Jow Zhi Wei’s first feature film premieres in Spain as part of the Festival’s Official Section
The film will be screened today, April 20, at 5:30 p.m., and tomorrow, April 21, at noon at Cinesa El Muelle Screen 9. In addition, the Singaporean director will be at today’s screening to talk with the audience
The catalog and full schedule are available on the official website lpafilmfestival.com
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Thursday, April 20, 2023.- An exhausted father unable to express his emotions and a teenage son who has to face the consequences of death are the main characters of Tomorrow Is a Long Time (Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu, Singapore, Taiwan, France, Portugal, 2023, 106 min.), by Jow Zhi Wei. Dramatic and moving, this feature film that originated from its director’s personal experiences will premiere in Spain as part of the 22nd Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. The film, which is competing in the Official Section, will be screened today, April 20, at 5:30 p.m., and tomorrow, April 21, at noon at Cinesa El Muelle Screen 9. In addition, the Singaporean director will be at today’s screening to talk with the audience.
According to Jow Zhi Wei, in cinema “there are different ways of telling a story” and he has chosen to do so through his own experience. It is this experience and, more specifically, the one he went through his childhood, which has determined the direction of his first feature film. “When I was little my parents worked and it was my grandmother who took care of me. She died when I was about six years old and for me it was traumatic and the hardest experience I remember. She died from a hereditary disease that also affected my father when I was 16. This made me understand that it could happen to every member of my family, and even to me,” he recalled at the press conference.
This “face to face with death” when he was just a child is the “starting point” of Tomorrow Is a Long Time. The film portrays the relationship between Chua, a pest exterminator who is forced to accept all sorts of jobs to survive, and his son Meng, a 16-year-old boy dragged down by his family and social situation. His life changes completely when, triggered by the loss of his father, he embarks on an exciting adventure in the jungle. This journey marks the beginning of the second part of the film, in which we can observe the evolution of the protagonist in the middle of nature.
The main characters of the feature are played by acclaimed Taiwanese actor and director Leon Dai, winner of multiple awards such as the Golden Horse, and Edward Tan. It took seven years to complete the film, among other reasons, according to the filmmaker, because of the long casting process. Jow Zhi Wei wanted to find the perfect chemistry between all cast members. A desire that led him to hold over 300 auditions for almost three years just to find the right person to get into the skin of Meng. Of course, he said, as soon as he saw Tan, he knew the role was made for him.
Despite the ups and downs of the process, including the outbreak of the pandemic or having to shoot in beautiful yet steep Taiwanese landscapes, the director claimed that he never intended to throw in the towel for his first feature film to see the light of day. It finally did so last February in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlinale, where it received good reviews, as the director noted.
The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, organized by the Culture area of the Gran-Canarian capital’s City Council through Promoción de la Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has received public assistance by the ICAA [Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts] and the program for the internationalization of Spanish culture, PICE Visitantes, of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).
Among the Festival’s collaborators we may find Cinesa El Muelle, El Muelle Shopping Center, Hotel Cristina by Tigotan, the Elder Museum of Science and Technology or Casa África, places which also function as venues or hold activities of the film event; as well as other institutions and companies such as Sagulpa, Hospitales San Roque, Audiovisuales Canarias, Music Library & SFX or the International Bach Festival. Likewise, its market, MECAS, has been possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Gran Canaria Film Commission-Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria and the support of Canary Islands Film and Proexca.
The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Mid Atlantic University, the the CIFP Felo Monzón Grau-Bassas, the Canary Islands Film Institute, the Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands, Digital 104, CIMA [Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media], the Asociación Microclima Cineastas de Canarias [Association of Filmmakers of the Canary Islands ‘Microclima’] and Tusity are also collaborators of the Festival.
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