Aaron Kwok and Zhang Ziyi to Play Aids Couple in 'The Era of Magic'

Zhang Ziyi and Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok will play a couple suffering from AIDS in director Gu Changwei's first-ever feature film tackling the issue, entitled "The Era of Magic."

Aaron Kwok was spotted on the set in Beijing Tuesday with a bearded and weary look, the Beijing News reports.

The film, adapted from a novel, tells a tragic love story between two AIDS-afflicted lovers. Kwok plays a primary school teacher who is sent from the city to teach in the countryside, but contracts AIDS and develops a crush on Zhang Ziyi's character, also an AIDS patient.

Director Gu Changwei insists Zhang Ziyi as the right actress for the lead, despite her recent embroilment in a slew of scandals about her personal life and alleged donation fraud.

Gu thinks the internationally famous Zhang will ensure a box office cache for the upcoming film.

Reportedly, award-winning actress Jiang Wenli, wife of director Gu, was cast in a supporting role.

Other big names joining the cast for very little pay include Pu Cunxin, Cai Guoqing, Li Xuejian and Li Danyang - all ambassadors of an anti-AIDS public campaign, the paper says, citing unnamed sources.

Xinhuanet

Zhang Ziyi Denies Charity Fraud

Zhang Ziyi has vehemently denied accusations that she committed fraud in the name of charity, but admitted to inexperience when organizing a donation drive for the relief of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake victims.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, the internationally-celebrated Chinese actress - for the first time - answered some 100 questions, most of which involve details about the money she gave to charity or collected for her own foundation.

Ever since an advertisement featuring her was defaced with paint in December, Zhang has been embroiled in a series of allegations.

The most serious of the accusations - mostly from Internet users - are about discrepancies in the sums that surfaced in various reports. Shortly after a major earthquake struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008, she decided to donate 1 million yuan (US$147,000) to the China Red Cross.

As she was in the United States at the time, she asked her representative in China to transfer the money. But due to what she claimed to be a "communication glitch", only 840,000 yuan was sent. She said she took "primary responsibility" for it and had already made up for the shortfall.

The other contentious figure was $1 million, which she said she had "hoped" to raise, but had never claimed to have "already" raised. The actual amount pledged for the Zhang Ziyi Foundation is slightly less than $500,000, most of which has not been paid.

The event in the eye of the storm was a fund-raising drive on May 21, 2008, at the Cannes Film Festival. During the one-hour "hastily arranged" initiative, only $1,392 in cash was collected, far less than the previously reported $50,000. The rest were informal pledges.

The total adds up to about $500,000, which is the amount she said she had always referred to when answering the media.

Since then, she said she had been making efforts to pressure the donors to honor their pledges, but her efforts have not been very successful. So far, only $15,050 has been collected.

Zhang said she would personally make up for the shortfall but would not reveal the people's names against their will.

Zhang also mentioned her foundation was registered in California two days before her fund-raising effort in Cannes. The foundation, a non-profit organization, is of good standing and there have been no financial irregularities, she said.

Tears welled in her eyes when she talked about the incident's impact on her and her family, and again when she recounted the solace and support she got from friends.

She said she wants to give back to society because she had got so much from it, using her heavily-subsidized tuition in the drama academy and the dance school as an example.

CriEnglish

Zhang Ziyi accused of pocketing donations

There has been claims that the "Memoir of a Geisha" actress Zhang Ziyi has pocketed part of the donations that was raised for the Sichuan earthquake relief. It is an absurd claim in my opinion. Why on earth would she take the money and for what purpose? She is arguably the most famous Chinese actress in the world and probably making millions from her movies not to mention she is a movie producer who has rake in tonnes of cash from "Sophie's Revenge".

Read full story below....

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi exaggerated the amount of money she raised for Sichuan earthquake relief.

Instead of the US$1mil (S$1.34mil) announced in 2008, the star actually managed to raise US$400,000.

But Zhang did not pocket the money she raised from a donation drive at Cannes Film Festival, her manager Ji Lingling said at an exclusive interview with China's Guangzhou Daily on Sunday.

The clarification came after the media in China reported that there were no signs of the US$1mil donation in the records of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) and Red Cross Society of China (RCSC).

A check with CRCF and RCSC, the official bodies appointed by China government to collect funds for Sichuan earthquake relief, also found that the 1mil yuan (S$208,000) Zhang pledged to donate turned out to be only 840,000 yuan.

The news triggered a huge controversy with many people demanding Zhang to reveal the whereabouts of the rest of the money.

Ji said Zhang had launched the donation driveday after the May 12, earthquake in 2008 while he was at the film festival in France.

"Immediately, we engaged a lawyer and set up a foundation (Ziyi Zhang Foundation) for the purpose.

"Zhang hoped to raise US$1mil but she only managed to collect US$500,000," she said, adding all the cheques and cash collected were handled by a website appointed by them.

