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New Mainland films reflecting the development of Chinese cinema in recent years will be showcased in the forthcoming "Chinese Film Panorama 2009" to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The opening film will be "Tian An Men", a spectacular film about turning the impossible into reality.
Other films include the love story "Red River" starring Nick Cheung and Zhang Jingchu, the entertaining "Crazy Racer", bittersweet "The End of Year", urban comedy "Set Off", lives of the ethnic minorities "Shiqi" and "Nima's Women", the touching "Walking to School", farm youth striving for the university places in "Examination 1977" and the effort and sacrifice depicted by "Deng Jiaxian" - Father of the Bombs in China.
The screenings will run from October 5 to November 1 at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Cinema of the Hong Kong Film Archive, and the Lecture Halls of the Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Science Museum.
"Chinese Film Panorama 2009 - Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the South China Film Industry Workers Union, in association with Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd and Southern Film Co Ltd.
Films not only show the fabulous scenery featuring the purity of the mountains, the boundless prairies of Inner Mongolia and the wild rivers of Yunnan, but they will also enhance audiences' understanding of the history and social status quo of the current Chinese society.
The opening film "Tian An Men" (2009) is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. By September 1949, most of China had been liberated. To hold a celebration at Tiananmen in less than a month's time, more than 10,000 workers and citizens were mobilised to repair Tiananmen Square and its pavilion within 28 days. To recreate the historic and spectacular scene of 160,000 people joining the celebration, the film has combined documentary footage with computer graphics.
Starring Nick Cheung, Zhang Jingchu, Loletta Lee and Danny Lee, "Red River" (2008) is about love and relationship filmed at the border between Yunnan and Vietnam. A pretty but mentally-retarded Vietnamese girl falls in love with a hawker, yet she is also spotted by a Vietnamese gangster who wants to take her in, generating into an inevitable tragedy. Director Zhang Jiarui won the Best Director and Zhang Jingchu won the Most Popular Actress at the 16th Beijing Student Film Festival.
Hordes of labourers trying to get home for the Lunar New Year have become a phenomenon in major Chinese cities. With a high school principal suffering from a heart attack when his new home is not ready, his doctor argues with his wife about going home and a foreman tries his best to purchase train tickets for the doctor, "The End of Year" (2008) is a bittersweet story taking on the differences between the city and the countryside while emphasising harmony to solve problems.
A cyclist is relegated to a low-paid labourer, mistaken for a burglar, and gets tangled up with an out-of-luck Taiwanese gangster. In a climactic race, the cyclist regains his lost ground and is the winner. With the success of the record-breaking comedy "Crazy Stone", director Ning Hao's new film "Crazy Racer" (2009) has more chases, action and absurdity.
"Shiqi" (2007) portrays the complicated relationship between a mother and son and the conflicts of life in the city and countryside. Shiqi is an abandoned child raised by a kind-hearted middle-class family. His birth mother suddenly appears and takes him back to the minority village. He grows up with extra love yet he decides to lead an independent life in the city. Joan Chen plays the minority mother with finesse and she won the Most Attractive Actress of the Press Prize of the Chinese Movie Channel Award at the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival.
Also themed on the relationship between generations, "Nima's Women" (2007) features three independent women in Inner Mongolia. Director Zhuo Gehe, a Mongolian, has vividly captured the sentiments of the nomadic tribe. The film won the Award for Ethnic-themed Film at the 15th Beijing Student Film Festival.
Starring award-winning actor Fan Wei and famous TV actress Ju Wenpei, the warm and gripping comedy "Set Off" (2008) features a man who, while on his way back from Cyprus to arrange his divorce, is stuck with a "disaster-prone" girl and is drawn into a blackmail scheme. The film is director Liu Jiang's debut feature. It won him the Best First Film and the Most Popular Actor for Fan Wei at the 16th Beijing Student Film Festival.
"Walking to School" (2008) is an encouraging story on how children from a poverty-stricken area strive for schooling. Based on a true story, the film features a kind-hearted teacher helping a young boy to overcome his hurdles by walking to school, after his sister was hurt in an accident. "Examination 1977" (2009) looks back to the eve of the reform era when many passionate young people in a northeast collective farm work hard to get entry to the university.
"Deng Jiaxian" (2009) depicts the moving story of the "Father of the Bombs" who sacrifices his family life and even his own life to achieve the mission of making China's first self-made atomic bomb.
All films are in Putonghua with English and Chinese subtitles.
Tickets priced at $45 are available at URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessionary tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. There will be a 10% discount for each purchase of six to 10 tickets and a 20% for each purchase of 11 or more tickets.
Programme details can be obtained in the programme brochures distributed at all performing venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Reservations can be made by phone on 2734 9009 or on the Internet at www.urbtix.hk. For enquiries, please call 2734 2900 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp.
Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:41
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