- Han Han comedy and Zhou Ziyan's 2017 Golden Horse Award-winning family drama Old Beast also among the films showing in English city
- 'We are a city that has always championed arts and creativity,' Liverpool deputy mayor says
The Shanghai Film Festival is hosting its first mini-edition in the English city of Liverpool this week, featuring four films, including a documentary by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald about contemporary Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.
Part of the "Liverpool-Shanghai 20th Sister Cities Anniversary Celebration", the four-day event aims to provide a platform for filmmakers and movie-goers to exchange ideas and experiences.
"The development of Shanghai's film industry is exciting and film enthusiasts from around the world will certainly want to pay attention," says Jin Hui, secretary general of the Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Association.
Besides Macdonald's film Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016), Liverpool audiences will see Pegasus, a 2019 Chinese comedy directed by Han Han about a former racing driver who gets back in gear; Old Beast, the 2017 Golden Horse Award-winning debut of director Zhou Ziyan, the story of a belligerent patriarch that paints a realist portrait of Chinese society; and Helen Yu's Shakuhachi: One Sound One Life, about a little-known musical instrument.
"We are a city that has always championed the arts and creativity, so it's incredibly exciting that we will be premiering four new Shanghai-produced films over the course of the week," said Liverpool deputy mayor Gary Millar.
"In recent years, Liverpool has become an increasingly popular filming location in its own right, with our streets playing backdrop to some of the biggest blockbuster films and television series on our screens."
Scenes for 2008 Batman film The Dark Knight were filmed on the city's waterfront, and more recently it has served as the backdrop for scenes in 2019 film Yesterday and 2016's J.K. Rowling adaptation Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them .
Screenings, which start on Monday, will be held at Liverpool Hope University and the Everyman Cinema.
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