Thespian Tony Leung Chiu-wai has three productions within the pipeline: a movie to be directed by Johnnie To, a separate India-set mission and a six-or-seven-episode streaming sequence during which he’ll play a serial killer.
The Hong Kong display screen legend disclosed the initiatives whereas talking to Selection forward of his position as jury president of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival.
The To mission is awaiting a accomplished script. The India movie is unlikely to shoot this 12 months because of the monsoon season, which runs by way of September. The serial killer sequence is at the moment in script fine-tuning and can affirm its taking pictures schedule as soon as Leung’s jury duties in Shanghai conclude. Additional particulars of the three initiatives are below wraps for the time being.
“It is a pleasure and a great honor,” Leung says of the jury position. “I recall participating in the Shanghai IFF many years ago, though the exact year escapes me. Now it is the 28th edition, it must have evolved significantly compared to the past, so I am very eager to visit and experience it firsthand.”
Having beforehand sat on the jury of the sixty fourth Berlinale and chaired the jury of the thirty seventh Tokyo Movie Competition, Leung is approaching Shanghai’s Golden Goblet lineup recent. “This time, I don’t know anyone in the main competition, so I’m actually hoping for a few more pleasant surprises,” he says. “In my experience, if every jury member spends 15 minutes discussing each film right after watching it, making the final decision will become much faster.”
The competition will display screen “Silent Friend,” written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, as a particular tribute to Leung. The movie marks his first European manufacturing. “It’s a project very close to my heart. The preparation demanded a significant investment of time, involving extensive reading and exhaustive research. The director’s creative methodology is highly distinct from other filmmakers, meaning this kind of cinema is best suited for an audience already inclined toward this genre,” Leung says. “I am very keen to discuss my preparation and our creative process with the audience, thereby fostering a deeper comprehension of the work.”
Leung is an actor with greater than 100 roles throughout a profession spanning almost 5 many years. “Since the age of six or seven, I have consistently watched about three to four films a week. I watch a wide range of films, from mainstream blockbusters and foreign features to arthouse and indie cinema from all over the world. I’m guided simply by what captures my interest,” the actor says.
With reference to AI, Leung says: “Say you need three different cuts of a film; if you hire a human editor, it might take a month or two. AI could probably do it in minutes. Humans simply can’t compete with that speed, so the unfortunate side is unemployment.”
He attracts a distinction, nevertheless, between pace and authenticity. “If the audience knows that something isn’t human, their perception changes entirely,” Leung says. “It’s the same with art. Looking at an original painting by Van Gogh gives you a completely different feeling than looking at a Van Gogh style generated by AI.” He provides: “Right now, there’s just no comparison because AI lacks consciousness. Unless one day AI actually gains consciousness the same way as we humans possess it, meaning it is aware of its own existence. If that day comes, it will have its own thoughts and its own ability to create. But for now, there’s simply no soul inside it. Unless you are able to hide from the audience that the actor is CGI or AI, the moment they notice, they will think, ‘Oh, that’s not real.’ And that will immediately break the immersion and affect their entire viewing experience.”
Leung additionally makes use of the know-how in learning and depends on it to do analysis. “After all, it is a very efficient tool,” he says. “Sometimes I cannot find the terms in a dictionary, AI can explain to me. Because it has a massive database, I ask it something almost every day. Occasionally, I debate abstract concepts like free will and consciousness, and it pulls me a lot of materials to read.”
Shanghai’s Golden Goblet Awards will probably be introduced on June 20 on the competition’s closing ceremony, with screenings and trade occasions persevering with by way of the tip of June.
