High Museum launches 'China on Screen' film series to coincide with 'First Emperor' exhibit

January 30, 7:50 AMAtlanta Movies ExaminerRyan McNally

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If last year’s Summer Olympics piqued your interest in China, you won’t want to miss the High Museum’s “China on Screen” film series, which starts January 30 and runs through February 7, 2009. It’s being presented in coordination with the High’s superb “The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army” exhibit, which was named one of Time’s “Top 10 Exhibitions of 2008.”

The films show a contemporary approach to Chinese economic and social revolution—perfect for those whose interests were piqued by images of modern-day China on display during the Olympics. “Viewers will find in these three acclaimed films from leading directors of the Sixth Generation an individualist, contemporary and urban approach to cinema,” says Linda Dubler, curator of media arts. “These are films that present history as the lived experience of individuals and open our eyes to the protean place that is China today.”

Here’s the lineup:

Up the Yangtze
Friday, January 30, 8 p.m.

This documentary, nominated for a 2009 Independent Spirit Award, traces the changes that have taken place in China through the lives of two young people, Chen BoYu (Jerry) and Yu Shui (Cindy), who work for a company that organizes farewell tours of the Three Gorges Dam area. Their stories are woven together into a film that Stephen Holden of The New York Times calls “an astonishing documentary of culture class and the erasure of history amid China’s economic miracle.” Up the Yangtze has tallied a 7.5 IMDB rating and a whopping 96 tomatometer score.

Still Life
Saturday, January 31, 8 p.m.

This film, which won the Grand Prize at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, focuses on the fast-paced changes that have transformed China and explores the impact these changes have had on its people. It’s set in central China ’s Fengjie, a 2,000-year-old town on the Yangtze that’s being simultaneously demolished and rebuilt by the monumental Three Gorges Dam project, which has displaced more than 2 million residents. The parallel narratives in the film follow two characters: a coal miner in search of his wife and a nurse seeking a divorce from her engineer husband. The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis named Director Jia-Zhang-ke “among the most strikingly gifted filmmakers working today,” and Entertainment Weekly gave the film an “A.” Along with an impressive 81 Metacritic score, Still Life has tallied a solid 7.3 among IMDB users. 

Sunflower
Saturday, February 7, 8 p.m.

Closing out the series is Sunflower (see photo at top of article), a family drama spanning three decades. The film traces the upheaval of Chinese society and the struggling relationship between a father and son. The two meet for the first time during the height of the Cultural Revolution when the father, Gengian, once an accomplished artist, returns to Beijing after years of exile and reeducation. The films also co-stars Joan Chen, who U.S. audiences may recognize from the TV series "Twin Peaks" and such films as Heaven & Earth. Sunflower, which won the Best Director prize at the 2005 San Sebastian International Film Festival, has tallied a 64 tomatometer score and a 7.3 IMDB user rating.

All films are screened in the Richard H. Rich Theatre, located in the Memorial Arts Building , adjacent to the High at Peachtree and 15th Streets in midtown Atlanta. Tickets for all shows are $7 general admission and $6 for students, seniors and Museum members. For more information, visit www.high.org.