We can’t believe that half the year has passed already! How many of the events that we’ve listed have ou been to?
This week’s events are mostly films from the New York Asian Film Festival. We only listed the films from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. This week’s Red Amnesia and River Road stuck out amongst all the festival’s offerings as films we want to go see. Check out the festival site to see everything that’s playing
Update 7/2:
Brimming with Nostalgia – Taiwanese and Japanese Watercolor Paintings Opening Reception – Opening reception for a new exhibition that examines the influence that a handful of older, master watercolorists exerted on the development of watercolor painting in Taiwan including old masters Ishikawa Kinichiro, Bai-Shui Ma, Shiy-Der Chin Jian, Zhong-Wei and contemporary watercolorists, Hsieh Ming Chang, Huang Chin-Lung, Izumi Nishizono, Yuko Nagayama, and etc. All works are authentic and seen overseas for the first time.
See below for further information on the exhibition.
Thursday, July 9, 6:30 PM
Tenri Cultural Center, 43A W. 13th Street
Free, but RSVP required
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Coming up:
In addition to performances of The Peony Pavilion 《牡丹亭》, the National Ballet of China also performs The Red Detachment of Women 《红色娘子军》on July 11 and 12.
On July 11, the Birdchirping Salon hosts artists Xiaoshi Vivian Vivian Qin, Li Shuang, Yi-Ling Hong, co-founder of Junzi Kitchen, Ming Bai and Zhao Yong to share their projects in response to gentrification as it intersects the universalization of Chinese culture and disrupts the American dream.
The Asian American International Film Festival comes July 23 – August 1.
We add listings to our one-time and short term event and ongoing exhibition calendars as we learn of them. If you know of anything or would like to contribute photos or an article, shoot us an email at beyondchinatown@gmail.com.
See an event you like? Did you know you can copy events listed on the right side of each page on our site to your personal Google Calendar? All you need to do is expand the entry for the event, and click “copy to my calendar”. Modify the details to fit your needs and click “save” to make it part of your calendar. If you see an event or exhibition that interests you, use this method of adding it to your calendar so can make a reminder to go without needing about making a calendar event yourself. We don’t know if something is added to your calendar. So, don’t worry about being tracked.
We’re reviving our mailing list. Once a week, we’ll send a newsletter with the weekly events and exhibitions post and other things we’ve posted in the past week. Send us and email to keep up on all our posts.
Upcoming Events
1) The Peony Pavilion 《牡丹亭》 – The National Ballet of China performs one of the most famous love stories in Chinese literature. The original score by Guo Wenjing references works by Debussy, Holst, Ravel, and Profiev; choreography grounded in Western dance by Fei Bo, and costumes by Academy Award-winning designer Emi Wada.
Wednesday, July 8, 8 PM
Thursday, July 9, 7:30 PM
David H. Koch Theater, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza
Tickets: $35 – $150
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2) Red Amnesia 《闖入者》
China, 2014
Director: Wang Xiaoshuai (王小帅)
Cast: Lu Zhong, Shi Liu, Feng Yuanzheng, Qin Hao, Amanda Qin
115 minutes; Mandarin with English Subtitles
On its busy surface, Beijing Bicycle director Wang Xiaoshuai’s latest film chronicles the hurtful sidelining of an elderly widow, the recently widowed Mrs. Deng (Lu Zhong). Bossy and lonely, she spends her retirement days taking care of her house and pestering her grown-up children, who don’t seem to want her around anymore. The elder son Jun (Feng Yuanzheng) is a successful family man, and in many ways the perfect billboard for the “Chinese Dream”: comfortably living with his wife (Amanda Qin) and their little boy in a nice apartment, driving around in a nice car, and generally enjoying the luxuries and consumerist lifestyle of the global bourgeoisie. The younger son Bing (Qin Hao), gay and rebellious, has a salon and a boyfriend (Han Yibo); his sexuality, unacknowledged by his mother, is cause for tension and resentment. The old lady and her two sons stand as two generations staring at each from across the years, no longer capable of mutual understanding. Thankfully she still finds solace with the ghost of her late husband, who keeps her company.
Beneath the small, everyday hostilities of the family and the hustle and bustle of Beijing life, tragedy is lurking: one day, the humdrum comes to an end with sudden and soon incessant, anonymous phone calls; every time she picks up, no one answers. Relentless, unnerving, the plague of the unidentified phone calls is followed by more physical menace as bricks are thrown at her window and garbage is dumped on her doorstep. Rumors of mysterious murders run wild in the neighborhood. Behind the stalking lie a mysterious tattooed boy, a long-buried secret, and the blood-red shadows of the Cultural Revolution.
