100 YARDS Review: …Let Them Fight! – TIFF 2023
100 Yards was screened and reviewed for the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, upon virtual invitation.
xu haofeng
100 YARDS: Check Out The Official Festival Trailer For The New Martial Arts Drama Coming To Toronto
Martial arts period drama 100 Yards has been acquired by Well Go USA. The film will release in 2024 following its festival run, which includes an upcoming centerpiece premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall.
100 YARDS Reveals New Look At Jacky Heung In The Official Sales Art For Upcoming Martial Arts Drama
If it helps us stay sane for a little while longer, then yes, perhaps I’ll share the sales key art for 100 Yards, the latest martial arts drama from directing duo Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng which, until recently, only had a regional Mandarin-language title. Fortissimo Films shared the ink on its website as the latest piece of imagery following several stills that have made the rounds in the past year and spotlighting leading men Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream) and Andy On (Ride On).
100 YARDS: Fortissimo Signals World Sales For New Wuxia Action Drama Ahead Of Cannes Market
It’s only been a year since we last heard anything on Men Qian Bao Di, but if it feels longer, you’re not alone. Director Xu Haofeng has been an enigma for me as hampered as I am by the language barrier between me and spoken Chinese dialects, but I’m awful glad that other cogs in this vast machine of cinema marketeering are working hard to help proliferate things a bit.
THE HIDDEN SWORD: Xu Haofeng’s Long-Awaited Martial Arts Epic Stands The Test Of Time With An Official Trailer
It’s been the longest, most agonizing experience waiting for Xu Haofeng’s The Hidden Sword to finally see a release. The Final Master was a pure genre blast and I managed to acquaint myself with most of his work from years prior, and Xu also managed to direct a second film to our knowledge called The Weary Poet.
THE WEARY POET: Take Another Look At Xu Haofeng’s New Wuxia Film
Last month saw the emergence of new stills for yet another in what hopefully won’t be as elusive in feature films as was the quietly released The Hidden Sword. Enter The Weary Poet from director Xu Haofeng and with a cast that lists Zhou Xun and actor Chen Kun in their first film together in six years.
Xu Haofeng Is In Production With A New Sword Epic, And I Am Beside Myself!
I’ve tried my darndest to keep up with director Xu Haofeng in the last several years ever since I caught the fever with The Final Master. I’ve seen most of his films at least once, save for The Hidden Blade which, last I checked, came out last year, and frankly, you could knock me over with a feather if you told me that film was released. I hadn’t a single clue about it following the film’s teaser as there was no official trailer at least I knew of.
Xu Haofeng’s MOONLIGHT BLADE Shimmers Online With New Prelim Poster Art
Activity on writer and director Xu Haofeng’s end has largely been quiet, save for some film festival profusion he earned with his latest period tale, The Hidden Sword. The film screened in Vancouver and Montreal while its local release is yet to be determined, and going forward, he still has his upcoming reimagining of Chor Yuen’s 1976 adaptation of the Ku Long novel, The Magic Blade.
Yes, it’s been a few years since news broke and surely enough, a film like this seems like right up Xu’s alley. Ti Lung and Lo Lieh headlined as two swordsman vying for the legendary and peacock dart and are forced to pair up and fight together when it lands in the wrong hands. Nothing else beyond previous news is known but the fact that we have a new preliminary poster online signaling the film’s existence is certainly welcoming.
Take a look at the art for Moonlight Blade just below..
(Hat tip to Asian Film Strike)
THE FINAL MASTER Lands A February 19 UK Release On DVD, Blu-Ray And Digital
In 1930’s China, Wing Chun master Chen She (Fan Liao, Assembly, Chinese Zodiac), arrives in Tianjin, a city famous for martial arts. With plans to open his own kung fu school, he must first train a student to defeat eight of the city’s masters, legitimising himself as a teacher. But when he is caught up in local politics and an underworld power struggle, Chen finds himself at odds with dangerous people and will fight to protect what he holds most dear.
THE HIDDEN SWORD: Swords And Secrets Clash In The Stylish Trailer For Xu Haofeng’s New Martial Arts Epic
Filmmaker and novelist, The Final Master helmer Xu Haofeng’s body of work is a catalog of fantastic and comprehensive martial arts cinema. His latest, The Hidden Sword aims to add to the succession with the consistency of the acclaimed helmer’s own added touch having worn multiple hats on set for his own previous work.
Legendary kung fu cinema star, actor Chen Kuan Tai (Iron Monkey, Dragon Tiger Gate), reunites with our director for another offering inspired by his own literary work, setting in 1930’s China where an elderly sword maker’s skillset continues to attract the embattled, war-ridden outside world that once forced him and his family into hiding.
A date is still pending for the film following Screendaily’s report in May of its acquisition by Distribution Workshop. Chen is joined by Huang Jue and Geng Le, actressses Summer Xu Qing and Chen Xia, and in reunion with fellow Xu cohort, The Final Master co-star, actor Zhang Aoyue.
The official trailer is now running in full view of fans this week. Check it out!
THE FINAL MASTER: Win A Copy Of Well Go USA’s Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Release
UPDATE: This contest has expired.
Distribution Workshop Nabs International Sales For Martial Arts Drama, THE HIDDEN BLADE
Hong Kong outlet Distribution Workshop is on hand for buyers at Cannes with its own package as events kick off this week. Their slate currently includes a few martial arts titles one of which hails the return of acclaimed novelist and filmmaker Xu Haofeng with the new movie, The Hidden Blade.
Legendary kung fu cinema star, actor Chen Kuan Tai (Iron Monkey, Dragon Tiger Gate), reunites with our director for another offering inspired by Xu’s own literary work, sets in 1930’s China where an elderly sword maker’s skillset continues to attract the embattled, war-ridden outside world that once forced him and his family into hiding. The actor is joined by actress Jessie Li, and in reunion with fellow Xu cohort, actor Zhang Aoyue following the 2015 martial arts period drama, The Final Master, which won Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Awards that year.
The other title housed currently at Distribution Workshop is Yuen Woo-Ping’s Ten Thousand Faces Of Dunjia which opens in China later this year. (Screendaily)
Hey Los Angeles! The China OnScreen Biennial At REDCAT Is Hosting A Screening Of Xu Haofeng's THE FINAL MASTER This November
Co-presented with the China Onscreen Biennial, The Final Master – the third film by Xu Haofeng, famous as the novelist who co-wrote Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster – relocates its titular martial arts master from Southern China to 1932 colonial Tianjin. Xu’s sarcastic and elegant approach to cinema has been described as what martial arts movies would look like if directed by Straub-Huillet —or David Mamet. Echoing the film’s cultural hybridity is a rare Chantal Akerman short that captures the changing light as dusk creeps over Shanghai, its immemorial waters rippling under neon and gaudy ads, to a cover of “Nights in White Satin.”
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