Fortissimo Selling ‘Family at Large’ Chinese Crime Drama

Patrick Frater
·2 min read

Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market.

The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.

More from Variety

Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. A man, nicknamed “Reindeer,”, is released from prison and becomes involved in a child-abduction case across Northeast China. The man, a pregnant young woman and a mute boy wade into the dense forests of the frozen North in search of an abducted child. The film exposes a family-run human trafficking organization and portrays the underworld of the Northern border of China.

The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni (“The Wasted Times,” “Cow”) and Song Jia (“The Shadow Play,” “The Final Master”).

With a Chinese title of “Xun Lu,” and previously known as both “Reindeer” and “A Touch of Warm” in English, the film began shooting in 2021. After a prolonged COVID-related hiatus and an additional wait for winter before the crew could return to the north, the film is currently in post-production and targeting a 2025 release.

Production is by Yang Wei (“So Long, My Son,” “Hidden Man,” “The Mermaid”) with an Elephant Sitting Still” and “Vortex” DoP as cinematographer. Art direction is by Zhong Cheng (“Saturday Fiction,” “The Shadow Play”), while Li Danfeng (“Nina Wu,” “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”) is the sound designer and Fu Lei (“Gone With the Light”) is costume designer. Film editors are Kong Jinglei and Le Heng.

Fortissimo recently added two other mainland Chinese titles to its Cannes slate: animation film “The Umbrella Fairy” and sports drama “Wild Punch” by cinematographer-director Yu Lik-wai.

The company is also representing “If You Are the One 3,” the third instalment in the Ge You- and Shu Qi-starring romantic drama film series. The film is directed by Feng Xiaogang, one of China’s most successful filmmakers of all time.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.