Friday, July 3, 12:30 PM
Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th Street
$14/General Public; $11/Students and Seniors; $9/ Film Society Members
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China, 2014
Director: Li Ruijin (李睿珺)
Cast: Tang Long, Guo Songtao
103 minutes; Yugur with English subtitles
Indie filmmaker Li Ruijun (Fly with the Crane) is back with his fourth feature, a masterfully lensed nomadic road movie set in his dusty native province of Gansu, in Northwestern China. In River Road, Bartel and Adikeer, two Yugur (裕固族) ethnic minority brothers, venture out with their two-humped camels to join their herdsman father, after their grandfather dies, by following a dried-up river bed. The children’s conflicts play out during their long journey while the heart-breaking desertification of the Yugur grazing lands – signifying also the end of a traditional way of life – serves as the backdrop to the drama. More than just a tale of stubborn figures pitted against the unforgiving landscape, the film earns its emotional payoff from the incredible performances of the young leads. Featuring the sand-blown splendor of infinitely sprawling vistas, ghost towns, and touches of the fantastic, River Road is an absolute masterpiece of Chinese filmmaking.
Friday, July 3, 2:50 PM
Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th Street
$14/General Public; $11/Students and Seniors; $9/ Film Society Members
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Hong Kong-China, 2015
Director: Derek Kwok Chi-Kin (郭子健), Henri Wong (黃智亨)
Cast: Josie Ho, Ekin Cheng, Ronald Cheng, Tse Kwan-Ho, Andrew Lam, Wilfred Lau
108 minutes; Cantonese and Hakka with English Subtitles
Director Derek Kwok loves his losers, whether it’s the geriatric martial arts masters of Gallants, or the hapless demon hunter of Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West. Now, he turns his attention to badminton and transforms it into a martial art. Washed-up former 90’s pop star, Ekin Cheng, plays one of three crooks fresh out of prison and desperate to start new lives. Josie Ho plays the washed-up former badminton champion who agrees to be their Yoda. Full of berserk camerawork, crazed performances, meteors shaped like shuttlecocks, and a go-for-broke, anything-for-the-joke attitude, this is a scorched earth comedy that leaves the screen in tatters and doesn’t end until the last racquet explodes.
Saturday, July 4, 12:00 PM
Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th Street
$14/General Public; $11/Students and Seniors; $9/ Film Society Members
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5) Robbery 《老笠》
Hong Kong, 2015
Director: Fire Lee (李家榮)
Cast: Derek Tsang, J. Aire, Lam Suet, Stanley Fung
90 minutes; Cantonese with English subtitles
An anarcho-absurdist blood-soaked grand guignol indie flick with attitude to burn, this is the pitch perfect youth movie from Hong Kong. A twenty-something punk fancies himself a total player, but the best job he can find is overnight clerk at a convenience store. The other clerk is a cute chick and you’re thinking “rom com,” but then there’s a robbery, a gangster, a shoot-out, and by the time a neighbor is pulling out a homemade bomb, you realize that this violent farce is all about the current situation in Hong Kong where nothing makes sense, the heartless wipe their feet on the hopeless, and you might as well burn it all down because there are no more better tomorrows.
Sunday, July 5, 1:00 PM
Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th Street
$14/General Public; $11/Students and Seniors; $9/ Film Society Members
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Hong Kong, 2015
Director: Lau Ho-Leung (劉浩良)
Cast: Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Patrick Tam, Mark Cheng
102 minutes; Cantonese with English subtitles
Director Lau Ho-leung will attend the screening.
Following a 16 year stretch in a Malaysian prison Big F (Francis Ng) gathers his old crew together for one last big heist. Their brilliant (if a bit deranged) plan? Steal parts off of junker police vans, turn their minibus into a heist vehicle above the law, and rob mainland corpses stuffed with cash that are being transported over the border. Only two problems: they weren’t the first to have this idea, and they are beginning to like being cops. Shoot outs, bicycle chases, kidnappings, bowling and cockroach infestations ensue. The cast is a who’s who of Hong Kong genre actors, and prolific screenwriter Lau’s directorial debut is stylish and fun. This is the type of film that made audiences fall in love with Hong Kong films in the first place.
Sunday, July 5, 5:30 PM
Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th Street
$14/General Public; $11/Students and Seniors; $9/ Film Society Members
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7) Cafe. Waiting. Love 《等一個人咖啡》
Taiwan, 2014
Director: Chiang Chin-lin (江金霖)
Cast: Vivian Sung, Bruce, Megan Lai, Marcus Chang
120 minutes; Mandarin with English subtitles
Three years after his record-breaking debut, You are the Apple of My Eye, writer/director Giddens Ko has penned an irresistibly zany romantic comedy, based on his book of the same name, this time with Chiang Chin-lin in the director’s seat. Following Siying (Vivian Sung), an undergrad and part-time worker at the titular café, the film zips through unrequited crushes, dreams of travel, hot sausages, bowls of tau fu fah (sweet soya bean pudding), and even the supernatural like a gag-manga inspired bullet. Vivian Sung and Bruce shine as the young leads, sharing a charismatic and electrifying chemistry. Vivian Chow also makes a rare and glamourous appearance after years of withdrawing from the public eye.
