EXCLUSIVE: Parallax Films has boarded international sales for Fuxi: Four Tales Of Feasting, directed by Chinese artist-filmmaker Qiu Jiongjiong, which is receiving its world premiere in the main competition section of Tokyo International Film Festival.
Qiu is known internationally for his debut narrative feature A New Old Play, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival.
Rooted in the folklore of China’s Sichuan province, Fuxi: Four Tales Of Feasting unfolds through four separate feasts spanning four millennia, that “bring the living and the dead, gods and ghosts, to the same table”. The word “fuxi” in its title is a Sichuan expression meaning “the joy of the belly”.
Parallax describes the film as a “handcrafted mythic fantasy” referencing Qiu’s unique style of filmmaking that combines painting, theatre and cinema. “Rather than reproducing reality, Qiu uses hand-painted scenic flats, handmade props and theatrical staging to give physical form to his imagination, creating a cinematic universe entirely his own,” Parallax explains.
The cast includes Lee Kang-sheng, Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang’s longtime leading actor, playing two grandmothers in different chapters of the film, marking his first female roles on screen. He is joined by actor-filmmaker Lee Hong-chi, whose directorial debut Love Is A Gun won the Lion of the Future award at Venice, and Annie Chen, known for her role in Netflix series Born For The Spotlight.
Produced by David Tang, Ningyuan Ding and Zhao Jin, Fuxi is a co-production between Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. The project received support from international film funds and project markets including Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, Red Sea Fund, Doha Film Institute and Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
The film’s visual world also extends beyond the screen in Fuxi: A Feast For The Universe, Qiu’s large-scale solo exhibition at A4 Art Museum in Chengdu. Bringing together paintings, sets, props and installations, the exhibition translates the film’s imagined universe into a new spatial narrative.
The deal for world sales on Fuxi extends Parallax’s relationship with Qiu, with the company also representing his seven previous films, which include A New Old Play, experimental documentary shorts and documentary features.
