MCLC: June Four at 25: 3 films

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: oliver krischer <olivier.krischer at anu.edu.au>
Subject: June Four at 25: 3 films
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JUNE FOUR AT TWENTY-FIVE : THREE FILMS

The Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW), at the Australian
National University, announces a special film event commemorating the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the protest movement at Tiananmen Square in
Beijing, and the nationwide crackdown from 4 June, 1989. All screenings
are free, and will be followed by a short discussion.

Tuesday, 3 June, 5:30-7:30 - - Yellow Earth 黄土地
Directed by Chen Kaige 陈凯歌, 1984, 89 minutes
Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles

In 1939, Gu Qing, a propaganda cadre in the Eighth Route Army, came to a
poor village on the Yellow Earth Plateau to collect folk songs. There he
meets Cui Qiao, a young girl due to enter an arranged marriage. Gu’s tales
of an equal Communist society inspire Cui, who asks him to take her to
Yan’an to join the army. Gu promises to return to fetch her after getting
permission from the Army. But when he fails to return, Cui decides to
cross the Yellow River to seek out the army herself. Marking the emergence
of the Chinese New Wave in 1985, Yellow Earth is emblematic of the
passions and discontents of China’s 1980s. Its bold and elegiac
cinematography, set in China’s sparse and harsh hinterland, its
reinvigoration of the Plateau’s rich musical traditions, and its mournful
political critique of the Party’s unfulfilled promises, has made it a
masterpiece of contemporary cinema.

 
Wednesday, 4 June, 5:30-9:00  - - The Gate of Heavenly Peace 天安门
Directed by Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon; written by Geremie Barmé and
John Crowley, 1995, 180 minutes
In Mandarin Chinese and English, with English subtitles

A three-hour documentary film about the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square
that culminated in the violent government massacre on 3-4 June, The Gate
of Heavenly Peace interweaves archival footage and contemporary interviews
to examine how the protest movement was shaped by the complex political
history of China’s twentieth century. The wide range of people interviewed
by the filmmakers, including students, intellectuals, workers and
government officials, offers a multi-perspectival oral history of the
event’s politics and experiences, and provides an insightful analysis of
the movement’s promise and legacy. Among those interviewed are public
intellectuals Liu Xiaobo and Dai Qing, student leaders Wang Dan, Wuer
Kaixi, Chai Ling, and Feng Congde, and workers’ leader Han Dongfang. Now a
key reference work on the subject, this is a must-see for those interested
in China’s public life, political history and popular movements.

Thursday, 5 June, 5:30-7:30 - - Sunless Days 沒有太陽的日子
Directed by Shu Kei 舒琪 (a.k.a Kenneth Ip 葉 健 行), 1990, 90 mins
In Cantonese & Mandarin Chinese, with English subtitles

Unwilling to make the sort of news reportage that was being continuously
aired following June 4, in Sunless Days, director Shu Kei turns to his
family and friends, producing a very personal document of what the
Tiananmen Massacre means, particularly from the perspective of Hong Kong,
with the 1997 handover looming. Speaking to Chinese both in Hong Kong and
overseas, in Australia and Canada for example, this filmic essay
intermingles poetic reflection with documentary interviews and archival
news footage, to give sensitive, frank and insightful account of the
greater impact of Beijing’s crackdown on the protest movement beyond the
1989 borders of the People’s Republic, to a global Chinese community.
Winner of the OCIC Award at the 1990 Berlin Film Festival.

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ASIA & THE PACIFIC SCREENS ?
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This monthly film series offers a fresh window on social realities,
cultural transformations and creative imaginings from across Asia and the
Pacific, through documentary and feature films made by some of the most
entertaining, insightful and uncompromising filmmakers in our region.
Screenings are followed by a short discussion, led by relevant local and
invited scholars and filmmakers.

Sponsored and hosted by the Australian Centre on China in the World, the
series is programmed by a team with diverse expertise in visual culture,
dramatic arts, independent cinema and popular culture in Asia and the
Pacific. 

SEASON TWO programme:
http://ciw.anu.edu.au/events/asiapacificscreens/s2/aps_s2_calendar.pdf

More information on the Asia & the Pacific Screens film series:
http://ciw.anu.edu.au/events/asiapacificscreens/

Regarding the Australian Centre on China in the World:
http://ciw.anu.edu.au/