ACF 888: MoMA'S 10th ANNUAL DOCUMENTARY FORTNIGHT FESTIVAL

Documentary Fortnight 2011: MoMA’s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media, running February 16 through 28 in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, celebrates its 10th anniversary with 20 feature-length documentary films representing 14 countries; two performance events; and thematic programs focusing on independently made contemporary Chinese documentaries and the legacy of New Day Films, the first distributor to be run by and for filmmakers.

Below is informaion about the documentaries related to Asia.

For the full festival screening schedule, click here.

Peace
2010, Japan/USA/South Korea
Directed by Kazuhiro Soda
U.S. premiere
Introductions and discussions with Soda
Thursday, February 17, 8:00. T1
Monday, February 21, 4:00. T2

Toshio Kashiwagi drives disabled and elderly people to appointments with his affordable taxi service. His wife, Hiroko Kashiwagi, is a professional caregiver who also runs a nonprofit home-helper agency for the elderly and disabled. While Hiroko visits 91-year-old cancer patient Shiro Hashimoto to help in his daily routines, her husband returns home to feed the hungry stray cats outside their door. As government funding for these services dwindle, the hungry stray cats encounter a "thief" and the elderly man recalls being drafted into WWII for the price of a postcard. In Japanese; English subtitles. 75 min.

The Warriors of Qiugang
China. 2010
Directed by Ruby Yang
New York premiere
Wednesday, February 23, 7:30
Thursday, February 24, 4:00. T2

This portrait of grassroots activism is a rare example of people speaking out against the abuses caused by corporate greed in modern China. When the house and fields of farmer Zhang Gongli, located near the banks of the Huai river in the village of Qiugang, were destroyed by pesticides, he filed a lawsuit against the private chemical factory adjoining his land. The film follows his community's efforts to get media support, solicit help from a local NGO, and bring their concerns to the attention of the national government. In Chinese; English subtitles. 39 min.

Screens with My Fancy High Heels below.

My Fancy High Heels
2010. Taiwan
Directed by Ho Chao-ti
U.S. premiere
Introductions and discussions with Ho Chao-ti

While filming a series of stories about clothing, the filmmaker discovered just how complicated the process of making a pair of shoes was. Her fascinating, surprising film follows the trail of shoes, from women in sophisticated high heels on Manhattan's streets to the manufacturers and young female assembly line workers in China who make them. In Chinese, English; English subtitles. 56 min.

I Wish I Knew
2010, China
Directed by Jia Zhangke
Thursday, February 24, 7:00. T2

18 people from Shanghai, Taipei, and Hong Kong recall their lives in Shanghai from the 1930s to 2010. After the Chinese Communists‘ victory in 1949, thousands of Shanghainese left for Hong Kong and Taiwan. Leaving meant being separated form home for 30 years, remaining meant suffering through the Cultural Revolution and other Chinese political upheavals. In Chinese; English subtitles. 118 min.

INDEPENDENT CHINESE DOCUMENTARY:

Fortune Teller
2010. China
Directed by Xu Tong
Friday, February 18, 4 p.m.
Monday, February 21, 7:00. T2

The film's narrative is divided into sections with paired chapter headings, in the style of popular fiction during the Qing Dynasty. Li Baicheng is a charismatic traditional Chinese fortune-teller who lives in a village near Beijing with his deaf and mute wife Pearl, who he rescued from an abusive family. He cares for her while also telling the fortunes of his clients, most of whom are prostitutes. As the police crack down on both fortune-tellers and prostitutes, Li Baicheng and Pearl are forced to move to his hometown, where he is haunted by his family‘s past and China's history. In Chinese; English subtitles. 157 min.

Karamay
2010, China
Directed by Xu Xin
New York Premiere
Introduction and discussion with Xu Xin.
Saturday, Feb 19, 1:30. T2

In December 1994 a fire broke out in the Karamay Friendship Theater in Urumqi, killing 323 people, 288 of whom were school children performing for a special event. Government officials were ushered out, while the children were locked inside. Interviewing over 60 people related to the victims and showing video footage shot at the time of the disaster, the film slowly unravels the details of the incident, and provides a platform for the families to speak and be heard. Denied an official public apology, many of the victim‘s family members have suffered their own physical and emotional trauma. In Chinese; English subtitles. 356 min.; 15 min. intermission. [Also an International Film Selection]

Disorder
2009. China
Directed by Huang Weikai
Introduction and discussion with Huang
Friday, February 18, 7:15
Sunday, February 20, 2:00. T2

This portrait of Guangzhou is masterfully compiled from 1,000 hours of amateur footage shot by various cameramen. Huang interweaves scenes of traffic jams, accidents, floods, police violence, protestors, and lost, wandering souls into an epic look at urban life in China, a riveting black-and-white collage of apocalyptic imagery that's both unsettling and surreal. In Chinese; English subtitles. 58 min.

Tape
2010. China
Directed by Li Ning
Sunday, February 20, 5:00
Wednesday, February 23, 4:00. T2

Avant-garde dancer Li Ning documents five years of his struggle to balance life as a choreographer with a dance troupe of committed college students, and his responsibilities as a son, husband, and father. Li Ning‘s life becomes intertwined with the film and with his own obsessions; his life before the camera is driven and chaotic, a public platform and a confessional. Loosely chronological and rife with symbolism, the film is a riveting portrait of an artist‘s attempts at expression and conflicts with societal norms. In Chinese; English subtitles. 168 min.

ANPO: Art X War
2010. USA/Japan
Directed by Linda Hoaglund
Introduction and discussion with Hoaglund
New Day Program 2: Friday, February 25, 7:00. T2

ANPO refers to the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, which permits the continued presence of numerous U.S. military bases in Japan. In 1960, public resentment against the military presence erupted in massive popular demonstrations that were crushed by Japan‘s C.I.A.-backed Prime Minister Kishi. A wide range of Japanese artists depicted this resistance with a rich archive of art and films, including many large-scale paintings long hidden from public view. Contemporary artists continue to draw on their predecessors‘ legacy, depicting problems generated by the bases. Shot in high definition, the film reveals the extraordinary passion behind this wave of paintings, photographs, anime, and documentary and narrative films. In Japanese, English; English subtitles. 89 min.