Two more films have been announced for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s The Wave ~ Pan-Asia Film Festival opening May 11, 2016 at the Riviera Theater located in the scenic hills of the Santa Barbara, California Riviera. The festival now has nine of the eleven new and exciting films lined up. Tickets are available HERE!
Check out the newest films to be added:
THE LAUNDRYMAN
Directed by Chung Lee
Written by Chung Lee, Yu-Hsun Chen
Starring CHANG Hsiao-Chuan, WAN Qian, SUI Tang, YEO Yann Yann
Country: Taiwan
Runtime: 112 min
The film is an audacious combination of black comedy and action, telling the story of a laundry shop that secretly provides a service other than doing laundry. The beautiful shop owner A-Gu enlists a group of contract killers for hire in the disguise of laundry service. One of these professionals, “No.1, Chingtian Street”, is haunted by the ghosts of his victims. He seeks the help from Lin Hsiang, a medium introduced by A-Gu. It turns out Lin Hsiang is the only one that can also see the ghosts troubling “No.1, Chingtian Street.” She tries to help him get rid of the ghosts, but the laundry shop hides more secrets than she bargains for. And what “No.1, Chingtian Street” runs from is not the ghosts of others but the ghosts from his past.
ZINNIA FLOWER
Directed by Tom Shu-Yu LIN
Written by Tom Shu-Yu LIN,Wei-Jan Liu
Starring Karena LAM, SHIH Chin-Hang “Stone”
Country: Taiwan
Runtime: 96 min
Wei and his wife, a piano teacher, are expecting a baby in three months. In three months, Ming with be married to Yuo, a cook and the love of her life. Yet all of this ends in a horrible car crash leaving Wei and Ming alone to face the world in emptiness.
Everything that was left behind seems unchanged, but is forever different. They choose different paths, different ways of mourning. Like two mice lost in a labyrinth, Wei runs around in circles, hitting walls, and still ends up where he began. Ming calmly and slowly creeps down a determined path, seemingly moving forward, but towards a fatal dead end. Days go on not feeling like days and the only thing that lets them know that time is still moving forward is the weekly seven-seventh ritual that they both go to up in a mountain temple. It is only there that their paths cross. In a crowd of hundreds of mourners, Wei and Mind notice each other and recognize that pain within the other.
Embarking on separate journeys, Wei decides to visit the homes of all his wife’s piano students, returning their tuition fees for the lessons that will never be taught. Ming decides to go to Okinawa, the honeymoon she and her fiancée will never go to together. In the end, they discover that the only end to their journey is the end of the journey itself, nothing more.
On the 100th day, they travel up to the mountain again for the final ritual. After the last prayer, they meet again, finding both pain and comfort in the other person, a total stranger, but the only stranger who knows what the other has been through. Sunset, on the bus down the mountain, sitting side by side, they weep in silence.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
(Source: News release sbiff.org)