Thursday, July 9, 7:30 PM
SVA Beatrice Theatre, 333 W. 23rd St.
$14/Admission
Ongoing Films and Shows
1) “Behind the Mask, a Play” – An ancient myth about blood and honor reveals the secret life of a Chinese theater troupe in the dark comedy “Behind the Mask — a Play” by Chinese authors Feng BaiMing and Huang WeiRuo, which is being newly adapted by Yangtze Repertory Theatre in a production helmed by Chinese-born director Chongren Fan. The play will be performed in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles and will be completely accessible for English-speaking audiences.
A play-within-a-play takes place in a theater space somewhere in China, where a nine-person troupe is rehearsing for a story about a Chinese mythical hero, Mei Jian Chi. As the myth is popularly known within Chinese culture, it depicts a tyrant, the King of Chu, who orders the death of his two master swordsmiths as part of a ritualized process to forge the world’s sharpest blades, using human blood. Their son, Mei, seeking revenge, devises a death ploy with an errant by offering his own living but decapitated head to the King. Fragments of the mythical story switch in and out from snippets of mundane and personal follies of the struggling troupe during rehearsal. Through the play, we get to learn about the troupe and the pressures of the artistic life in contemporary China.
June 25 – July 12
Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave.
$25/general admission; $20/seniors and students
On Wednesdays & Thursdays, pay what you can (available day of performance at box office only, advance sales regular price)
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2) New York Asian Film Festival – 19 films from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are part of this year’s festival. See our post for a list of these films and their showtimes.
June 26 – July 8
Walter Reader Theater at Film Society of Lincoln Center, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza (65th St.)
July 9 – July 11
SVA Theater, 333 W 23rd St.
$14/General Admission
Exhibitions
Just added and opening:
Brimming with Nostalgia: The Humanistic Landscape of Taiwanese and Japanese Watercolor Paintings (Tenri Cultural Institute, 7/6 – 7/31) – Curated by Chin-Lung Huang, this exhibition examines the influence that a handful of older, master watercolorists exerted on the development of watercolor painting in Taiwan. By comparing older and newer works by representative painters of the 1970s, exploring the changes in their styles and visual vocabularies, introducing viewers to a new generation of up-and-coming artists of the “Second Golden Age of Watercolor,” and examining the differences between the first and second “golden ages,” the exhibition aims to create an authentic portrait of Taiwanese watercolor painting over the past century.
Closing soon:
Happy Together (Tina Kim Gallery, 5/15 – 7/3)
Huang Rui: Language Color (Zürcher Gallery, 5/26 – 7/4)
Tseng Kwong Chi: Performing for the Camera (Grey Art Gallery, 4/21 – 7/11)
New Ways of Seeing: Beyond Culture (Dorsky Gallery, 5/10 – 7/12)
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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.
Happy Together (Tina Kim Gallery, 5/15 – 7/3)
Huang Rui: Language Color (Zürcher Gallery, 5/26 – 7/4)
Tseng Kwong Chi: Performing for the Camera (Grey Art Gallery, 4/21 – 7/11)
New Ways of Seeing: Beyond Culture (Dorsky Gallery, 5/10 – 7/12)
De/Constructing China: Selections from the Asia Society Museum Collection (Asia Society, 6/9 – 7/19)
Lin Chi-Wei (林其蔚): Tape Player for Shanghai Biennale (Nolan Park Building, Building 5a5B, Governors Island, 5/23 – 7/20)
Dawang Yingfan Huang: LUANTAN: My life is audio graffiti (Nolan Park Building, Building 5B, Governors Island, 5/23 – 7/20)
ShyuRuey-Shiann: The River of Childhood (Nolan Park Building, Building 5B, Governors Island, 6/17 – 7/20)
Brimming with Nostalgia: The Humanistic Landscape of Taiwanese and Japanese Watercolor Paintings (Tenri Cultural Institute, 7/6 – 7/31)
Facing East: Chinese Urbanism in Africa (Storefront for Architecture, 6/17 – 8/1)
One-Year Certificate Programs 2015 Full-Time Student Exhibition (ICP School, 6/19 – 8/9) – includes Chinese artists Amy Xian Luo, Jiaxi Yang, and Marc Qimeng Zhao
China: Through the Looking Glass (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 5/7- 8/16)
The Great Ephemeral (New Museum, 5/27 – 9/6)
Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong (Museum of Chinese in America, 3/26 – 9/13)
Lead image photo by Flickr user wsifrancis. Posted with description “各種有關”無”的思考”. Licensed under Creative Commons