March 22, 2016 - 14:21 AMT
Controversial political drama “Ten Years” sold to Joint Entertainment

Controversial Hong Kong film Ten Years has been sold to Taiwan's Joint Entertainment International, the film's sales rep Golden Scene told The Hollywood Reporter.

The 'what-if' political drama will be released in Taiwan in late July or early August. The sale and possible screening in Taiwan is sure to be controversial given the film's content. Ten Years, an omnibus film of five stories imagining the political climate in Hong Kong a decade from now, was nominated for a best film award at the Hong Kong Film Award, held on April 3. The awards ceremony was denied a live telecast in the China because of the film's nomination and the film has been widely criticized by Chinese news organizations.

Made for $75,000, the film became a phenomenon in Hong Kong, garnering widespread press coverage and strong word-of-mouth to gross $770,000. Despite an extremely limited number of screens Ten Years even managed to beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens on per screen average.

After a rare fully-packed market screening in Hong Kong's Filmart last Wednesday, the independent film has gathered interest from several film festivals across the globe. "Many film festivals around the world wants to screen the film in their lineup," said Winnie Tsang, managing director of Golden Scene. "After the festivals, the distributors in various regions might want to show the film theatrically."

Photo: Hong Kong International Film Festival