Chinese Documentary Film Festival

Associate Professor of History Dandan Chen will lead screenings of four documentaries by Li Xiaofeng and Jia Kai.

Date

02-05-13

Time

See description below.

Location

Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall

General Info

Assistant Professor of History Dandan Chen will lead screenings and discussions of four important Chinese documentaries directed by Li Xiaofeng and Jia Kai (both filmmakers, professors at Tongji University and visiting scholars at NYU). These films explore family, class and environmental issues, opening a window to life in contemporary China. Screenings will take place in the Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall. All the films have English subtitles; Professor Chen will translate discussions.

February 4

6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Gold Underground (138min)
Three stories about the sudden expansion of coal mining in Northwest China’s Yulin region depict the impact of the industry and conflicts arising from the desire for wealth and its cost for those living in the region.

February 5

11:05 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. My Last Secret (50min)
The film tells the story of a well-off elderly woman and her caretaker, as the former withdraws from the world around her while dwelling on painful memories. Her decision to leave her savings to a local university causes confusion among those around her.

1:55 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. Pedaling Fathers (103min)
As three-wheeled taxi drivers in the Shaanxi Province save money for their children’s education, their families discover new pressures and expectations to overcome while adjusting to the changing conditions of their lives.

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Walk in the Dark (90min)
Bao, a blind street performer, faces many challenges—struggling with an endless lawsuit while raising her learning-disabled adopted daughter Ming Ming—but she refuses to give up.

Filmmaker Li Xiaofeng has been invited to show his documentaries by a number of US universities, including University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley, and NYU. His film works have also been officially selected by a number of international film festivals, the latest awarded the grand prize at the 2012 Beijing Independent Film Festival.