The Wild Goose Lake will be available for streaming on Mubi from February 28.
Appearing at Cannes Film Festival last year, The Wild Goose Lake is directed by one of the most promising new talent directors, Diao Yinan. This is the second film by Diao, after his debut Black Coal, Thin Ice in 2014 which earned him the Golden Bear for Best Film at Berlinale. Being the only one Chinese-language film in the Competition Category at Cannes last year, this achievement secured a decent box-office for the film back home. For such highly specialised arthouse film, it managed to gross over 200m RMB box-office for its theatrical release (a record that perhaps no on other country could possibly beat) although currently yet available on streaming platforms in China.
During Cannes Film Festival last year, the UK’s distribution right to the film was acquired by Mubi. The film is a perfect addition to the arthouse platform’s existing portfolio. While box-office at cinemas may not be guaranteed for such a niche title in the UK, Mubi’s platform is the best channel for like-minded audience to have a chance to see the film. During the Lunar New Year period, Mubi also teamed up with London based Chinese Visual Festival for a special screening at the Regent Street Cinema in London and CCA in Glasgow, as a one off teaser.
Ahead of its release, I have conducted an interview with Mubi regarding their interest in The Wild Goose Lake as well as Chinese-language cinema in general:
Why do you think your subscribers would be interested in this film?
Mubi: It’s edgy and visually stunning. We’re big fans of Diao Yinan and felt the film needed to be shown to a UK audience.
Will MUBI be interested in distributing more Chinese-language arthouse film in the future, both online and in cinemas?
Mubi: Of course. We acquire films from all over the world for MUBI and for theatrical. Upcoming theatrical launches for MUBI in the UK and Ireland include BACURAU (Brazil), EMEA (Chile) and THE OTHER LAMB (Poland/UK).
What are MUBI’s strategies to promote Chinese-language arthouse films to your global audience?
Mubi: We aim to show films from all over the world but for Chinese-language and Chinese filmmakers specifically, we are working with China Lion in the US to show their films on MUBI, including films from renowned directors Johnnie To, Ann Hui, Feng Xiaogang.
We are currently showing Dead Souls, a documentary from Wang Bing. Lastly, we obviously also acquired The Wild Goose Lake to present it to a UK audience.
Will the film be available via MUBI GO?
Mubi: No it won’t be a MUBI GO title. The Wild Goose Lake is releasing on MUBI in the UK and Ireland exclusively starting February 28, 2020.
Mubi has been one of the most active companies to promote Chinese-language arthouse films in the UK. For instance, it is currently showing two films by Wong Kar-wai (In the Mood for Love and 2046). A next step toward a network of theatrical releases could potentially put the company in an even stronger position, to present more arthouse Chinese-language films that are deserved to be seen by UK audiences.
For more information about the film on Mubi, please visit here. The interview content in this post was conducted by Hiu Man Chan from UK-China Film Collab with Sophie Rhatigan from Mubi.
