"Next Station I love you" wins 2015 International family film festival Award

IFFF (international Family Film Fest) awarded Next Station is Love (HK) the best 2015 feature foreign drama. 

Congratulations to Steven! 

What is IFFF?
IFFF was founded in 1993 as a “grassroots” non-profit organization by Chris Shoemaker, Suzanne Shoemaker and Patte Dee McKee (still active directors), IFFF formed to exhibit and advocate for the production of family films – a driving purpose that continues today. IFFF builds a peaceful global family through the discovery and sharing of quality stories by emerging artists and production companies.

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Hollywood, CA – It was a fitting commemoration of the Platinum Edition of the International Family Film Festival this past weekend at Raleigh Studios. With over 100 films from 17 countries screened - there was something for the whole family. The complete list of festival finalists and winners are available at www.iffilmfest.org. All films and screenplays shared a common thread - the enriching role that family plays in the stories of our lives.

source link

Updated "Next Station, I Love You" DVD - US$14.99

Good news, after my phone call to Yesasia, the dvd price now shows its corrected price of US$14.99. Phew!  

" 下一站再爱你-Next Station I Love You" dvd is now on sale on Yesasia.com - US.  Belatedly checking up on the dvd.  Wow! Price at US$93.75?   You've got to be kidding me! A misprint? The same dvd set is selling for HK$89 in HK.

Product Title: Next Station Is Love (2014) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version)

Language:Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles:English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
Country of Origin:France

******************************************
Apparently, Steven did the Cantonese dubbing himself.

HK promotion in high gear! Apparently, Steven and friend, Derek Lai, checking up on its billboard ads in HK.

Below are photos taken from  Derek Lai  fb July 17 at 11:09pm ·

Yuen Long District (w/Steven)

Tai Po District (w/ Steven)

Sham Shui Po District.

First posted Jul 19, 2015

Promo: Next Station, I love you! premiers Jan 10 2015 in Hong Kong

Charity premier Jan 6 2015
Public premier Jan 10 2015
source

source: Eastweek mag


source: TVBUSAofficial


preview: source 影音使團 The Media Evangelism

other videos:
ontv.cc video
Fan recorded Steven's speech at the Jan 6 2015 charity premier
TME article and pix
English translation of Ming Pao article at AF
~~ Below: Ming Pao news article Jan 8 2015 (Chinese)~~

Next Station I love you to screen in HK theaters

"Next Station I love下一站‧再愛你 " to screen in selected theaters in Hong Kong theaters on Jan 10 2015 - Feb 7 2015. There will be a screening for charity on Jan 6 2015, which Steven has confirmed to attend.

Advance and group ticket booking in selected cinemas

Video upload: Next Station I love you

link to the complete movie video: Next Station, I love you

"Next Station I love you." shown in US

vid source
The movie was screened in a US event and was well received by the audience.
Guess the movie was screened here at San Gabriel, CA on July 20th 2014.

Special feature on Steven's character.
source: TME

Movie: Next Station I love you photos

Movie: Movie: Next Station, I love you themesong MV

source: Themesong MV link
related material tag

2013 Movie "Next Station I Love You" to premier in Australia

China's first Christian movie:-  《下一站．再愛你》(Next Station I love you)  aka (真愛無悔),
Premiering in its first global venue at Sydney
Venue: Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
Date: May 31st 2014
Mandarin version: 3 pm
Speakers: 小金子 (喬宏太太) ; actress 劉鑫
Cantonese version: 7 pm

