Reflecting on a Changing Society: Interview with Judge director Liu Jie

 In my last post I wrote about Li Jie's film Judge (Touxi), which recently appeared at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and is currently screening in Beijing as part of BC MOMA's “Young Chinese Filmmakers” showcase.

Last weekend (Saturday, May 15) I was able to interview Liu Jie (pictured left at last year's Venice Film Festival) in Kubrick Cafe, next to the BC MOMA cinema, and ask the director about how he was able to get a film dealing with such touchy topics approved for mainland China.

Deliberating Life and Death Over Tea: Liu Jie's Judge (Touxi)

 I finally got to see Judge (Touxi, director Liu Jie) on Friday (April 23), up at Beijing's new art house cinema BC MOMA. I'd been keen to check out this film for some time, as I'd read it dealt with the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners – an extremely touchy topic in the PRC. Although fairly grueling, Judge proved to be one of the most provocative and involving mainland features I've seen for some time.