Ingezonden persbericht


Programma Filmhuis Cavia Amsterdam juni 2006

Aanvang 20u30
Entrée 4 euro per avond

woensdag 7/6, 20u30
Interesting Times - The Secret of my Success (2002, video, 58 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld) Jinchuan Duan In Fanshen village, China - birth control policy leads to an unusual turn of events in the upcoming village council elections. The Men who could conquer China (2004, 78 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld) Nick Torrens & Jane St. Vincent Welch How does one buy companies owned by the state of China, support that country's transition to capitalism, and make a fortune at the same time? For 4,000 years China largely succeeded, both culturally and economically, in keeping the rest of the world at bay. Following its introduction of reforms in the 1980's, however, including a transition from a socialist to a market economy, China allowed multinational corporations to set up shop. Now that the world's most populous nation is clearly on a fast track to capitalism, American investors are eagerly exploring ways to exploit China's new 'economic miracle.' The documentary follows the efforts of wealthy New York investment banker Mart Bakal and his well-connected Hong Kong business partner Vincent Lee as they join forces in an effort to create the perfect mix of economic and political opportunity in China.

donderdag 8/6, 20u30
Heng shu heng / Go for Broke (2001, 35mm, 87 min, Engels ondertiteld) Guangli Wang The true story of a band of laid-off workers from state-owned companies who set out to risk their own fortunes in the private sector and then find out that success ain't what it used to be. After getting laid-off from a state-owned shipbuilder, a middle-aged worker uses all of his savings, borrows some money, and then convinces a group of friends who are in similar circumstances, to join him in an apartment decoration/construction business in Shanghai. After the initial difficulties of starting a business, they begin to show a profit. Then, disaster strikes when they are cheated out of all their money in a construction project scam. They are devastated, but there is nothing that they can do. The money and the thieves have all disappeared. After counting their losses, they borrow money from everyone they can find including loan sharks and start-up the company again from zero. Soon, their hard work pays off and once again they find themselves along the path to success.

vrijdag 9/6, 20u30
The Concrete Revolution (2004, video, 60 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld) Xiaolu Guo With a cameraman and a sound engineer at her side, the Chinese writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo walks through Beijing. She shows how the old China is rapidly crumbling away, how house after house is demolished to make room for the new China, which is put up in concrete. The official website of the capital warns tourists not to trust old city maps, because the city changes every day. Of course it does: of the twelve million people who live here, one million are construction workers. The favourite hangout of Xiaolu and her crew is the largest construction site in the city, where the preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games are well under way. The construction workers work long hours and still have three months pay outstanding, but they only admit this when the foreman is not around. China still has one foot in the old system, but uses the other to step outside. The Chinese are proud of their yellow skin, they make up the largest population in the world, everybody is learning English, they have brought in the 2008 Olympics and recently the Shenzhou rocket was launched into space. "The 21st century is the century of the Chinese." We have been warned. Mardi Gras: Made In China (USA, 2005, video, 71 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld) David Redmon Nowadays, China follows the path of the free market economy and many Western factories are set up there. That wouldn't be an exciting topic if the author did not visualise the hidden dark sides of the process of globalisation connecting East and West. This film offers us a close look into the everyday life and psychology of people working in Mardi Gras, the biggest bead factory in the world. We follow three of the many Chinese teenagers who have to work between ten and fifteen hours a day for about $60. Their speed at work is so incredible that the filmmaker had to give us slow-motion shots in order to show their technique properly. The punishment for every small mistake is severe and merciless, the working schedule is a rigid drill and living conditions are quite austere. What happens to the dreams of these young Chinese employees? Counter-pointing the Chinese side with the consumers of the same beads, New Orleans Mardi Gras revelers who reveal their breasts in order to get bead chains, the filmmaker does a wonderful job personalising the process of globalisation. Zaterdag 10/6, 20u30
Home to Tibet (VS, 1995, video, 55 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld)) Alan Dater, Lisa Merton Since the Chinese invasion in 1949 more than 100,000 Tibetans have fled their native country. They live scattered all over the world trying to keep their culture and religion alive. Of those who did not leave their country, over a million people have been tortured to death, executed or starved because they revolted against the Chinese occupation. Sonam Lama is one of the Tibetans who live in exile, but at his sister's request he decides to return to his native country after twelve years. Although he is an American citizen now, this trip is not without danger. Interlaced with archive footage documenting the history of the Chinese oppression and atrocities, he tells his story. To Sonam, as to many Tibetan exiles, the Dalai Lama is a symbol of hope and a better future. On his journey back home he decides to pay a visit to the spiritual leader in India. Karmapa - Two Ways Of Divinity (Finland, 1998, video, 60 min, Eng gesproken/ondertiteld)) Arto Halonen Apart from the exiled Dalai Lama, who is living in India, Tibetan Buddhism has various other spiritual leaders. One of them is the leader of the Karmapa sect, whose birth was already predicted by the first Buddha, Siddharta Gautama. When the sixteenth reincarnation of the Karmapa leader has died in the United States in 1981, monks start a search for the next reincarnation. Ten years later, representatives of the Chinese government in Tibet say they have found him, but an alternative candidate is pushed forward in India. This is the onset of a fierce political sparring. All in all, the production of this double portrait of both hallowed youngsters took six years. Prior to the shooting period from 1994 to 1997, director Arto Halonen (1964) had to wait for three years for permission by the Chinese authorities to film in Tibet, but he concealed the fact that the Dalai Lama and the second intended Karmapa leader, also living in exile in India, would be in his film, too.