vid/pix source:  "Next Station I love you" fb

~~~ Showings in Australia:- Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.~~
2 showings in Sydney on May 31 at 3 pm (Mandarin) and 7 pm (Cantonese)
1 showing Brisbane on June 1st at 7 pm
2 showings in Adelaide on June 7 & 8




Indooroopilly (Brisbane vicinity)
Date: June 1st 2014
Time: 7:00pm
Venue: St Peters Lutheran College Performing Arts Centre
66 Harts Rd, Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia
Speakers: 小金子 (喬媽媽) / 劉鑫
Donation Ticket: $10.00
Mandarin with English Subtitles
Enquire:0403575261 / 0433779977
Tickets:Sunni Bakery 松板餅店, Shop 67 Sunnybank Plaza, Sunnybank QLD 4109

Note: Indooroopilly is only 11 minutes away from Brisbane

Updated Jul 28 2014: Movie "Next Station I love you" to pemiere in Australia and mainland China

China's first Christian movie:-  《下一站．再愛你》(Next Station I love you)  aka (真愛無悔) premiering across theaters in mainland on Aug 22 thru 24

ead story summary here
themesong "让爱动听" sung by Jocie Kwok 郭美美 (Singaporean singer)
Steven sang this song  (生命因爱动听)  live before on Albert Au's 2010 radio program 

TME website
pix source
mainland time and venues schedules 

video source

vid source

Theme song
***************************************
The movie will be shown in over 3000+ cinemas across mainland China in August. (fingers crossed)

source: pps

related post - editorial on a scene still

------Movie will premier first in Australia -----

weibo 9/20/2013 Movie has wrapped up

9/20  20:17Movie "Next Stop• Love You Anew" (下一站•再愛你) has wrapped up shooting today! Give thanks that all went smoothly and also happily! Although tired, so long feel it is worth it then that's all that matters! Thank you to each and everyone of you in the production team, to every cast member, especially give thanks to Boss Li @ 电影李德威 , Director 李秉光, to wife @演员杨紫 (GuideYang -楊導), to 李師傅 who chauffeured me daily; thank you, everybody. Wish everybody peace, good health and happiness. Wish everybody peace in the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Guess the movie has once again changed its title for the 3rd time == most agree that this present title sounds better than its two predecessors -- gives off a more modern feel to it.  Anyway, looking forward to watching it next year. 

sources: Steven Ma weibo, yzy weibo

bottom pix from random netizen who happened to be there.

Movie: Life is a miracle

9/17 12:29  Hahaha!



Watch the movie 2001 生命因愛動聽 youtube link at your risk of being spoiled for Steven's movie. Not wanting to be spoiled I watched 1 min of the beginning and then fast-forward towards the end of the movie randomly stopping @1:24:43 and guess what scene that was? Yap, right at the spot where the husband holds up a sign ( I   U    ) .  Gotta say that husband's whole appearance looks much, much nicer than our dearest Steven in his cringe-worthy nerdy outfit and his goofy HP glasses. Guess husband dearest Steven is trying to get a smile from his ailing wife?  Sure did with me.

Anyway, just a heads-up to those who may want to watch the 2001 movie, but I'll going to wait (im)patiently for Steven's version.

movie - weibo 9/16/2013 wedding pix

2013-09-16 20:38 So long the sentiment remains, even if at the ends of the earth...the next stop is eternity!

Movie: Steven & Yang Zi Yan's grapes stomping dance

Above video clip is the last part of YZY's interview. To watch the full video goto this link ku6.com. This is my first time seeing her on screen, and.... nope...no comments.

However, I want to comment on this very curious observation of mine and by other fans ---- how come even though Steven was there too at the time of the interview, only YZY was being interviewed?  Since filming commenced, as far as publicity of the movie goes, the male lead has beeng completely invisible to the media, much less a mention of Steven's name by them. This doesn't bode well at all for Steven! What gives?

Aside:
Haha! Their stomping dance on grapes reminds me of "Lucy stomping grapes" in "I Love Lucy". Lucy link - can skip the earlier segment and forward to 2:17 where Lucy gets into a fight with her 'partner' inside the tub!  Hilarious! "I Love Lucy" remains the funniest tv sitcoms ever for me.

Editorial - on a still from movie "Next Station I love"

