist the attraction that this place holds for them.

Trilby

Danish adaptation of Trilby. Presumed lost, though a single still apparently depicting the novel's climax survives.

Killer Clans

Based on a popular swordplay novel, this colorful and complex saga (whose Chinese title literally translates into the poetic Meteor, Butterfly, Sword) has enough conspiracies, stratagems, and sword fights to fascinate even novice kung-fu cinema viewers. The cast of Shaw Brothers' leading swordsmen and swordswomen are masterfully staged by Yuen Cheung-yan, the brother of Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. The result is both a great action movie and an exceptional dramatic film.