FILM SEASON : A RETROSPECTIVE FILMHOUSE, EDINBURGH: 11 MARCH - 1 APRIL 2019 THE PROGRAMME FILMHOUSE, EDINBURGH: 11 MARCH - 1 APRIL 2019

FOR DIRECTIONS AND CONTACT DETAILS, PLEASE SEE THE INSIDE BACK COVER.

Mon 11 March Wed 13 March 17:50 18:15 In the Heat Red Sorghum of the Sun Introduced by Introduced by Dr Huang Xuelei Prof Natascha Gentz

Mon 18 March Thu 21 March 20:30 18:05 Black Snow Keep Cool Introduced by Introduced by Noemi Prof Natascha Gentz Lemoine-Blanchard

Mon 25 March Wed 27 March 17:45 18:00 Devils on the Doorstep Introduced by Dr Julian Ward

Mon 1 April 17:45 : A Star Wars Story TO FIND OUT MORE, VISIT OUR SPECIAL JIANG WEN MINI-SITE confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/film WELCOME

‘THIS IS NOT SO MUCH ABOUT ONLY, IT IS ABOUT WORLD-CLASS FILMMAKING AT ITS BEST.’ NATASCHA GENTZ

We are delighted We invited one of China’s most popular to bring to you a independent writers, Xu Zechen to present retrospective of his book at the Edinburgh International Jiang Wen, one Book Festival and the film version at the of the most well- International Film Festival, again to packed known, popular and audiences in the Filmhouse. In addition, loved film actors in the summer of 2018 we presented the and directors in Chinese Visual Festival there. China. We very much hope you share This year’s full retrospective of one of our passion for this internationally China’s best actors and directors is again acclaimed Chinese film artist. a first of its kind. Jiang Wen is one of For over a decade, we have enjoyed China’s most celebrated actor-directors a partnership with the Filmhouse in and screenwriters. His career has ranged Edinburgh, Film Academy and from debuting as the child Emperor Pu Yi to China Film Archive introducing Chinese collaborating with the well-known director cinema to Scottish and wider British in Red Sorghum and Keep audiences. In 2007, we were honoured to Cool, before going on to direct a number work with Mark Cousins, Director of the of well-received films. He even found time Edinburgh International Film Festival, who to take a starring role in Rogue One: A Star organised the first UK-wide China Film Wars Story. In this selection of films, we aim Festival CinemaChina2007, with famous to reflect his diverse and inspiring portfolio, actress Maggie Cheung and leading and hope you will see, this is not so much director Xie Fei as honorary guests to host about China only, it is about world-class Gala shows and give master classes at the filmmaking at its best. Filmhouse. The fully packed cinemas and We wish to thank our partners, in particular enthusiastic feedback greatly inspired us to the China Film Archive, but also Golden take this initiative further. Harvest Distribution and Emperor Motion In 2009, we presented an award-winning Pictures for their great support in bringing Fringe Show by the these films to Edinburgh. in the University’s iconic McEwan Hall, I hope you enjoy this season. producing a novel version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream involving cutting-edge computer animation technology. Over the years, we have invited China’s foremost directors of independent documentary films, including the doyen of Chinese Professor Natascha Gentz documentary films, Wu Wenguang, and Director acclaimed writer-turned-filmmaker Xu Xing. Confucius Institute for Scotland

1 ‘JIANG IS AN INSTITUTION, A POWERFUL NATIONAL FIGURE WITH A STRONG SENSE OF HIS OWN CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE.’ SHELLY KRAICER, CINEMA SCOPE, 2011

Above Jiang Wen as former convict, Li Huiqian in Xie Fei’s Black Snow.