When I first saw this pix their embrace just looks ..weird...totally awkward, not at all touching or  aesthetics (as it hopes to elicit?). See their totally contrasting expressions: one - nonchalantly expressionless; the other - full-out unrestrained emotional breakdown expression. The contrast in their emotional displays just feels ...off.  Female is 'obvioulsy calmly' consoling a heartbroken male BUT her expression does not depict calmness, instead her face looks incomprehensibly bland and nonchalant  (as opposed calm), shouldn't she at least show a flick of concern for the male's emotional breakdown?

But weirder still is -- their embrace position is just ... awkward, and their stark black-white clothing only emphasizes that 'position'  awkwardness of her bended knees placed snugly between his straddling legs with his knees up.  Also, sorry to say but the male looks much diminshed, all curled up clinging against the female, who, conversely, looks huge. Moreover, the position is not a good shot for Steven's really skinny legs. Or, the image can also be viewed as a 'mother' comforting a 'child' in her arms.  Anyway, just not a good pix for me to behold - neither moving nor aesthestic!

I later read some SM baidu fans' comments on the awkwardness of their embracing position too - guess we have similar impression of the pic.  Their observation of the pix:  "shouldn't the man be on top ma?"  "the female seems to revel (陶醉) in the embrace",  "guess, the male is forced into that subjugating poisition?", "the female looks huge against the diminished, clinging man" etc.  Sorry to say, none was moved by this image presented on the pix.

Goto say that embrace position is most unfortunate indeed! Maybe with movement on the screen, their embrace would not look so ..awkward? Which is why I never take a screen cap at face value - a split moment in time capture is indeed deceptive.

Heehee! My apologies to Sandy Lau, who has so kindly uploaded this pix on SM official fb page. Just different opinions!

Anyway, what do you  all think of the above pix? Moved by the pix or find the image awkward?

pix source: sm fb

真愛無悔 (True Love Has No Regrets)

2014 真愛無悔 aka 生命因愛動聽 (life is a miracle) promo

-- announcement--
2013 Respectfully request prayers
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio, Film and Television has issued a filming pemit to remake the movie "生命因愛動聽". Will be released in over 4000 theaters in China.

The remake of the movie "生命因愛動聽", adapted from a real life story, will commence filming in August 2013 in Beijing. It will be released in 2014 in theaters across China. To reinforce China's distinguishing feature, the participating artists include Yang Zi Yan, Liu Xi, and Steven Ma. (Per Steven's clothing, this video insert is from an 'old' event this year.)

Paraphase: He says that actually his own mother was a cancer patient who battled cancer for 22 years. So his own family knew how to care for her. As a long term care taker of a chronic patient himself when watching the movie "生命因愛動聽" he  can thoroughly relate to the movie. Besides empathizing the patient's feelings he also understands the feelings of the patient's loved ones. He says just like what Man Fai (文辉) said people will inevitably pass away one day into the Lord's embrace, to the heavenly home, but what they leave behind -image, vocal, and written words will continue to propagate the message.

source: from sm baidu - kelly hui-tudou
TN: Guess female lead Yang Zi Yan has changed 梓 to 紫 in her name.

related material - storyline

Movie- shock, shock, shock

Shock 1
Sandy Lau (Steven's manager) says on weibo that Steven (or the entire filming process, not sure) will wrap up production in early Octorber.  I'm shocked at the short amount of time needed to shoot this movie, but Sandy assured me on weibo that the filming duration is about right for this kind of movie. (From my reading up of past movie productions, most definitely took longer than a month to film. But then again, what do I know? lol!)  Well, hopefully Steven's role is not just a "soya sauce seasoning" 酱油 character, and that he is not just Tracy's prop husband and that's it.

Shock 2
Shock that there was simply no mention of the male lead, much less of Steven as the male lead in the movie publicity news report. Understand the no write-up on Steven since he wasn't there but as a courtesy shouldn't there be at least a mention of him as the male lead? Reportedly the movie production commenced in late August (per TME news). The 1st part of the article highlights the movie as an adaptation of a real life moving love story. The 2nd part introduces the female lead, Yang Zi Yan, who has recently gained fame thru her role as Concubine Jin of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a mainland tv hit series. The 3rd part, (incomprehensibly takes up much of the article) hypes up a mere supporting actress Makiyo (acts as a cancer patient), and describes in length on how her real mother is in real life a cancer patient. Again, the conspicious absence of a male lead introduction is just weird; definitely does not bode well at all for Steven.

