Terracotta treads Terrafirma…?!

… NOT really, NOT literally* but some NOT to be missed news nonetheless.

[*How could a type of clay, a statuette, even a colour or in this instance a whole film festival physically take on anything, let alone the very ground it… errr… stands, walks or rolls on?  Well, maybe the film festival could but only if we were talking about the members of Terracotta Far East Film Festival as people, but even then…? Frankly, they do too much already.]

The Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2015 / 2016, LondonWhether you read the latter, lengthy paragraph or not, I think that sending each of the Terracotta Far East Film Festival team, the volunteers and all involved on a well deserved holiday is one thing, but that vacation being one in which they go on some bizarre hiking mission is another – even if hiking is indeed enjoyed in countries such as Korea, a country it supports in the films it shows.  That’s plain unfair.

So why are Terracotta treading or climbing ground? Maybe it should be ‘new grounds’… who knows?!  Well, you may, if you read on.

Simply put, it seems they have BIG PLANS ahead and that can only mean one thing. Well, two. No… In fact, many.

Firstly, such big plans can only spell EXCITING ones.

Secondly, GROWTH… Indeed, not only have Terracotta had 7 Asian film festivals – which include the focused ‘Hong Kong 15’ fest in 2012 – as well as touring festivals too and a monthly FREE Asian meet up [in partnership with Third Window Films], they’ve been expanding into film territories of Asia and the World which were only minutely touched on in the UK previously. The latter include Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

What else? Now, I did mention, joke, allude to, or not allude to a plainly ‘coincidentally’ state about Terracotta taking a holiday. Well, perhaps a hiatus then? Yep.

To ensure a bigger, better, greater, grander festival next time they are indeed taking 2015 as a ‘gap year’, if you like. In 2016, they will RETURN!

This will not, of course stop other events such as the aforementioned Meetup screenings… Once a month or whenever.

However, these are just my words, and so are only interpretations of the voices within Terracotta… But so that you too can hear it ‘from the horses mouth’, so to speak here is a Press Release from Team Terracotta and even the festival director himself, Joey Leong.

So…

“Terracotta Far East Film Festival takes a break in 2015, back in 2016, bigger and better

Terracotta Far East Film Festival (TFEFF) will be taking a break in 2015, to allow us to develop the exciting new projects that we have planned for the rest of the year and for 2016.

Our dedicated team will take this opportunity to grow and expand the scope of the event, so that we can aim for greater impact in London’s crowded event calendar. The film festival landscape has changed considerably over the last few years and our focus will be on creating a revitalised, cutting edge platform for Asian films in the UK.

The first Terracotta Far East Film Festival took place in 2009 and has since become the biggest event for Asian cinema in London. Six years on, we have successfully produced seven Asian film festivals, including ‘Hong Kong 15’ in 2012, celebrating the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty. We have flown in actors, directors and producers from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea, showcasing both emerging and existing talent, complimented by some fascinating Q&As and masterclasses.

While the climate for world cinema and independent films is increasingly tough, the growth of the festival highlights the exceptional output from this diverse region and continued audience desire to see these films in the UK.

Festival Director, Joey Leung says:

“This doesn’t mean we have completely disappeared for 2015; Terracotta will participate in various events around the country, throughout the year and 2016 will see a dramatically different Terracotta, one that promises to deliver uncompromising excellence in Asian cinema – we look forward to seeing you there with us.”

Independent Distribution Companies

About Terracotta

Terracotta Far East Film Festival (TFEFF) is brought by the Terracotta Group, bringing quality and entertaining Far East Asian cinema to the UK.

The biggest event for Asian cinema in London, TFEFF’s 6th edition ran from 20 May – 01 June 2014 with an outstanding line-up of movies spread over three strands: CURRENT ASIAN CINEMA, “SPOTLIGHT ON” dedicated to an emerging territory and the TERROR COTTA HORROR ALL-NIGHTER. Guest Actors and Directors attend the festival to introduce their films, host Q&A sessions afterwards, run Masterclasses and interact with festival goers. The festival is a non-jury, non-competition festival, though the audience will vote for the Audience Award. More information at: http://www.terracottafestival.com

Terracotta Group is also a film distribution company and hosts other film screenings and events throughout the rest of the year. Releases by Terracotta Distribution include the multi-award winning BREATHLESS directed by Yang Ik-june, Johnnie To’s SPARROW and Kim Ki-duk’s controversial drama, MOEBIUS via theatrical, DVD and VOD platforms. The company added imprint label Terror-Cotta, devoted to Asian horror and thrillers, and recently launched their Classic Kung Fu Collection intending to revisit forgotten martial arts movies, some of them produced in 1970’s. More catalogue information at http://www.TerracottaDistribution.com

About Terracotta Distribution & Third Window Films ‘Meet-Up’ events:

http://www.meetup.com/AsianMovies/events/past/?scroll=true#past

Footnote [& perhaps a little repetitive] Facts…

Not only is mine – and others – admiration for Terracotta Distribution and Third Window Films & the titles released, festivals held, unique-to UK Special Edition items & indeed affordably priced goods, they also hold the odd – or not so ‘odd’ – one-off events.

Yes, it seems that the guys at Terracotta and Third Window are never satisfied with having enough on their plate.  They always want more… or rather, they always want to ‘give’ more!

TD and TWF seem to give so much to the Asian-cinema-hungry audience, whilst asking for very little in return.  Many feel that their marketing skills and event programming is second to none.

As an example of events, the guys at TD and TWF hold a monthly, or bi-monthly ‘Secret’ Asian Movie Meet-up – or simply a non-Secret one, themed one, Japanese specific or, well, whatever!

These events often show the audience a yet-to-be-released Asian film, or one of their favourites – therefore, these occasions can be an exciting affair, with the audience being both surprised and often given an ‘exclusive’ screening.  Competitions are also common-place, and the prizes are DVDs from these two reputable distributors.

Speaking from experience, these nights – although sometimes weekend afternoons – are a lot of fun, where one can drink, chat and of course WATCH!

Again, Terracotta Distribution and Third Window Films pull out all the stops and usually make this a FREE event!

But that’s enough of the T & TF STORY.

Finally…

“Virally Vended”

Further details of Terracotta Distribution – the company behind the Terracotta Far East Film Festival & Terracotta Touring Festival – and that other Asian film favourite, the aforementioned Third Window Films are below.  However, before you rush to clickety-click-away I’d like to use this space to mention the mindless riots experienced here in the UK in 2011.  Did you know that these riots caused hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages and loss to our favourite independent film distributors? These are, essentially… Arrow Films, Artifical Eye, The BFI, Crabtree Films, Cine-Asia, Dogwoof Films, Exposure Cinema, Eureka, Kaleidoscope Films, Left Films, Masters of Cinema, Metrodome Films, New Wave Films, Peccadillo Pictures, Revolver Entertainment, Showbox Home Entertainment, Terracotta, Third Window Films and Warp Films.

So, with the latter in mind it is even more important to spread the word, virally about these unfortunate vendors. On that note I leave you with these links… all which will, in some way assist in keeping such films to be distributed here in the so-called land of milk & honey.

http://www.facebook.com/thirdwindowfilms

http://www.facebook.com/TerracottaDistribution

http://www.Twitter.com/ThirdWindow

http://www.Twitter.com/TerracottaDistribution

http://www.Twitter.com/AIDED_Film

http://www.TerracottaFestival.com

http://www.TerracottaDistribution.com

(… again, often in conjunction with that other reputable distributor, Third Window Films).

Thanks for your support… in every way.

See You Later, L’asia or That’s all, Filks*!

끝

* Filks. A combination of Film and Folks.