2 JIANG WEN ACTOR, SCREENWRITER & FILM DIRECTOR

‘WHEN I MEET A GOOD ACTOR, I WOULD LIKE TO BE A DIRECTOR. WHEN I MEET A GOOD DIRECTOR, I WOULD LIKE TO BE AN ACTOR. WHEN THERE IS A GOOD SCRIPT, I WOULD LIKE TO BE BOTH A DIRECTOR AND AN ACTOR. THE SWITCH IS VERY NATURAL, NOT INTENTIONAL.’ JIANG WEN, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Born in 1963, Jiang Wen graduated from war through the absurd interrogation of a the renowned Beijing Central Academy Japanese soldier in a Chinese village. of Drama in acting in 1984. During this period, he kept his acting He started his career with outstanding career up, often playing sympathetic performances in lead roles such as in Xie outcasts or gauche characters. Under the Jin’s (1987), Zhang Yimou’s direction of Zhang Yimou for the second Red Sorghum (1988) and Xie Fei’s Black time in the urban comedy Keep Cool Snow (1990). Red Sorghum was a Golden (1997), he plays a bashful lover with a Bear Winner at the Berlinale and Jiang stutter, and in the debut black comedy Wen was nominated twice at the Chinese of The Missing Gun (2002), he Golden Awards for his role. portrays a policeman desperately trying to track down the gun that he has lost. In this first period of his career, he built a strong acting reputation at home and In 2007, he set up his own film company abroad as Chinese cinema was making its and returned to directing with critically entry into the European film festival scene acclaimed The Sun Also Rises, nominated with a number of acclaimed films post- at Venice. Hereafter he developed his . signature style with more commercial, action-comedy films. In his trilogyLet the Jiang Wen then started venturing into Bullets Fly (2010), directing with two films which established (2014) and (2018), he sets him as a serious director. In the Heat of the Western-style intrigues of bandits and Sun (1994) was nominated at the Venice schemers against the tumultuous backdrop Film Festival and awarded best director at of the Republican era (1920s-1930s) in the Golden Horse Film Festival in . which he also stars in central roles. (2000) was awarded the ‘Grand Prix’ by the jury at Cannes With his celebrity status in China, he was Festival, but this film also cost him a seven- cast in the Hollywood production Rogue year ban from film-making for its portrayal of One (2016) alongside actor the sensitive topic of the Sino-Japanese war. . In these two canons of Chinese cinema, The collection of films in this retrospective he skilfully explores the unreliability of offers an overview of his oeuvre’s historical memory, narrativising the Cultural milestones and a glimpse of his genius Revolution through the perspective of a shortly after his latest Hidden Man featured young adolescent, and the Sino-Japanese at the Toronto International Film Festival.

3 阳光灿烂的日子 YANGGUANGCANLAN DE RIZI

MONDAY 11 MARCH 17:50 For his directorial debut, Jiang Wen made SUGGESTED AGE CERTIFICATE: 12 a dramatic entrance into film. Adapted from Wild Beasts a novella written by Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 Wang Shuo, a Beijing writer renowned Director: Jiang Wen for so-called ‘hoodlum literature’, In the China, 1994 Heat of the Sun recounts the story of Fiction, 134 minutes teenager, Ma Xiaojun, growing up during Mandarin with English subtitles the Cultural Revolution. Format: DCP Sheltered from the turmoil raging Cast throughout the country, Ma and his gang , , Geng Le. are locked within the military compound of their parents in the army. Free of parental Preceded by an introduction by supervision, the teenagers pursue their Professor Natascha Gentz own revolution involving competing for girls and flexing their muscles.

4 RED SORGHUM 红高粱 HONG GAOLIANG

WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH 18:15 Projecting Zhang Yimou on the AGE CERTIFICATE: 15 international festival stage, his directorial debut, adapted from a novel by Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan, Director: Zhang Yimou features Jiang Wen’s early remarkable China, 1988 performance. Fiction, 91 minutes In the countryside of the 1930s, Mandarin with English subtitles Jiu’er () becomes the wife of a Format: DCP wine distillery owner through an arranged Cast marriage. After her husband’s death, she Jiang Wen, Gong Li. takes over the business and has to protect the distillery from local bandits amidst the Preceded by an introduction by threat of Japanese troops. Meanwhile she is Dr Huang Xuelei, University of Edinburgh ‘reclaimed’ by a man she had an encounter with some time ago.

5 BLACK SNOW 本命年 BENMINGNIAN

MONDAY 18 MARCH 20:30 Famous director Xie Fei’s dark fiction sets AGE CERTIFICATE: 15 the stage for a dramatic performance from Jiang Wen, acting as an uneducated Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 yet well-intentioned convict. The film was Director: Xie Fei awarded a Silver Bear at the 40th Berlin China, 1990 International Film Festival in 1990. Fiction, 107 minutes After his release from labour camp, Li Mandarin with English subtitles Huiqian (Jiang Wen) returns home to live Format: DCP with distant relatives. He tries to start his Cast new life by setting up a business in Beijing, Jiang Wen, Cai Hongxiang, Cheng Li, but struggles to adapt to a city that has Li Geng. changed enormously during his absence.

Preceded by an introduction by Professor Natascha Gentz

6 KEEP COOL 有话好好说 YOUHUA HAOHAO SHUO

THURSDAY 21 MARCH 18:05 Zhang Yimou’s Keep Cool is set in SUGGESTED AGE CERTIFICATE: 12 modern day 1990s Beijing, in stark contrast to his previous allegorical period Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 films that were emblematic of the Fifth Director: Zhang Yimou Generation of Chinese filmmakers. China, 1997 Discussing the film after its completion, Fiction, 90 minutes Zhang Yimou expressed his satisfaction with Mandarin with English subtitles Jiang Wen’s acting, describing him as ‘the Format: DCP best actor in China today’ (New York Times). Cast In this comedy, the hand-held camera Jiang Wen, , Qu Ying. follows bookseller Xiaoshuai (Jiang Wen) in his attempt to reconquer his ex-girlfriend Preceded by an introduction by An Hong. Noemi Lemoine-Blanchard, Confucius Institute for Scotland

