ACF 1248: Two Chinese films to close-out IN FOCUS: FORTISSIMO FILMS at MoMA

In Focus: Fortissimo Films will conclude tomorrow with these two screenings at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC.

 Beijing Bastards / Beijing Zazhong

Directed by Zhang Yuan

With Cui Jian, Li Wei, Bian Jing, Wu Lala

China/Hong Kong, 1992, 95 minutes
When: Monday, November 21, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Synopsis: Beijing Bastards, regarded as China’s first independent film, has been officially banned, widely boycotted, and constantly hunted down. Zhang Yuan, a leading figure of China’s so-called Sixth Generation Filmmakers, bravely took on the taboo subject of Beijing’s disaffected youth, brilliantly combining reality and fantasy in the tale of a rock idol who attempts to organize a concert and is prevented from doing so, and a young woman whose failed suicide attempt brings her into contact with different cultures within and on the edges of the city and society. Courtesy Fortissimo Films.

 Springtime in a Small Town / Xiao Cheng Zhi Chun

Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang

With Hu Jing Fan, Wu Jun, Xin Bai Qing

China, 2002, 112 minutes
When: Monday, November 21, 2011, 7:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2

In Mandarin; English subtitles

Synopsis: In a small southern Chinese town in 1946, an unexpected visitor stirs up feelings of lust and passion within the serene walls of the Dai family’s traditional courtyard home. The young but sickly head of the household, his devoted, beautiful wife, and everyone else in the house soon begin to question the meaning of friendship, honor, and trust—all with decidedly unexpected results. Courtesy Palm Pictures.