2009 Dec 12 I Want idox - Documentary Screenings & Forum
After long preparation, Beijing Channel Zero Media, with support from Goethe Institut, Holland Embassy and the Australian Embassy, will open iDOCS Beijing International Documentary Forum 2009 tonight (December 12). The event includes film screenings, master classes, lectures and professional activities.
Beijing Channel Zero Media is probably the only medial company in China pecializing in documentary film. It hosts free documentary screenings every Thursday and documentary workshops for both professional and amateur filmmakers. This is the first big documentary festival they organized in Beijing.
For audiences, it is good opportunity to watch 20 award-winning documentaries from Netherlands, Germany, Australia, France, Taiwan, Singapore, USA, Japan and Canada. All films will be screened at the UCCA, Beijing Film Academy, and Beijing Normal University from December 12 to December 17.
The forum opens with Heddy Honigmann’s film Forever which focuses on one of the world’s most famous and beautiful cemeteries, Père-Lachaise in Paris, which holds many gifted artists, writers and composers. Through the stories of its regular visitors, the film builds a living connection to the power of art and makes the cemetery come alive. It has been acclaimed as “an exquisite paean to the enduring nature of art… a gorgeous film that celebrates the art and beauty and conversation the departed still inspire” by Toronto Globe and Mail. Honigmann will present the opening and discuss the film with audiences afterwards.
"Made in Germany" is a special session of recent German documentaries. To The Limit tells story about two alpine climber brothers, who challenge their limits in the mountain since childhood. Director Pepe Danquart will be on hand for Q & A. Director Thomas Grube has been invited to show his two feature films, Trip to Asia: The Quest for Harmony and Rhythm in UCCA.
The Australian session inludes The Natural History of the Chicken, Bomb Harvest, Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica, A Delicate of Balance and Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives Of Florence Broadhursts.
Besides the directors mentioned above, American film prouder and director Steve James, who is a long-time associate of Kartemquin Films, will screen his award-wining Hoop Dreams on December 13 at Beijing Film Academy. Montreal based independent filmmaker, Peter Wintonick, who was the winner of the 2006 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, will make a speech at the closing ceremony on December 17.
All films will be screened in their original language with Chinese subtitles. Some of films have English subtitles. Beijing Film Academy (4 Xitu Cheng Lu, Haidian District) is the main screening venue, where RMB 100 will get you a pass to all film screenings.
Screenings at UCCA require RMB 15 gallery admission.
Screenings at Beijing Normal University are for free. For details schedules, check the UCCA or Channel Zero websites.
You might also be interested in :
Family Life One Moment at a Time: Liu Jiayin on Oxhide
A two hour feature comprising just 23 shots, filmed entirely in one apartment starring the filmmaker’s family. On paper it sounds like a teeth-grinding film student project. In reality its one of the most acclaimed and innovative slices of recent Chinese cinema – Liu Jiayin’s Oxhide. Beijing audiences now have the chance to see Liu’s film, and its sequel Oxhide II, on the big screen over the next few days at 798’s UCCA.
Screen Time: Zhang's Big Year, Soft Power and Docos from North Korea
Zhang Yimou has rounded off an eventful year with a box-office success – his recently-released remake of the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple, entitled A Simple Noodle Story. The Global Times reported earlier this month on the film’s first three nights of release:
Cutting Edge Nordic Docos Come to Town
Hot on the heels of the NOTCH art festival, another Nordic cultural event is rolling into town – the 2009 Nordic Documentary Film Festival, or Nordox for short. Now in its fourth year, the festival will be bringing more cutting-edge socially and politically engaged documentaries to the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art at 798. The diverse selection of films look at everything from scamming undertakers to the violent life in Haiti’s ghettos.Michael Jackson Documentary, Upcoming Film Festivals and more
The other day, late for work, I hop into a cab, anxiously drumming my fingers across the window ledge while waiting for the light to turn green. “Thriller” comes on the radio, and before the werewolf’s howl had even ended, my cabbie has cranked it up, saying, “Ah, zheshou ge jiushi zui niude” which roughly translates as “Aw yeah, this my jam.” We start talking about Michael and soon the cabbie is breaking down the music video play by play – (“Oh, right now, this part is where his eyes turn yellow”) and by the time we pull up to the next light, we’re both doing the “Thriller” dance, with speakers blasting and all the windows rolled down. The driver next to us looks over, and just smiles and starts bobbing his head.
