In Depth With: MEI Feng, with an educational screening of Mr. No Problem

1:15 PM, Wednesday, August 14 @ Innis Town Hall

Host: Louis ZHOU, Assistant Programmer, MulanIFF
Language: Mandarin with English translation

Following the educational screening of Mr. No Problem, MEI Feng will share his experience of transitioning from screenwriter to directing his feature debut. He will discuss how he adapts literature into screenplays and develops the stories further. Additionally, he will elaborate on his understanding of visual design planning for the realization of the fictional world constructed in the text. Lastly,  he will share trends in student screenwriting observed in recent years.

Speaker

MEI Feng

Director, screenwriter, and professor at Beijing Film Academy. He has collaborated with director LOU Ye on works including Summer Palace, Mystery, and Spring Fever. He won the Best Screenplay at Cannes Film Festival in 2009 for Spring Fever. In 2016, he directed Mr. No Problem, which won him the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival. His second feature film is Love Song 1980 in 2020.

Price

Free with registration. Access included in Filmmaker Pass.

Schedule

1:30 PM – 1:35 PM: Opening Welcome
1:35 PM – 3:50 PM: Educational Screening of Mr. No Problem
3:50 PM – 4:30 PM: Talk with MEI Feng
4:30 PM – 4:45 PM: Q&A

Mr. No Problem

Set in wartime Chongqing, Shu Hua Farm is highly productive yet fails to turn a profit. The director, Ding Wuyuan, diligently manages the farm but faces discontent from the shareholders due to ongoing losses. The arrival of self-professed artist Qin Miaozhai, and the Western-schooled You Daxing, sets off a power struggle filled with overt and covert battles.

Adapted from Lao She’s short story of the same name, written in 1943, Mr. No Problem is MEI Feng’s directorial debut. Shoot in stylish black-and-white, and retained the original novella’s three-act fable structure. Winner of Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival.

Host

Louis ZHOU

Louis ZHOU graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 2017 with a Master of Arts degree in Film Studies, specializing in genre films. He currently works in the DMR department at IMAX Corp. Previously, he was the Senior Manager of Film Development and Production at Beijing Culture, where he participated in the development and production of all in-house film projects from 2016 to 2018. Notably, he was involved in the filming and post-production of Wolf Warrior 2 and served as a Co-Producer for The Wandering Earth. As the International Sales Manager at Beijing Blossoms Entertainment, he handled the international sales and distribution of films including The Eight Hundred, The Sacrifice, Warm Hug and The Yinyang Master, as well as over 50 Youku web films. Louis joined the Mulan International Film Festival in 2024 and is currently an Assistant Programmer.

Co-Presenter