This was not, however, the first screening of a Johnnie To film at a Western film festival. The Udine Far East Film Festival was founded in 1998 and To’s All About Ah-Long was screened that year. In 1999 A Hero Never Dies was a popular favorite at Udine winning the Audience Award. The 2000 edition screened The Mission and Running Out of Time.
The Berlin International Film Festival showed the first of many Johnnie To pictures when it screened The Mission, Where a Good Man Goes, and Running Out of Time in 2000. Likewise, The Mission was shown at festivals in Vienna and Toronto in 2000. At Toronto it was featured in the cult “Midnight Madness” slot. |