"We (Ji and Zhang) never touched the money. The figure was calculated by the website," said Ji.
Ji said Zhang's friend Wendi Deng, the wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, had promised to donate US$100,000.

"But she wanted to help the victims so much that she could not wait for us to return to the United States. She gave the money to another foundation," she said, adding the final amount raised was US$400,000.

Asked why Ziyi Foundation's account only had US$45,471 instead of US$400,000, Ji said most of the donors only made verbal commitments to Zhang.

"They will only give the money when we complete the Care for Children's Training and Resource Centre and show it to them," she said.

On the 1mil yuan donated by Zhang, Ji said she was investigating why the donation was recorded at only 840,000 yuan.

Ji also denied a media report that Zhang had collected US$2mil (RM6.89mil). The report quoted an anonymous person, who claimed to be a friend of Zhang's boyfriend Vivi Nevo.

She also provided a copy of the statement issued by Care for Children, an organisation set up to help orphans and abandoned children in China, as evidence.

The statement, titled Ziyi Zhang Foundation Supports Care for Children’s Sichuan Aftermath Aid, said Zhang had promised to channel the entire US$400,000 fund under the foundation for the project.

Divaasia

Zhang Ziyi gets snubbed in Singapore

SINGAPORE : Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi was reportedly turned away by a high-end boutique along Orchard Road when she went on a shopping spree with good friend and celebrity hairstylist David Gan.

In an entry dated September 23 on Gan’s blog, he mentioned that both of them had gone shopping at the various stores at Hilton Hotel when they were denied access into one of the boutiques at around 6pm.

The store’s staff had told them it was closing time and hence they were unable to gain entry. This prompted Gan to comment on Singapore’s service industry on his blog saying, "They rejected an international celebrity because of a technicality?”

Without naming the boutique, Gan went on to explain that the store did not have to let them in because Zhang was a celebrity but by being inflexible, the store had given the brand and Singapore’s service industry a bad reputation. Adding that Zhang was full of praise for the service staff in Singapore, Gan said that the incident did not deter her from returning and they went back to same store the next day where Zhang eventually bought something.

The 30-year-old actress was in Singapore for three days after a photo shoot in Borneo and spent her time mostly shopping and sampling the local hawker food.

- CNA/nc

Zhang Ziyi dogging bad luck

TALK about being dogged by bad luck.

Of late, nothing seems to be going well for Zhang Ziyi, be it her career, or her much-talked about relationship with Israeli billionaire Vivi Nevo.

The 30-year old Chinese actress, who shot to international fame nine years ago after starring in director Lee Ang's epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, appeared poised for success in her new film Sophie's Revenge.

The film, which also stars South Korean heart-throb So Ji-Sub, holds many firsts for her.

It marked her debut as a producer (she co-financed the movie to help first-time director Eva Jin). It was also her first romantic comedy.

Earlier last month, Ziyi had expressed confidence in Sophie's Revenge during an interview with Hong Kong-based broadcaster Phoenix Television.

'The film's quality will not disappoint you and audiences will not regret paying for a ticket to catch it in cinemas,' she confidently declared.

However, the film hit a hitch when it opened in Taiwan on 11 Sep.

Despite boasting two big name Taiwanese stars - doe-eyed actress Ruby Lin and the lanky Peter Ho in the lead role - it inexplicably opened in only three theatres in Taipei, skipping Taichung and Tainan counties.

There was no premiere in Taipei and promotional work was almost non-existent, driving Peter Ho's manager to complain to the Chinese press.

'We weren't informed of any promotional activities for the film at all, and the poster did not even have Peter on it. I'm not sure what the producers are doing,' said the manager.

After a week, box-office takings in Taiwan amounted to a measly NT$40,000 ($1,800).
The lack of screens and publicity is perplexing, considering that most of Ziyi's previous films, such as Hero (2002) and The Banquet (2006), were big-budget productions that opened nationwide.

Ironically, while some blame it on Ziyi's inexperience as a producer, it was her active involvement in the movie that first led to rumours of a split with Mr Nevo.
Mr Nevo, 44, who is believed to have built his fortune from a US$10 million ($14m) inheritance, owns venture capital firm NV Investments, which invests in technology companies worldwide.

The couple, who has been keeping a high-profile relationship since 2007 (they were engaged in March last year), had initially planned for a grand wedding last month, but postponed it indefinitely in July.

Wedding woes?

According to The New York Post, Mr Nevo, 44, who is a major shareholder in Time Warner and one of The Weinstein Company's earliest backers, had 'scoured islands off the coast of Italy for the event'.

However, due to the couple's busy schedules and especially Ziyi's preoccupation with the filming of Sophie's Revenge in China, they decided to 'postpone the wedding indefinitely'.

There are several reasons attributed to their soured relationship.