donderdag 15/6, 20u30
Lan feng zheng / The blue kite (1993, DVD, 138 min, Eng ondertiteld) Zhuangzhuang Tian De film speelt zich af in de periode tussen 1953 en 1968 waarin een gezin in Beijing, bestaande uit Chen Shujuan en Lin Shasolong en hun zoontje Tietou, trachten te overleven. Dat blijkt een onmogelijk opgave want met verwoestende kracht dringt de politiek hun leven binnen. Overtuigend en meeslepend brengt Tian de gekte van verschillende door Mao geïnitieerde campagnes in beeld: de Honderd Bloemen in 1957, een half jaar later gevolgd door de economie ontwrichtende Grote Sprong Voorwaarts, waarna tien jaar later de Culturele Revolutie de bevolking begon de teisteren. Lijkt het er in de film lange tijd op dat moeder en zoon kunnen ontsnappen aan Mao's politieke en economische geweld, tenslotte wordt de Culturele Revolutie hen fataal.

Vrijdag 16/6, 20u30
Guizi lai le / Devils on the doorstep (2000, 35mm, 139 min, NL ondertiteld) Wen Jiang Een overweldigende tragikomedie over de lotgevallen van een simpele ziel tijdens de Japanse bezetting van China. Het trauma heeft al vaker gediend als thema voor Chinese films maar Devils on the doorstep biedt daarentegen een opmerkelijk genuanceerd beeld van die tumultueuze periode waarin Chinezen de indringers 'duivels' noemden en Japanners de onderdrukten zagen als 'bastaarden'.

Donderdag 22/6, 20u30
Shiqi sui de dan che / Beijing Bicycle (2001, 35mm, 113 min, NL ondertiteld) Xiaoshuai Wang Guei is met hoge verwachtingen naar de grote stad gekomen. Zijn werk als fietskoerier brengt hem in alle delen van Beijing; van het doolhof van oude steegjes tot de majestueuze nieuwe wolkenkrabbers. Als zijn fiets gejat wordt brengt hem dat behoorlijk in de problemen. Hij gaat op zoek en vindt zijn eigendom terug. De nieuwe bezitter Jian beweert de fiets tweedehands gekocht te hebben. Hij wil er niet zomaar afstand van doen. De fiets betekent voor hem status. Hij heeft hem nodig om mee te tellen bij zijn vrienden en om indruk te maken op het meisje Qin. Guei is echter voor zijn inkomen afhankelijk van de fiets. Noodgedwongen komen ze tot een tijdelijk compromis.

Vrijdag 23/6, 20u30
Zhantai / Platform (2000, 35mm, 134 min, NL ondertiteld) Zhang Ke Jia De jaren tachtig waren voor China in politiek en cultureel opzicht een periode van ingrijpende hervormingen. Een vrije-markteconomie verving het rigide communistische systeem. In plaats van nationalistische liederen klonk nu disco op straat. Televisie, gasfornuis en filtersigaretten werden geïntegreerd in het revolutionaire streven. Platform gaat over deze verwarrende tijd, en stelt een groep idealistische theatermakers centraal die zich graag mee laat voeren op de stroom van propagandatoneel naar breakdance. Eenmaal verlost van de strakke Mao-jasjes laten de jongelui hun haar permanenten en slaan ze aan het kettingroken.

Donderdag 29/6, 20u30
Shi mian mai fu / House of flying daggers (2004, 35mm, 119 min, NL ondertiteld) Yimou Zhang Zhang Yimou bewijst met zijn tweede martial arts-film House of flying daggers het metier te beheersen, op zijn manier. Hij laat de avontuurlijke actie van grootmeester King Hu en de liefdeslyriek van die andere grootmeester Wong Kar-wai gewoon versmelten, totdat alle zintuigen zinderen.

Vrijdag 30/6, 20u30
Kung Fu Hustle / Gong Fu (2003, 35mm, 95 min, NL ondertiteld) Wie eerder het krankzinnige voetbal-met-martial-arts-spektakel Shaolin soccer onderging weet wat hij kan verwachten van deze nieuwe productie van Hongkongster, producent en regisseur Stephen Chow. De karateheld belandt in pre-revolutionair China als kruimelboefje in het spervuur van twee elkaar op leven en dood bevechtende bendes. Net als in de voorganger dient het verhaaltje vooral als kapstok voor een aanhoudend bombardement aan slapstickgrappen, cartooneske trucages, flitsend gechoreografeerde knokpartijen en krankzinnige visuele vondsten. Kung fu hustle (Gong fu) werd in 2004 uitgeroepen tot de beste Hongkongproductie. Hierna ~ afsluiting seizoen en Kung Fu party ~

Filmhuis Cavia
van Hallstraat 52-1
1051 HH Amsterdam
020-6811419
info@filmhuiscavia.nl
www.filmhuiscavia.nl