ACF 668: ContemporAsian film series @ MoMA for one week

Lost in the Mountains

MoMA Presents: ContemporAsian
September 10–15, 2010
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters

Here's the skinny on an upcoming series of recent shorts from several Asian countries that will be screening at MoMA:

Asian cinema is fast becoming a cinema without borders. ContemporAsian showcases films that get little exposure outside of their home countries or on the international festival circuit, but which engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Presented in special weeklong engagements, the films in the series include recent independent gems by both new and established filmmakers whose work represents the rapidly transforming visual culture of the region. ContemporAsian is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, and William Phuan, independent curator. Special thanks to the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

This season’s opening program features a rare selection of recent shorts made by four of Asian cinema’s most renowned directors, all of whom have received only limited visibility in the U.S., despite worldwide critical acclaim. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009, Thailand/Great Britain/Germany), Tsai Ming-Liang’s Madam Butterfly (2008, Italy/Taiwan/France), Jia Zhangke’s Heshang aiqing (Cry Me a River) (2008, China/Spain/France), and Lost in the Mountains (2009, South Korea), directed by Hong Sang-soo. These short films distill the particular styles and personal expression of their directors’ feature films, while using the short form to exemplary effect.

Featured Films:

A Letter to Uncle Boonmee
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Thailand/Great Britain/Germany, 2009, 17 min.

Made prior to the director’s 2010 Palme D’or–winning feature Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), this short evokes the phantom history of Nabua, a city in northeastern Thailand, via a letter to a beloved uncle. In Thai; English subtitles.

Madam Butterfly
Directed by Tsai Ming-Liang.
With Pearlly Chua
Italy/Taiwan/France 2008, 36 min.

Created as part of the international Twenty Puccini Project, Tsai’s largely improvised piece follows Madam Butterfly into a chaotic Kuala Lumpur bus terminal. In Malay; English subtitles.

Heshang aiqing (Cry Me a River).
Directed by Jia Zhangke.
With Zhao Tao, Hao Lei, Guo Xiaodong, Wang Hongwei.
China/Spain/France, 2008, 19 min.

This perfect gem, shot in the city of Suzhou, is Jia’s homage to the Chinese classic Springtime in a Small Town (1948). When four former classmates (two ex-couples) meet to celebrate an old professor’s birthday, youthful dreams and attractions are met by the reality of grown up responsibilities and tradition. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 19 min.

Lost in the Mountains
Directed by Hong Sang-soo
South Korea, 2009, 30 min.

Hong rarely works in the short format, but this story of a writer visiting a friend and former lover is a treasure trove of the director’s trademark wry humor and brutal honesty. In Korean; English subtitles. 30 min.

Screening Schedule:
Friday, September 10, 8:00
Saturday, September 11, 7:30
Sunday, September 12, 5:00
Monday, September 13, 7:00
Wednesday, September 14, 4:00
Thursday, September 15, 8:00

For more information, go to the MoMA home page, then select the "Explore" tab and select "Film."

Also note that starting later in September, MoMA will be showing another Asian film series, Yeonghwa : Korean Film Today. That exhibition will be presented in collaboration with The Korea Society, and I'll have info about it in the near future.