Before we get into what’s coming up, there’s one event that I just learned about that’s happening tonight, Thursday, July 24. I believe it’s the first medicine/health-related event we’ve posted.
Another Life – Hepatitis B Documentary Screening and Discussion
As part of NYC Hepatitis B Awareness Week (July 21 – 27th), the CUNY Asian American/Asian Research Institute will screen Another Life, a documentary about the impact of hepatitis B in the US and China, and Across Qinghai, a short film about the largest hepatitis B vaccination program in China. The event also includes a discussion with Dr. Su Wang, Medical Director for the Chinese Medical Program at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey.
Hepatitis B affects Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders disproportionately. 1 in 12 are infected, making up 50% of Americans with the disease. Hepatitis B is endemic in China with approximately 130 million carriers (1/3 of the global count) and 30 million chronically affected.
Register here.
Thursday, July 24, 7 – 9 PM
CUNY Asian American/Asian Research Institute, 25 W. 43rd Street, #1000, 18th Floor Room C/D
Free, but registration required.
Don’t forget that the Asian American International Film Festival (here’s our post) begins tonight with a screening of Sold and their opening gala. Their films and events dominate this week’s listings. The descriptions below are taken from our post but are reprinted here for convenience. Be sure to get your tickets for the screenings soon!
Also tonight, Ai Weiwei: The Seed, a performance inspired by Ai Weiwei’s time in New York and Leftover Women a talk about the resurgence of gender equality in China.
The one-time and short term event calendar and the ongoing exhibition calendar are up-to-date, and new events and exhibitions are added as they come up. Upcoming events also can be found on listing on the right side of this page. Let us know if there’s anything we should add to the calendar!
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Upcoming Events
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1) Sound-Space-Art – In this unofficial companion to last week’s talk at the Bronx Museum, artist Shyu Ruey-Shiann (徐瑞憲 / 徐瑞宪) talks about the use, nature, and perception of sound in his installations. Shyu’s One Kind of Behavior is currently on display at the Bronx Museum.
Friday, July 25, 7 – 9 PM
Harvestworks, 596 Broadway, #602
Free
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2) Asian Women Filmmakers Taking on the Wider World – Filmmakers Hannah Espia (director, Transit), Cho Li (director, The Rice Bomber), Yeh Ju-Feng (producer The Rice Bomber, Red Cliff), and Chuti Tiu (writer, star, co-producer, Pretty Rosebud) participate in a panel discussion co-hosted by the Asian American Women Media Makers about their experiences in the industry. Moderated by AAIFF alum S. Casper Wong
Friday, July 25, 4 PM
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street
Free, but RSVP required
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3) Screenplay Reading –A reading of excerpts from Eugene Park’s screenplay Michael’s Story, a fictional retelling of the 1982 racially-motivated murder of Vincent Chin from the perspective of one of the murderers, Michael Nintz. Eugene will work with New York City-based actors, and the reading will be led by Yoanna Wei (Stella Adler Studio).
Saturday, July 26, 2PM
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street
Free, but RSVP required
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4) The Rice Bomber (白米炸彈客 / 白米炸弹客) – This film is based on true story of Yang Rumen (楊儒門 / 杨儒门) who became a modern folk hero when he carried out a bombing campaign in Taiwan in 2003 and 2004 to raise awareness of hardships faced by Taiwanese farmers who faced increased competition after the country’s ascension to the World Trade Organization. More information about the bombings in Chinese from Wikipedia andLiberty Times.
Q & A with director Cho Li and producer Yeh Ju-Feng will follow the screenings.
The Taipei Times and The Hollywood Reporter have reviews.
Saturday, July 26, 7:30 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
Sunday, July 27, 2 PM
Made in NY Media Center by IFP, 30 John St, Brooklyn
$13/General Admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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5) We Are What We Wear – Six short films use clothes to explore themes of culture, self-esteem, dreams, and individuality. Here are four by directors of Chinese descent:
Made in Chinatown – A factory seamstress is in a secret relationship with the factory owner’s son and hesitates to tell him of her pregnancy. The final showdown takes place in a nightclub where she has to face his friends and family and also herself.
Red – In this exquisite short animation, a woman is born of a drop of blood that falls to Earth from the space. Based on a spoken word poem, RED visualizes the mythology about the origin of the moon that celebrates the beauty of every menstrual cycle, and explores the body, blood, bravery, and love.
Woman in Fragments – Anne Wong is a promising contemporary dancer, but her inability to tap into her emotions prevents her from realizing her full potential. After her mom is hospitalized, she is faced with the difficult task of juggling their family’s dry cleaning business and her dance career and discovers her inner strength which is a quality she lacks as a dancer.
Door God – 7-year-old Lingli has been waiting more than two years for her mom to come home. The reunion is a life-changing experience. The film was a winner at the 2014 Student Academy Awards.
Sunday, July 27, 5 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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6) Ghina – The Chinese have an extensive history of involvement in Africa. Over the last fifty years, Africa has seen a less ideologically based relationship to a strategic plan from the Chinese to expand their economy. Directed by Oscar nominee Christine Choy, Ghina explores the history of Chinese migrants to Ghana by not only examining their personal motivations for relocation, but also delving into the Chinese psyche as Ghana’s foreign “Other.” This documentary gives an unswerving investigation into the ongoing Chinese investment and construction in Africa through interviews with workers, investors, and scholars by providing both local and alien perspectives.
