CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Rafael Film Center presents the Celebration of Chinese Cinema 2001 North American Tour with a focus on the Beijing Film Studio. China has a long and illustrious history of filmmaking that began in Beijing in 1905 with the first recorded film screening of Dingjun Mountain, a Peking opera, to the 1990s, when several films won worldwide acclaim with the breakthrough successes of Raise The Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine. This series represents some of the finest films of the last five decades.

All films will be introduced by invited guests from a Beijing Film Studio delegation that includes Beijing Film Studio president Han Sanping; A Sigh director Feng Xiaogang, Rickshaw Boy lead actor Zhang Fengyi and Spring Festival actor Ge You, who the New York Times described as China’s favorite comic actor. Opening Night Q&A will be conducted by Chris Berry, Chinese film specialist and UC Berkeley Associate Professor of Film Studies and Dramatic Art. Closing Night will be hosted by Orville Schell, Professor and Dean of UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and a specialist in modern China. All films in the series are in Mandarin with English subtitles.

Special thanks to David Buckley of China Century Entertainment and Richard Abramowitz for making this program possible. Although popular in China, these films have never before been in general US distribution.

Tickets for each film in Celebration of Chinese Cinema: $10 / $7 Film Institute Members

CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Beijing Film Studio President In Person, Hosted by Chris Berry
NEW YEAR’S SACRIFICE (ZHUFU)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 7:00
One of the first post-revolution Chinese films to receive international recognition, New Year’s Sacrifice won a Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary in 1957 and the Silver Hat Prize at the Mexican Int’l Film Week in 1958. In the mid-1950s, the Chinese studio system experienced a brief renaissance when Mao Zedong initiated the 100 Flowers Movement, a liberalization of literature and the arts. New Year’s Sacrifice, based on a story by one of the most celebrated leftist writers of the 1930s, Lu Xun, and beautifully adapted for the big screen by Xia Yan, directly benefited from this new progressive spirit. A young widow in a mountain hamlet struggles through life working as a servant to escape being sold into marriage, is kidnapped by her mother-in-law and married off to a poor peasant. Remarkably they fall in love and have a child, but are plagued by tragedy. Society begins to regard the widow as cursed, and with the coming of New Year’s, she strives to maintain her optimism and enthusiasm for a new beginning.
Director: Sang Hu (China, 1956) 97 min.

CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Lead Actor Zhang Fengyi In Person
RICKSHAW BOY (LUO TUO XIANGZI)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 7:00
Set in the fascinating world of Beijing in the 1920s and based on a well-known story by the famous Chinese novelist Lao She, Rickshaw Boy tells the story of a simple, hardworking peasant played by Zhang Fengyi (The Emperor and the Assassin and Farewell My Concubine) who comes to the Chinese capital to find work. After three years of back-breaking labor, he manages to purchase his own rickshaw. Later, when the daughter of the company falls in love with him, he sells his possessions for her dowry. The Beijing backdrop during a time of social and political upheaval, marked by fighting warlords, makes this story of his life and relationships fascinating from both a personal and historical perspective. Director: Ling Zifeng (China, 1982) 120 min.

CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Filmmaker In Person
SWORDSMAN IN DOUBLE FLAG TOWN (SHUANG QI ZHEN DAOKE)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 7:00
With shades of Kurosawa and Sergio Leone mixed with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, writer/director He Ping (Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker) shows tremendous visual flair in this action/adventure story of love, betrayal and honor. The film won numerous international awards, including the Film Critic’s Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Respecting his father’s dying wish, a young man journeys to Double Flag Town to claim his betrothed. The town initially looks down upon him due to his apparent lack of practical skill and common sense. When he skillfully slays a man who attempts to rape his bride, he invokes the anger of the Lethal Swordsman, the most feared fighter in the region. As the rapist’s brother, Lethal Swordsman wants revenge. Now the young man must choose to either escape from the town with his bride, or stay and face the Lethal Swordsman. Director: He Ping (China, 1990)
90 min. In Persons To Be Determined

CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Actor Ge You In Person
THE SPRING FESTIVAL (GUO NIAN)
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 7:00
Set in a small rural village in the far North, two hardworking parents await the arrival of their children and grandchildren for the holiday. Their children have abandoned the village to work and raise their own families in the city. The mother (Zhao Lirong who won the Tokyo Int’l Film Festival Award for Best Actress) is loving and understanding of her children’s foibles and different lifestyles. On the contrary, their father is much less accepting of their way of life. With biting humor, wisdom, and great depth of feeling, the film rolls smoothly through the broad range of emotions that define family life. Special Jury Prize winner at the Tokyo Int’l Film Festival.
Director: Huang Jianzhong (China, 1982) 100 min.

CELEBRATION OF CHINESE CINEMA
Director In Person, Hosted by Orville Schell
A SIGH (YISHENG TANXI)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 7:00
Feng Xiaogang is a multi-talented actor, writer and the hottest commercial director in China (he just completed Big Shot’s Funeral for Sony Pictures with Donald Sutherland and Paul Mazursky). With a strong ensemble cast, A Sigh (which won most of the top awards at the Cairo International Film Festival) is a thoroughly modern story about a loving husband and father who tries to balance his love for his family with his passion for his executive assistant. Tackling the potentially difficult subject of a love triangle with warmth and insight, A Sigh shows a contemporary Chinese society grappling with the same issues we all must face. Director: Feng Xiaogang (China, 2000) 115 min.