A film festival 'China, 20th Century. History Through the Eyes of Chinese Cinema' will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg under the auspices of the 'New Cinema of China' project. The organizers will present a new program aimed at conveying to the R...

In St. Petersburg, the festival will take place from September 24 to 29 at the Aurora cinema. The opening film will be the spectacular spy thriller ‘Cliff Walkers’ (2021) by the renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Zhang Yimou is a two-time winner of the Venice Film Festival, a two-time BAFTA Award winner, and a recipient of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the beginning of the new millennium, Zhang Yimou has been actively working in genre cinema, achieving international success with his wuxia films. Among his most famous films are ‘To Live’ (1994), ‘Hero’ (2002), ‘House of Flying Daggers’ (2004), ‘Shadow’ (2018), and ‘The Flowers of War’ (2011). His new film ‘Cliff Walkers’ became a box office hit in China, grossing about $180 million.

In total, six outstanding films by leading masters of contemporary Chinese cinema will be shown at the Aurora cinema: Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, Andrew Lau, Alan Mak, and Felix Chong. Most of the films will be shown in Russia for the first time.

In Moscow, screenings will start on October 2 at the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery and will last until October 8. The program will include 5 works by leading Chinese masters.

Among the films that can be seen in Moscow and St. Petersburg: the epic battle fresco ‘The Founding of an Army’, directed by Hong Kong director Andrew Lau (the ‘Infernal Affairs’ trilogy). The film depicts the events of 1927, featuring real historical figures: Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping. ‘The Silent War’ by directors Alan Mak and Felix Chong tells the story of a secret agent of Chinese intelligence, Zhang Xuening, who in 1949 in Shanghai recruits a blind piano tuner, He Bing, who has perfect pitch. Thus begins a ‘silent’ but no less deadly war of intelligence, reflecting the historical confrontation between communists and nationalists in China after World War II. Another film in the program by director Zhang Yimou, ‘Coming Home’, tells the story of the dark period of the Cultural Revolution through the example of one family. Audiences will also see the film ‘Youth’, which was named the best film of 2017 by the China Film Directors' Guild. The film is directed by the famous director and actor Feng Xiaogang (‘A World Without Thieves’, ‘I Am Not Madame Bovary’). The action begins during the Cultural Revolution and continues until the end of the decade, covering many historical events, including the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979.

The closing film of the festival will be Feng Xiaogang's ‘Aftershock’, which begins in 1976 during the Tangshan earthquake, one of the largest natural disasters of the 20th century. The film was submitted by China for the Oscar in 2010.

The main task of the thematic film program ‘China, 20th Century. History Through the Eyes of Chinese Cinema’, as well as the annual festival ‘New Cinema of China’, is to reveal to the Russian public the phenomenon of contemporary Chinese cinema, to demonstrate how professional, diverse, interesting, and most importantly, understandable it can be. We also see our mission as creating a fashion in Russia for Chinese cinema and watching it on the big screen. The selected films are first and foremost ‘contemporary’, and only then ‘Chinese’, so there is hardly any need to specifically look for national distinctiveness.

According to the organizers, a great deal of work was done to select the most interesting Chinese films for the Russian audience. The creative style of the filmmakers is striking in its diversity, as is the richness of China's entire artistic heritage from ancient times to the present day. The genre and stylistic diversity of the program matches the diversity of events – tragic, dramatic, comic – that defined China's history in the last century. The filmmakers managed to reflect their era vividly and expressively, with their characteristic boldness of expression, not afraid of direct conversation on the most acute topics.

The history of China in the 20th century is full of drama and unexpected twists. Suffice it to say that during this century, three states with different political and economic systems changed there. Naturally, such an eventful era attracts constant attention from Chinese filmmakers. They use their history to create both exciting genre works – thrillers, westerns (easterns), action films – and epic canvases that reproduce historical events and the fates of real political figures. These films enjoy consistent success at the Chinese box office, as well as popularity at international film festivals.

The history of China is five thousand years of continuous artistic, philosophical, and political development. At present, when China is experiencing a new rapid rise and, after almost two centuries of interruption, is again emerging as a world leader, understanding the historical path takes on special relevance.

The new festival program will reach Moscow audiences by October: films from the program ‘China, 20th Century. History Through the Eyes of Chinese Cinema’ can be seen from October 2 to 8 at the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Festival website and tickets: chinafilmfest.ru/2021/