The world premiere of Customs Frontline will officially close Far East Film Festival 26!
Director Herman Yau and superstar Nicholas Tse will be appearing in person on the stage of the Teatro Nuovo
If the Closing Night of FEFF 26 kicks off with the awarding of Lifetime Achievement Golden Mulberries to both Zhang Yimou and Chiu Fu-sheng and the eagerly awaited screening of the restored version of To Live, what on earth can the final top secret title screening on Thursday the 2nd of May be? Well, it's been a long wait but the time has come to finally reveal it: the film officially closing the festival will be the world premiere of Herman Yau's incredible new action movie Customs Frontline! Herman Yau will be accompanying the film to Udine in person with the screenwriter Erica Li, and for the first time ever the stage of the Teatro Nuovo Theatre will play host to Hong Kong superstar Nicholas Tse, famous in his homeland not only as a film and TV star but also as a pop-rock singer.
The friendship between Herman Yau and the FEFF is a beautiful and solid one that's continued to grow since 1999. An affectionate personal and artistic relationship that began with The Untold Story III (remember that?) and has continued year by year and edition after edition, with Herman so far presenting 15 films to the Far East's audiences: from From the Queen to the Chief Executive, On the Edge and Ip Man - The Final Fight to the legendary Shock Wave, Sara and The White Storm 2: Drug Lords. 15 films! More than just a very generous and deeply-appreciated habit, it's an actual "cinematic biography" that Fareasters have been able to follow over the years.
Which brings us to Customs Frontline, a blockbuster with a capital 'b' that sees Herman once again unleashing chaos in Hong Kong after shooting a couple of films in mainland China. A strictly spoiler-free summary of the plot? A container ship appears in Hong Kong waters and customs officers board to inspect it. The team, which includes cocky Chow Ching-lai (Nicholas Tse) soon discovers the corpses of the crew and a huge cache of weapons, including an extremely valuable compass suitable for piloting a submarine. The customs officers don't know it yet, but an international incident is about to blow up...
Honouring the sacred combination of made-in-Hong Kong action, entertainment and adrenaline, Herman Yau and Nicholas Tse bring the kind of cinema that FEFF spectators love best back to centre stage: a solid bond which, like the one between Herman and the festival, has remained unbroken since 1999!