Odyssey: a Chinese cinema season returns for 2023


By   |  Jun 1, 2023

‘Odyssey: a Chinese cinema season’ is back in the UK for 2023. Presented by NGO UK-China Film Collab, the season will run for one month and the theme this year is “Global Sustainability”.

Responding to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the festival programme will include 5 main strands comprising both online and offline screenings: “JOURNEY”, “EQUALITY”, “BIODIVERSITY”, “ENVIRONMENT” and “URBAN DEVELOPMENT”. Odyssey 2023 will showcase over 60 films online & offline across the country. Masterclasses, discussion panels and Q&As will also be included as part of the programme. This is the first international film festival to advocate the topic of “Global Sustainability” via films about greater China.

For full details on all films being screened and where to watch them, visit odysseychinesecinema.uk.

Stephen Chow in Focus
A true multi-hyphenate, Stephen Chow is a writer-director-star-producer responsible for some of the wildest, most enjoyable comedies in cinema history, flying the flag for his brand of Hong Kong mo lei tau (“nonsense comedy”). Odyssey 2023 and Prince Charles Cinema are happy to showcase four films from across his decade-spanning career, in a retrospective program that’s the first of its kind in the UK. This programme, as part of the Odyssey 2023 film festival, provides a wider context of both Chow’s career and Hong Kong film culture in recent decades. It wishes to inspire a new scope for discussion, in reflection of a revolutionary time.

Forbidden City Cop + Intro
Screening Date: 1 June 2023
Time: 18:30
Screen 1
Director: Vincent Kok and Stephen Chow
Starring: Stephen Chow, Carina Lau, Carman Lee
1996 | 86 mins | British Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles
Tickets: Prince Charles Cinema

Synopsis: An imperial agent gets ridiculed for his various inventions until his supportive wife encourages him to attend a conference. The conference is actually a trap to kill all the doctors serving the emperor, where the agent’s crazy inventions come in handy

Sixty Million Dollar Man + Intro
Screening Date: 8 June 2023
Time: 18:25
Screen 1
Director: Wong Jing and Raymond Yip Wai-Man
Starring: Stephen Chow, Gigi Leung, Elvis Tsui
1995 | 90 mins | British Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles
Tickets: Prince Charles Cinema

Synopsis: After being blown up by a Japanese yakuza for dating the wrong woman, rich playboy Lee Chak-sing (Stephen Chow) is brought back to life by a mad scientist. Only thing is, he now has a computer chip in his brain and the ability to turn into different household utensils. It’s not long until the chaos he makes grabs the attention of the yakuza, who are out to kill him again.

Kung Fu Hustle + Intro
Screening Date: 15 June 2023
Time: 18:05
Screen 1
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Stephen Chow, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Danny Chan, and Huang Shengyi
2004 | 90 mins | Hong Kong SAR, China
Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles
Tickets: Prince Charles Cinema

Synopsis: 1940s Shanghai: the dangerous Axe Gang are running rampant over the city. Only Pigsty Alley, one of the city’s slums, is willing to stand up to them. A petty thief called Sing (Stephen Chow) tries to get into the gang, complicating matters for everyone.

The Mermaid + Intro
Screening
Date: 22 June 2023
Time: 18:20
Screen 1
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Deng Chao, Jelly Lin and Show Lo
2016 | 94 mins | Hong Kong SAR, China
Language: Mandarin with English Subtitles
Tickets: Prince Charles Cinema

Synopsis: Liu Xuan (Chao) is a rich property developer, wreaking ecological havoc with his multi-billion land reclamation project. A mermaid society affected by the reclamation project sends the beautiful Shan (Lin Yun) to disguise herself as a human and assassinate Xuan.

Phil Mills
Follow me

Share