Yesterday we wrote that Canadian film was on fire with the Ash trailer, so we hope there’s something left in your extinguisher for the To Live to Sing trailer. The first look was released today from distributor Game Theory Films. To Live to Sing is the second feature from Johnny Ma, who is arguably one of Canada’s top emerging talents. The film follows Ma’s exhilarating debut feature Old Stone, a dark neo-noir of tough-and-gritty tenacity. Old Stone made TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten in 2016 after winning Best First Feature at TIFF earlier that year. It went on to score five Canadian Screen Award nominations and confirmed Ma a major talent after shorts like A Grand Canal.

 

To Live to Sing was one of few films repping Canada at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, and it had a mild festival run in Canada with stops at VIFF and Reel Asian. The film depicts a Sichuan Opera troupe faced with the demolition of its theater and inevitable dissolution. It promises another cinematically luscious gem from Ma. The To Live to Sing trailer situates Canadian cinema within a larger sphere of international stories. It also marks Ma as another essential voice in a new generation reshaping the canon. I can’t wait to see this film.

Watch the To Live to Sing trailer below. The film opens in 2020 from Game Theory Films.

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