A Q & A with director Christine Choy will follow the screening
Monday, July 28, 6 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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7) A Time in Quchi (暑假作业 / 暑假作業)– In this humorous but fatalistic film reminiscent of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (侯孝賢 / 侯孝贤) 1984 classic A Summer at Grandpa’s (冬冬的假期), 10-year old city kid Bao is sent to a rural community outside of Taipei for his summer vacation and comes of age as he spends time with his eccentric widower grandfather and befriends local kids. Variety praises the film’s script, camera work, and sly subversion of urban vs. rural stereotypes in their review.
Monday, July 28, 8:30 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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8) Song of the Phoenix (百鸟朝凤 / 百鳥朝鳳) – This final film from the late director Wu Tianming (吴天明 / 吳天明), tells the the life and trials of You Tianming, a young suona (唢呐 / 嗩吶, a Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument) apprentice who goes on to form his very own suona troupe at a time of decline for traditional instruments. Tianming faces the harsh reality that his artistic calling is no longer in tune with a modern, urbanized China. Director Wu Tianming, who passed away on March 4, 2014, was considered a prominent figure among the Fourth Generation Chinese filmmakers who inspired many well-known Fifth Generation filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
Tuesday, July 29, 6 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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9) Letters from the South (南方来信 / 南方來信) – This ominbus of six shorts an official selection at the Busan International Film Festival 2013 and the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014. The shorts are best summed up in Hollywood Reporter’s review (hanzi are ours):
“The six shorts could be roughly divided into three groups: the first pair, Aditya Assarat‘s Now Now Now and Midi Z‘s Burial Clothes sees different generations casting glances northwards. Assarat’s Thai-Chinese schoolgirl reflects on how her mainland Chinese cousin has transformed herself from a shy nobody into her current alluring, artistic self; for the Myanmar-Chinese director Z, it’s all about the hopes of returning home, as a granddaughter helps realize his grandfather’s final wishes by bringing the funereal attire he left in his ancestral village back in China.
Meanwhile, Singaporeans Sun Koh and Royston Tan (陈子谦 / 陳子謙) offer tales closer to home. The former’s New New Panda using a pending Chinese takeover of a Singaporean radio station to reflect on how one of its veteran production staffers positions himself culturally; the latter’s Popiah, which looks at how kinship is fostered through traditional cooking.
The final two episodes are leaps into fantasy: in a whirl of quick edits of nocturnal images in the titular Malaysian city, Tan Chui Mui‘s (陈翠梅 / 陳翠梅) A Night in Malacca reflects on the possibility of revisiting the nostalgic sentiments of exiled Chinese writer Yu Dafu (郁达夫 / 郁達夫); as he described how memories subside in the tropical Southeast Asian heat.
But at least Tan’s conversing with someone or something with her entry: the same couldn’t be said of Malaysian-born Tsai Ming-liang‘s (蔡明亮) Walking on Water, which is nothing more than a love letter to his hometown of Kuching. It’s a shame the film ends with a letdown since the what comes before shapes up to be a contemplative collection of affecting migrant tales.”
Thursday, July 31, 6 PM
City Cinema Village East, 189 2nd Ave (at 12th St)
$13/General admission; $11/seniors, students and disabled
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10) Fred Ho’s Last Year – Sneak Preview and Discussion – Fred Ho, the award-winning avant-garde jazz composer, Asian American author and political activist, who passed away on April 12, 2014 was active as ever in his last year. He battled cancer, led protests, wrote a book about raw food, lectured, composed and wrote Deadly She-Wolf Assassin! an elaborate, manga-inspired samurai opera. Filmed over the course of 2013, the film provides a glimpse into Ho’s extraordinary life as a musician, a mentor, a pioneer and a dear friend for those who continue to be inspired by his courage and persistence.
Discussion with director Steven de Castro, playwright Ruth Margraff, and Fred’s long-time friend Anne T. Greene follows the preview.
Thursday, July 31, 7 PM
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street
$15/General Admission; $10/MoCA members, seniors, students, and disabled
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Ongoing Films and Shows
Mulan: The Percussion Musical (The Ellen Stuart Theatre, 6/25 – 9/13) – The Red Poppy Ladies’ Percussion group presents a reworked version of their earlier production of the story of legendary Chinese heroine, Mulan. The 2012 production was praised for its music and theatrics but faulted for its production values. This new version at a different theater seems to address the past weakensses
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Exhibitions
We put together available reviews of the current exhibitions in our Exhibition Review Roundup. The exhibitions included in a roundup are marked with an asterisk.
Closing soon:
Ming-Jen Hsu – The Absent Scenery (Gallery 456, 7/31)
Gu Liang (顾亮): The Quotidian / 日常 (Roux Roux Gallery, 7/18 – 7/30)
Ai Weiwei: According to What? (Brooklyn Museum, 8/10)
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Opening and newly added:
Let us know if there’s something people need to see.
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Visit the exhibition calendar (http://ow.ly/pxe9o) for details for the following shows below. As always, check the museum or gallery’s website for hours of operation.
Ming-Jen Hsu – The Absent Scenery (Gallery 456, 7/31)
*Ai Weiwei: According to What? (Brooklyn Museum, 8/10)
*Tales of Two Cities: Beijing and New York (Bruce Museum, 8/14)
*Flotsam Jetsam (MoMA, 8/15)
New Acquaintances: Works by Chen Baoyang, Fu Xiaotong, GAMA and Wang Fengge (Chambers Fine Art, 8/16)
One Kind of Behavior (Bronx Museum of Art, 8/17)
*Zhang Dali: Square (Klein Sun Gallery, 8/30)
Oil and Water: Reinterpreting Ink (MoCA, 9/14)
Zhang Huan: Evoking Tradition (Storm King Art Center, 11/9)
*Phoenix: Xu Bing at the Cathedral (Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 2015)
Image: Trompe l’oeil at Causeway Bay Station, Hong Kong ; Photo by Andrew Shiue