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Shanghai Film Series
Sunday, March 7, April 4, May 2, June 6, August 1, September 5
Samsung Hall
11:00 am & 2:00 pm (May 2 screening will be 2:30 pm only)
FREE ADMISSION * Part of the Target First Free Sunday program
Shanghai has been one of China's great filmmaking hubs, emerging as the country's first major film town in the 1920s and today as host to one of Asia's largest annual film festivals. This series highlights classic features and documentaries and explores five themes: 1) High Times to Revolution, 2) Chinese Cinema Legend Ruan Ling-Yu, 3) the Jews of Shanghai, 4) Shanghai Art Studios, and 4) Shanghai today.
Please note, all films will be screened in DVD format. Schedule is subject to change without notice. Not all films are appropriate for children, parental guidance is strongly advised. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Jewish programming associated with the Shanghai exhibition is generously supported by Barbara and Richard Rosenberg, Barbara and Gerson Bakar, Nancy and Stephen Grand, John and Lisa Pritzker, Mem Dryan Bernstein, and Deborah Strobin.
March 7: High Times to Revolution
Shanghai Triad
11:00 am
An epic tale of greed, revenge, and lust for power set against the Shanghai opium wars of the 1930's.
(Directed by Zhang Yimou. DVD, 1995, 103 minutes, in Chinese with English subtitles. Rated R for some language and images of violence.)
Two Stage Sisters
2:00 pm
A story about the changing lives of women during tumultuous times in China from 1935-50 set against the backdrop of the Shaoxing opera world. (Directed by Xie Jin. DVD, 1964, 112 minutes, in Chinese with English subtitles. Not rated.)
April 4: Chinese Shanghai Cinema Legend Ruan Lingyu
A Spray of Plum Blossoms
11:00 am
Silent film starring Ruan Lingyu, Wang Cilong, and Jin Yan in a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. (Directed by Bu Wancang. DVD, 1931, 100 minutes, black and white, silent movie with Chinese and English intertitles.)
Center Stage (aka The Actress)
2:00 pm
This is the true story of Chinese cinema legend Ruan Lingyu (Maggie Cheung) and the events that led up to her suicide at the age of 25.
(Directed by Stanley Kwan. DVD, 1992, 154 minutes, in Chinese with English subtitles)
May 2: The Jews of Shanghai
The Port of Last Resort
Introduction by scholar Nancy Berliner, curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum
2:30 pm
The little-known story of the Jewish refugees in Shanghai is presented through the recollections of four former refugees as well as rare home movies, photographs, newsreels, and propaganda films.
(Distributed by The National Center for Jewish Film. Directed by Joan Grossman and Paul Rosdy. DVD 1998, 79 minutes, in English and German with English subtitles)
June 6: The Jews of Shanghai
A Place to Save Your Life
11:00 am
Juxtaposing interviews with survivors with archival photographs, this film recounts the days when Jews lived in China under Japanese rule.
(Directed by Karen Shopsowitz. DVD, 1994, 52 minutes, English)
Shanghai Ghetto
2:00 pm
The film tells the story of the Jewish refugees in Shanghai, their relationships with the local Chinese and with the occupying Japanese army, the rich cultural life they constructed under great hardship, and the tragedy of their relatives who stayed behind in Europe.
(Directed by Dana Janklowicz-Mann and Amir Mann. DVD, 2002, 95 minutes, English, German, and Mandarin with English subtitles. Narrated by Academy Award Winner Martin Landau)
August 1: Shanghai Art Studios
The Lost Magic of the Shanghai Art Studios
11:00 am
The Shanghai Art Studios flourished from 1950 to 1965. This film documents through interviews, clips and stills a remarkably creative group of artists and their fascinating body of work.
(Directed by Marie-Claire Quiquemelle and Julien Gaurichon. DVD, 2007, 56 minutes, in Chinese with English subtitles)
Havoc in Heaven
2:00 pm
This colorful and award-winning animated film based on China’s great classic novel The Journey to the West was initiated in 1941. The project was delayed by the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and the Chinese Civil War, and was completed in two parts during the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 1960s.
(Directed by Wan Laiming. DVD, 1961, 1964, 87 minutes, in Chinese only. Please note, this animated film does not have subtitles)
September 5: Shanghai Today
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of Global Shanghai, 1850–2010 , introduces today's films and will sign copies of his books at the museum store from 12:00 noon–1:00 pm.
Shanghai Bride
11:00 am
A documentary about the materialistic and competitive nature of Shanghai’s marriage market, where women are becoming more selective or putting off marriage and men must compete on the basis of wealth.
(Directed by Sam Voutas. DVD, 2006, 51 minutes, in Mandarin and Shanghainese with English subtitles)
Mr. Wong’s World: Saving the Architectural Heritage of Shanghai
2:00 pm
Shanghai has been undergoing an unprecedented building boom. Over 2,000 high-rise buildings have gone up since the 1990's. As a result, many historic treasures fall prey to the wrecking ball. Mr. Wong is a wealthy businessman who returned to China from Canada, and has made it his mission to rescue old houses, villas, and temples of Shanghai (a theme echoed by the use of reclaimed building materials from old Shanghai buildings in the installation by Zhang Jian Jun on view in the Shanghai exhibition).
(Directed by Christian Schidowslki. DVD, 2008, 80 minutes, in Mandarin with English subtitles.)
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