Shock 3
I was shocked when I read that Makiyo was in the cast; that very same Makiyo, who along with her Japanese boyfriend were charged in 2012 for maliciously assaulting a Taiwanese cabdriver? I first knew of Makiyo when I read of her case in Asianfanatics.net . She later settled the lawsuit with money. Just yesterday I googled recent news on the movie and Makiyo reportedly said that she really does not know how to act but she said that's exactly why the director of this movie wants her in. Reading the collection of past articles on her attitude and conduct and her response on her acting ability gave me a very bad impression of her. Can't believe she's in this movie. Urgh!

Collection of Makiyo news on Asianfanatics.net
Feb 2012 News report: A video of Makiyo and her Japanese bf  beating a Taiwanese cabbie.
And yes I'd seen that reported video but don't have the link.

March 2012 TAIPEI: Following weeks of controversy, Taiwan singer-actress Makiyo and her male Japanese friend, Takateru Tomoyori, arrived at a settlement with Lin Yu Jun, the cabby driver they attacked last month, during the second hearing of their cabby assault case at the Taipei District Court on Thursday, reported Taiwan media.

UPDATED weibo sep 8 2013 movie

2013-09-08 21:16 So long (you) believe, so long (you) love without regrets, life because of love is all that more touching...calmly waiting for the day we meet again.  只要相信、只要愛得無悔 , 生命自會因愛動聽......靜待再遇那天！

tn: Steven strings words from his songs' titles to construct the above sentence.

A little hint of his new movie in Beijing!

So who is the mysterious lady?
From the TME news magazine, the leading lady of the movie is Yang Zi Yan( 楊梓嫣) aka Concubine Jin of The Legend of Zhen Huan《后宮甄嬛傳》 so I assume that lady must be her though I've never see the said actress. “電影女主角楊梓嫣，因在熱播劇《后宮甄嬛傳》中飾演善良又有智慧的「敬妃」而廣受觀眾喜愛。”

Haiz, the reporter misprinted her name, should be 楊紫嫣 not 楊梓嫣 as reported. But both names are pronounced as Yang Zi Yan.

UPDATED sep 20: News on Steven's new movie 真愛無悔

Updated with a novel summary. link  updated with a previous movie adaption, Life is a miracle link2

Updated: confirmed by weibo sep 8 2013 Steven is indeed shooting the said movie.

If I'm not wrong Steven is in Beijing shooting or preparing to shoot a movie as the male lead of 《真愛無悔》formerly《天使之吻》, a remake of a 2001 movie 《生命因愛動聽》. The movie is collaboratively produced by 武漢華宇豐文化發展有限公司、北京銳奇偉業國際文化傳媒有限公司 and 香港影音使團 (The Media Evangelism Ltd. (TME).  The movie will be shown in 3000 or more theaters across China in 2014.  The leading lady is Yang Zi Yang 楊紫嫣, Concubine Jin from The Legend of Zhen Huan.  The reporter misprinted the actress' name wrongly -- should be 楊紫嫣 not 楊梓嫣

Sypnosis:  The movie is based on a real life story to Tracy from Sydney. It depicts how a husband quits his high paying computer related job to lovingly and patiently take care of his terminally ill cancer wife. His inner strength is greatly boosted by his unwavering faith in God. Steven portrays the husband.  Given his own personal experience with a cancer mother, he undoubtedly can empathize with the husband's pain.

Married for 2 years, female lead, social worker Tracy is diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.  Her husband, male lead He Wan Hao (何萬豪) resigns his job to take care of his wife, and to walk with her on the difficult road to the end of her life journey.  In their Christian faith they seek hope in their hopeless battle against cancer.

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Steven says he can totally relate to He Wan Hao's feeling -- the ups and downs fighting cancer; the going in and out of hospital for treatments; the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness only that these feelings were felt toward his mother not to a wife -- these feelings, experiences and rush of memories will assist him to portray Man Ho with verisimilitude.  With faith, death is not fearful because the deceased are returning to their heavenly home.

Angel's Heart Magazine July 2013 86 edition 第八十六期天使心月刋
Title: July 2013 Loving you a lifetime is my goal

~~more--- Angel's Heart Magazine  (Chinese) ~~~

Angel's Heart Magazine interview

source: andydaniel weibo
enlarged pix on baidu sm thread