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Parallax Films takes world sales on Qiu Jiongjiong's 'Fuxi' as it premieres in Tokyo competition

Parallax Films has boarded international sales for Qiu Jiongjiong's 'Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting', which premieres in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Variety's review calls it rich in cinematic pleasures but less substantial than his debut.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Deadline
Image: Variety

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The story, neutrally told

Centre · 1Parallax Films has boarded international sales for Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting, directed by Chinese artist-filmmaker Qiu Jiongjiong, Deadline reported in an exclusive. Mixed · 2The film is receiving its world premiere in the main competition section of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Mixed · 2Qiu is known internationally for his debut narrative feature A New Old Play, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival; Variety also calls it a Locarno prizewinner.

Mixed · 2Rooted in Sichuan folklore, the film unfolds through four feasts spanning four millennia that bring together the living and the dead, gods and ghosts; Deadline says 'fuxi' is a Sichuan expression meaning 'the joy of the belly', while Variety says an opening title card translates it as 'a tasty delicacy, or the act of eating it'. Centre · 1Parallax describes it as a 'handcrafted mythic fantasy' that combines painting, theatre and cinema, using hand-painted scenic flats, handmade props and theatrical staging. Mixed · 2The cast includes Lee Kang-sheng, Tsai Ming-liang's longtime leading actor, who plays two grandmothers in different chapters, his first female roles on screen; he is joined by Lee Hong-chi and Annie Chen.

Centre · 1It is produced by David Tang, Ningyuan Ding and Zhao Jin as a Hong Kong–Taiwan–Japan co-production, supported by funds and markets including HAF, the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund, Red Sea Fund, Doha Film Institute and NAFF at Bucheon. Centre · 1A solo exhibition, Fuxi: A Feast For The Universe, is running at A4 Art Museum in Chengdu, and the sales deal extends Parallax's relationship with Qiu, as it also represents his seven previous films. Left · 1In its review, Variety's Guy Lodge describes four chapters (The Ancestors', The King's, The Litterateur's and Sworn Brothers' Fuxi) from a prehistoric tribe to the dawn of the 20th century, with painted backdrops and practical theatrical effects.

Left · 1Variety judges it less intellectually nourishing than A New Old Play and 'not particularly deep', but praises it as a 'four-course feast for the eyes' whose handcraft is a 'luxury good' in an era of digital and gen-AI effects.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Variety runs a critic's review of the film, weighing its craft against his debut.
Emphasis
Production design, handmade sets, food imagery and a comparison with A New Old Play; a mixed-to-positive verdict.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the sales deal, financing or co-production details.
Charged language
“Sensory Banquet”“four-course feast for the eyes”“luxury good”
For example
“It’s a four-course feast for the eyes” — Variety
“not particularly deep” — Variety

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Deadline reports an exclusive trade news item on the sales deal ahead of the premiere.
Emphasis
The business angle: Parallax's sales role, Qiu's track record, cast, producers, funding sources and the Chengdu exhibition.
Leaves out or plays down
Offers no assessment of the film's quality; relies on Parallax's own description.
Charged language
“handcrafted mythic fantasy”
For example
“Parallax describes the film as a “handcrafted mythic fantasy”” — Deadline

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

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