Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market.
The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.
Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. Recently released from prison, Zhu Shaoyu is a former trafficker of women who is forced to return to the sordid business when his son is abducted. He goes undercover and tries to infiltrate the kidnap gang. But he finds that the boy’s minder, awash in gambling debts, is also intent on holding him hostage. In order to gain leverage, the gang targets the minder’s pregnant girlfriend and convinces her to sell her unborn child.
The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni (“The Wasted Times,” “Cow”) and Song Jia (“The Shadow Play,” “The Final Master”).
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With a Chinese title of “Xun Lu,” and previously known as both “Reindeer” and “A Touch of Warm” in English, the film began shooting in 2021. After a prolonged COVID-related hiatus and an additional wait for winter before the crew could return to the north, the film is currently in post-production and targeting a 2025 release.
Production is by Yang Wei (“So Long, My Son,” “Hidden Man,” “The Mermaid”) with an Elephant Sitting Still” and “Vortex” DoP as cinematographer. Art direction is by Zhong Cheng (“Saturday Fiction,” “The Shadow Play”), while Li Danfeng (“Nina Wu,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”) is the sound designer and Fu Lei (“Gone With the Light”) is costume designer. Film editors are Kong Jinglei and Le Heng.
Fortissimo recently added two other mainland Chinese titles to its Cannes slate: animation film “The Umbrella Fairy” and sports drama “Wild Punch” by cinematographer-director Yu Lik-wai.
The company is also representing “If You Are the One 3,” the third instalment in the Ge You- and Shu Qi-starring romantic drama film series. The film is directed by Feng Xiaogang, one of China’s most successful filmmakers of all time.
