22-09-2010

Chinese film week in Poland

By Katarzyna Grynienko
    The Polish Filmmaker Association (SFP, www.sfp.org.pl) is launching a retrospective of new Chinese cinema. The third edition of the event is taking in Warsaw and Łódź between 21 and 30 September 2010.

    The retrospective includes seven movies that were chosen to reflect the diversity of the new Chinese productions. The highlight is the European premiere of Aftershock directed by Feng Xiaogang, a film about the tragic earthquake of 1976 in Tangshan that became an instant box office hit in China generating RMB 100 million in its first three days. The program includes two ambitious historical dramas Bodyguards and Assassins by Peter Chan and Assembly by Feng Xiaogang.

    Contemporary cinema is represented by another of Feng Xiaogang's intimate love story If you are the one. The selection also includes Riding Alone For A Thousand Of Miles by Zhang Yimau, a fusion between contemporary drama and elements of Chinese tradition. An example of a classical Chinese drama is Walking To School directed by Peng Jihuang and Peng Chen, who present their culture and land in a way astonishing to the European eye. The novelty of the programme is Go Lala Go, a Chinese response to Sex and The City, directed by Xiu Jinglei.

    The previous editions of the retrospective organized by SFP were very popular among Polish audience in 2003 and 2005 and sparked a growing interest in contemporary Chinese film. The Chinese Film Retrospective is organized by the Polish Filmmakers Association in co-operation with The Polish Ministry of Culture (www.mk.gov.pl), The Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl), The Embassy of China in Warsaw (pl.china-embassy.org) and The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television of China (www.sarft.gov.cn)