From Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, 15 Chinese-language arthouse movies and documentaries will be shown free of admission at B10 and A3+ in OCT-LOFT. Most of the movies have English subtitles and are award winners.
Venue: A3+ & B10 Live, North Area, OCT-LOFT, Nanshan District (南山区华侨城创意文化园北区A3+和B10现场)
Metro: Line 1, Qiaocheng East Station (侨城东站), Exit A
‘Knife in the Clear Water’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 31
Venue: B10 Live
Subtitles: English
Plot: Chinese director Wang Xuebo’s feature debut revolves around a man’s struggle to keep his beloved bull from being used as sacrifice for his dead wife’s funeral rites. Set in Xihaigu, Ningxia, the film won the New Currents Award at the 21st Busan Film Festival earlier this October. Director Wang will talk with the Shenzhen audience after the screening.
‘Thanatos, Drunk’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 1
Venue: B10 Live
Subtitles: English
Plot: Rat and his elder gay brother Shanghe live in an old house on the edge of Taipei. Rat works at a market vegetable stall and Shanghe dances in a gay nightclub. With the rhythm of their wanderings, the film follows the protagonists with their lives in limbo and evolves into a panorama of a society that does not appear to welcome its next generation. Directed by Chang Tso-chi, the movie won awards at the 17th Taipei Film Award and the 52nd Golden Horse Film Awards.
‘Lost Daughter’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 2
Venue: B10 Live
Subtitles: English
Plot: A Chinese mainland girl Lianlian dies in a diving event in Taiwan and her Taiwanese half sister Jiaxin is suspected by the police. Lianlian’s mother comes to Taiwan from the mainland, trying to find out the truth behind Lianlian’s death, while Jiaxin’s Taiwanese mother defends her daughter. The sisters’ father Ah Sheng, a Taiwanese businessman, is stuck in between the two. Directed by Chen Yu-jie, the feature film won best director at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Chen will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘Ta’ang’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 3
Venue: A3+
No English subtitles
Plot: Director Wang Bing zeroes in on the lives of refugees living on the war-torn borderlands between Myanmar and China in this documentary.
‘My Mother’s Rhapsody’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 4
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: Tied together by a structure that separates the film into several sections, director Qiu Jiongjiong interviews his grandmother and asks her to look back on her 86 years of life. “My Mother’s Rhapsody” is filled with great stories, both funny and tragic, as well as some fine storytelling. Qiu will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘Madame’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 5
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: By day, Fan Qihui works as a fashion designer and tailor; by night, he changes clothes, puts on make-up and becomes Madame Bilan, singing melancholy songs in a bar. His friend Qiu Jiongjiong took two years to make a documentary about Fan. Qiu will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘The Summer Is Gone’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 6
Venue: B10 Live
Subtitles: English
Plot: Set in a Chinese city in the early 1990s, “The Summer Is Gone” is about the end of an era — for a boy spending his last vacation before enrolling in the junior high, and for a community confronting the changes brought about by the privatization of State-backed enterprises from which they had long earned their stable living. Director Zhang Dalei will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘A Simple Goodbye’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 8
Venue: A3+
No English subtitles
Plot: Directed by Degena Yun, “A Simple Goodbye” tells the story of two generations. A girl who’s confused about what lies ahead is sent to England for schooling. She indulges herself in cyber love and cannot get herself out of the hurtful affair. A middle-aged father who’s perplexed about death leaves his hometown for Beijing when he was young. He feels helpless about the status quo of the State-owned film studio. Tortured by terminal disease, he gives up on living.
Three documentaries by
Qiu Jiongjiong
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 9
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: “Ode to Joy” depicts the preparation of a memorial Sichuan opera show to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of a veteran Sichuan opera performer. “The Moon Palace” digs into Qiu’s father’s restaurant. The father and his customers, mostly friends, are devoted to good company, wine and its pleasures: poets and philosophers of life and the Sichuan opera. In “A Portrait of Mr. Huang,” retired policeman Huang recalls a murder case two decades ago. Director Qiu will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘Mr. Zhang Believes’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 10
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: Blending narrative with experimental theater, director Qiu Jiongjiong lifts the veil on the often-forgotten history of China with insight and crafty wit. In the documentary “Mr. Zhang Believes,” Zhang Xianchi was born into a Kuomintang family in the 1930s but he was an active Communist Party supporter. However, he was jailed after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 due to his family’s background. Qiu will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘Poet on a Business Trip’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 11
Venue: A3+
No English subtitles
Plot: In this feature film, a poet sets off on a “business trip” through rural Xinjiang. The physically exhausting trip features an existential brothel visit, bumping on bad roads and a glimpse of a disappearing world, as well as 16 poems.
‘A Shoeshiner’s Journey’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: In this documentary, Liu used to hold a governmental position in Tibet but he quits his job and goes on a journey traveling around China. With a broken van as his only companion, Liu dedicates himself to the great aspiration of establishing a university of international communism on his own. The shooting of the documentary lasted for seven years. Directors Li Xiaofeng and Jia Kai will talk with the audience after the screening.
‘Factory Youth’
Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13
Venue: A3+
Subtitles: English
Plot: “Factory Youth” is Shenzhen director Guo Xizhi’s documentary portrait of migrant workers in Shenzhen and Qingyuan. Guo will talk with the audience after the screening.
(Cao Zhen)
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