The Taiwanese press reported last month that the couple had already broken up for two months, claiming that Mr Nevo was 'so turned off by Ziyi pestering him to marry her that he dumped her'.

An upset Ziyi was said to have returned to Beijing alone.

The last time they were seen publicly together was back in May at the Tokyo premiere of Star Trek.

The New Paper carried the news of their alleged split on 8 Aug. Then, local celebrity hair stylist David Gan, a close friend of Ziyi's, defended her: 'I know Ziyi the best... she is not the kind who would pester a man to marry her.'
Other reports blame her for the break-up. Hong Kong's Ming Pao News cited her 'cold feet' as the main cause for the 'split'.

'I'm keen on marriage and family, but I'm now afraid. What if the marriage isn't happy?' Ziyi was quoted as allegedly saying.

In a move to squash speculation about their relationship, she conspicuously wore her engagement ring at the Beijing premiere of Sophie's Revenge last month.

But the media was not convinced, especially since the billionaire has been seen with another female companion.

Last month, he attended the New York premiere of the documentary The September Issue with Vogue magazine's fashion director, Miss Tabitha Simmons, a well-known socialite. They posed for photographs and Mr Nevo even had his arm 'wrapped around her', reported Xinhuanet.

The two were also spotted partying together till late at the opening of swanky new club The Boom Boom Room in New York. Ziyi has yet to comment on Mr Nevo's new female companion.

How things have changed in a span of eight months. Earlier in January, she made headlines of another nature when topless pictures of her - snapped by the paparazzi while she was sunbathing with Mr Nevo in the Caribbean - surfaced online.

Chinese netizens were outraged at the intrusion of the actress' privacy, and many called for the websites to take Ziyi's pictures down.

However, she can take solace from the fact that in mainland China, Sophie's Revenge recently crossed the 90 million yuan ($18m) mark in ticket sales, topping the nation's box-office for three consecutive weeks.

For workaholic Ziyi, who told Phoenix Television that she doesn't foresee herself 'giving up her film career for love', it's one silver lining that she can do with.

source: tnp

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi postpones wedding

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi will not be taking on another last name for a while as her wedding to Israeli multi-millionaire Aviv ‘Vivi’ Nevo has reportedly been postponed.

The couple were engaged in February last year and the 44-year-old Nevo was supposedly looking at holding the wedding at an offshore Italian island that his friend owns. Due to their busy schedules, however, the two have postponed their wedding, which sources say, was due to take place next month.

The couple have been inseparable since they started dating two years ago and have often been caught canoodling by the paparazzi. Of late, Zhang has been busy promoting her new big screen foray, “Sophie’s Revenge”, a romantic-comedy which she produced and starred in.

In an interview with a Chinese magazine, 30-year-old Zhang said that she has always dreamed of having a family of her own. But she isn’t about to get hitched just to fulfil that dream.

“What if the marriage doesn’t work out? Once I get married, I want to be like my parents, together for a lifetime...” Zhang also added in an interview with the Global Times that she would not disrupt her booming career for marriage.

Looks like fans will have to wait a while more before they see Zhang walk down the isle.

[source]

Sophie's (Zhang Ziyi) Revenge

Sophie's Revenge is a romantic comedy movie, a collaboration of Chinese and Korean actors starring Zhang Ziyi, So Ji-sub, Fan Bingbing, Ruby Lin, Yao Chen, Peter Ho.

Director: Jin Yimeng

Writer: Jin Yimeng

Country: China/South Korea

Language: Mandarin

Release Date (China): August 14, 2009

About the film:

Comic book artist Sophie is a lovely and carefree girl brimming with creativity. She and her handsome surgeon boyfriend of two years, Jeff, are a perfect couple. After Jeff's proposal in front of her family and all of her friends, Sophie seems to become the happiest girl in the world.

That is until Jeff meets a famous movie star named Joanna. Immediately after that, he breaks up with Sophie.

Devastated, Sophie comes up with a plan to do whatever it takes to win Jeff back.
At a Halloween party hosted by Gordon, a photographer, Sophie stumbles upon a photo of Gordon and Joanna together, which immediately gives her an idea of forming an alliance with Gordon. This decision however becomes a roller coaster of comedic twists and turns.

Will Sophie win her man back?

Comic book artist Sophie (Zhang Ziyi) is a creative, strong-willed young lady. After her boyfriend dumped her just two months before their wedding to be with another woman, Sophie is prepared to do whatever it takes to win him back.






South Korean actor So Ji-Sub plays the handsome, U.S.-trained surgeon Jeff who gets caught between his ex-girlfriend Sophie and his current love Joanna, when the two women fight for his love.

Lucy (Ruby Lin), another close friend of Sophie, is an independent urban woman, who insists that marriage is a farce and changes her boyfriends faster than she changes her underwear.

Beautiful movie star Joanna (Fan Bing Bing) just cannot stand the idea of her boyfriend still tangled up with his old flame.

Source: cri