Gong Li & a Sixth Generation Love-in at Beijing's BC MOMA

Gong Li in her most recent film Shanghai, in which she co-starred with John Cusak.

 While Feng Xiaogang's IMAX blockbuster Aftershock (Tangshen da dizheng) was opening on 3,500 screen across China last Thursday (July 22), Beijing's BC MOMA cinema was hosting a big night of its own. Gong Li was spotted shooting outside and several star directorial talents – including Jia Zhangke – were on hand for the Beijing premiere of Wang Xiaoshuai's Chongqing Blues (Rizhao Chongqing).

The Tribulations of Chinese Rural Life: Huang Mei's The Village Elementary

While many things have improved in the People's Republic since the death of Mao in 1976, access to public education for the poor isn't one of them. I recently saw The Village Elementary, a documentary by Huang Mei, that delves into this issue with a portrait of life in a tiny village primary school in Gansu Province, west China. This arid, mountainous region features breathtaking  scenery, but harbours villages so impoverished its hard to believe they exist in the same nation as the glittering skylines of modern cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

From the Dark Side of Economic Success: Zhao Liang's Petition and Guo Xiaolu's Once Upon a Time Proletarian

From the latest issue of the Australian art magazine RealTime.

“Bring down corruption, give me my human rights!” That’s the plaintive cry heard near the beginning of Zhao Liang’s film Petition (pictured left), a disturbing look at the brutality, violence and intimidation surrounding those seeking justice in contemporary China. Guo Xiaolu’s Once Upon a Time Proletarian similarly continues the Chinese independent documentary tradition of probing what lies behind the glittering facades of China’s economic success. Both films appeared at the recent Hong Kong International Film Festival, the only place in the People’s Republic where such critical works can play at such high profile events.

A Black, Absurdist Take on Modern China: Zhao Dayong’s The High Life

Recently I had the opportunity to see Zhao Dayong’s The High Life (pictured left) on DVD, my second viewing after a screening at the Hong Kong International Film Festival back in April, where the film scooped the FIRPRESCI Critics’ Jury Prize and the Silver Award in the Asian Digital Competition. I’d enjoyed the film in Hong Kong, but as so often happens at festivals there was little time to reflect on it before it was swept away by the sights and sounds of another half dozen movies in the days following. Happily, my positive impression of the film was only reinforced by a second viewing on DVD.

A Whole Other Way of Being: Yang Rui’s Crossing the Mountain

On May 15 I attended the Beijing debut of Yang Rui's first dramatic feature, the strange, experimental  Crossing the Mountain, screened as part of BC MOMA's ongoing “Young Chinese Filmmakers” showcase.

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.

Screen Time: Chollywood Takes on the World & Edwin Maher on the Big Screen

My weekly Beijing film news roundup from thebeijinger.com:

“A vibrant film industry capable of competing with the best Hollywood can produce” – that’s the image being pushed on a new English-language site (www.chinesefilms.cn) designed to raise China’s screen profile on the world stage, according to UK newspaper the Guardian.