Toronto Film Festival Dailies

WILD BUNCH HANDLES WORLDWIDE SALES ON DIRECTOR HO WI DING’S ‘CITIES OF LAST THINGS’ AT TORONTO

TIFF title world premiered on Saturday, September 8th in the Platform section; Wild Bunch to handle international territories excluding Taiwan, France and most of Asia

International sales company Wild Bunch is handling worldwide sales for Ho Wi Ding’s CITIES OF LAST THINGS, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Platform section on September 8th. Worldwide sales will include North America, Japan and most of Europe but exclude France, Taiwan, China and additional Asian territories.

This arresting tale, told in reverse-chronological order, reveals one man’s fraught inner world and the circumstances that led to a life-altering decision. From the striking opening image of a man hurling himself to his death off a multi-story apartment building, Ho Wi Ding's Cities of Last Things announces itself as a freefall — a spiral through the events that led to this horrible tragedy.

The film was initially announced in the Platform section early August by the festival. "Cities of Last Things is a very twisting interior tale of a man trying to exorcise his demons," mentioned TIFF’s director and CEO Piers Handling after the announcement. Previous entries in Platform include Pablo Larraín’s 'Jackie,' Barry Jenkins’ 'Moonlight,’ and Armando Iannucci’s 'The Death of Stalin.'

The film features rising Chinese actor and Golden Horse winner Hong-Chi Lee ('Thanatos Drunk', 'Long Day's Journey Into Night'), seasoned Taiwanese actor Jack Kao ('Millenium Mambo', 'Time and Tide'), French actress Louise Grinberg ('The Class', 'The Prayer'), Lu Huang ('Blind Massage', 'Suburban Bird') and Stone of cult Taiwanese band Mayday. Producers are Ho Wi Ding, Chih-Hsin Hu, Winnie Lau, Alexis Perrin and Ronan Wong.

"I wrote this character and made this film so I can avoid becoming like him – I am kind of scared of my future self so I need to work hard now so that I can have a better future," said director Ho Wi Ding. His previous film 'Pinoy Sunday' was selected at the Toronto and Busan festivals and earned Ho the best new director award at Golden Horse Awards. His earlier short films 'Respire' and 'Summer Afternoon' were both selected in Cannes.

Led by Malaysian Director Ho, the team of CITIES OF LAST THINGS is international, involving producing and creative partners from Taiwan, China, United States and France. The film was shot in 35 mm; the cinematographer is Jean Louis Vialard ('Tropical Malady') and the music composer is Robin Coudert ('Maniac', 'Revenge') from the French-band Phoenix.

Taiwan-based Changhe Films co-produced the feature with China-based Hymn Pictures, Singapore’s MM2 Entertainment, USA's Ivanhoe Pictures ('Crazy Rich Asians') and France's Rumble Fish. Additional production support came from Kaohsiung City Government, the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan, Taipei City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Ile de France Region.

The Taiwanese release is scheduled on October 26. A Chinese release should follow in early November.