This year’s Dragons & Tigers: Cinema of the East Section is, as expected, outstanding. Programmers Tony Rayns and Shelly Kraicer have once again outdone themselves with a program which showcase a total of 35 feature films, four mid-length films and 22 shorts. Among them are Joko Anwar’s psycho-thriller Forbidden Door, Yang Ik-June’s Breathless and Bong Joon-Ho’s much anticipated Mother.
CHINA
1428 (Du Haibin) North American Premiere
The Great Sichuan Earthquake of 2008 and its aftermath traumatized and inspired China in equal measure. Du Haibin’s documentary captures everyday heroism as victims rebuild their lives among the rubble. An astonishingly insightful film, whose palpable humanity comes seasoned with compassionate skepticism.
THE COW (Guan Hu) North American Premiere
The sole survivor of a Japanese attack in WWII, shock-haired Chinese farmer Nie Er becomes an unlikely resistance hero, along with his companion, an indomitably loyal milk cow. Guan Hu’s picaresque black comedy packs a delightfully absurd punch, with stunning images illustrating a touching magic-realist fable.
KUN 1: ACTION (Wu Haohao) World Premiere
Young and endearingly headstrong, Wu Haohao could be China’s answer to Vincent Gallo. His film is a Godardian assault on the political and social apathy of his generation, attacking false values and promoting renewed commitment–and free love. Dragons & Tigers Award nominee. With shorts.
OXHIDE II (Liu Jiayin) North American Premiere
One of Chinese cinema’s boldest experiments in narrative fiction is also the funniest Chinese film of the year. Liu Jiayin’s story of making dumplings with her parents structures this formally daring, wryly amusing look at family dynamics, economic burdens and the ethics and aesthetics of cooking from scratch.
PETITION (Zhao Liang) North American Premiere
Zhao Liang’s staggering epic account captures 12 years in the lives of a community of petitioners in Beijing who struggle to survive in the capital while attempting to lodge official complaints with contemptuous officials. This documentary combines compassionate intimacy with an absolutely courageous, sweeping vision of resistance to injustice.
QUEER CHINA, ‘COMRADE CHINA (Cui Zi’en) International Premiere
Chinese gay activist and radical filmmaker Cui Zi’en has made an authoritative documentary – both history and celebration – on queer culture in China. Testimony from theorists, activists and artists outlines the modern origins of Chinese homosexuality through its attempted suppression to its breakthroughs in the last decade.
ROUGH POETRY (Zhao Dayong) World Premiere
This stunning medium length film brings together political theatre and faces in closeup. Chinese documentary-maker Zhao Dayong puts eight characters in a cage, playing themselves, including a cop, a prostitute, a poet. Afterwards, facing the camera, there is only silence, faces, confrontation, tears.
THE SEARCH (Pema Tseden)
An extraordinary Tibetan road movie, Pema Tseden’s film is only the second feature made by Tibetans inside China. As a director seeks to cast his film of a traditional musical drama, he unearths an ex-monk’s broken heart, and a veiled singer’s quest for her own lost love.
SUN SPOTS (Yang Heng) World Premiere
A tale of love, betrayal and revenge, shot with maximum restraint in a verdant mountain paradise in central China. Yang Heng captures the anguish and passion of a youthful lost generation with a camera whose eloquence turns each of his exquisitely long takes into a veritable poem.
More titles tucked under the seat!
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