7 DEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP 鬼子来了 GUIZI LAILE

MONDAY 25 MARCH 17:45 Based on an adaptation of the novella SUGGESTED AGE CERTIFICATE: 15 Shengcun by You Fengwei, Devils on the Doorstep is Jiang Wen’s second Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 feature. This black comedy set during Director: Jiang Wen the Japanese occupation represents his China, 2000 satirical and fast-paced style. Fiction, 139 minutes Village peasant Ma Dasan (Jiang Wen) is Mandarin with English subtitles put in the dangerous position of guarding Format: DCP and interrogating two Japanese prisoners Cast in his home until the New Year by an Jiang Wen, Teruyuki Kagawa, anonymous gunman. When the gunman Jiang Hongbo. does not return, the townspeople are faced with a dilemma. Preceded by an introduction by Dr Julian Ward, University of Edinburgh

8 THE MISSING GUN 寻枪 XUN QIANG

WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 18:00 This debut feature by director Lu AGE CERTIFICATE: 12 Chuan was also the first digital screening in China upon its release in Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 in 2002. Director: Lu Chuan After a night’s drinking at his sister’s China, 2002 wedding, policeman Ma Shan (Jiang Wen) Fiction, 90 minutes wakes up to find out his gun has been Mandarin with English subtitles stolen. He then sets out on a quest to Format: DCP recover it, retracing his steps on the night Cast and interrogating guests. Jiang Wen, Ning Jing, Liu Xiaoning. Along the way, Ma meets his former girlfriend, Li Xiaomeng, played by Ning Jing who starred as the mysterious Milan in Jiang Wen’s directorial debut In the Heat of the Sun.

9 ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

MONDAY 1 APRIL 17:45 In this Star Wars episode situated AGE CERTIFICATE: 12A between the original 1980s trilogy and newest sequels, Jiang Wen embodies Tickets £8 / Concessions £6 Baze Malbus, a Guardian of the Whills Director: Gareth Edwards who accompanies Jyn, the daughter of USA, 2016 the master engineer of the Death Star, Action, Science-fiction, 133 minutes in her quest to steal the blueprint of this English intergalactic weapon. Cast Next to his companion, the poised and Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Jiang Wen. spiritual Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen), he is a hard-boiled character quick to reach for his machine gun.

10 THE PRESENTERS

Curated by Noemi Lemoine-Blanchard, Dr Xuelei Huang is Lecturer in Chinese Dr Julian Ward, Dr Xuelei Huang and Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Prof Natascha Gentz, this season She has written an award-winning is organised and supported by the book on early Chinese cinema entitled Confucius Institute for Scotland in the Shanghai Filmmaking: Crossing Borders University of Edinburgh. and Connecting to the Globe, 1922-1938. She has been proactively engaged in Prof Natascha Gentz is Assistant Principal promoting Chinese silent films at the China, Director of the Confucius Institute HippFest in Bo’ness. for Scotland and Chair of Chinese Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She has She also leads a course on Chinese silent been involved in curating or overseeing cinema during which students have to events related to Chinese film, facilitating produce original Chinese silent movies and partnerships with the Beijing Film compete for the Golden Chopstick Awards Academy, China Film Archive, Edinburgh judged by an expert panel. For further Festivals, Hippodrome Silent Film Festival information see www.ed.ac.uk/literatures- in Bo’ness (HippFest) and the Filmhouse languages-cultures/asian-studies/activities/ and independent filmmakers in China. chinese-silent-film. Dr Julian Ward is Senior Lecturer in Noemi Lemoine-Blanchard is freelance Chinese Studies at the University of film programmer and Film Projects Edinburgh. He co-founded The Journal Manager at the Confucius Institute for of Chinese Cinemas, the first international Scotland. She has obtained a degree in journal on Chinese film studies, and co- Chinese Studies and a Masters degree in edited, with Professor Song Hwee Lim, Film Exhibition & Curation at the University the prestigious Chinese Cinema Book, of Edinburgh and has studied at the published by the British Film Institute in prestigious Chinese Film Academy. She 2011. He has worked closely with the organised the tour of the Chinese Visual Filmhouse for many years. Festival in Edinburgh in 2018 and is now consultant for the CVF in .

Below Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh hosts a team of experts on Chinese, Japanese and Korean Cinema.

11 THANKS

We would like to thank our friends, supporters and providers:

China Film Archive Emperor Motion Pictures Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment Group 橙天嘉禾娛樂集團

THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE

The Confucius Institute for Scotland in To find out more about this the University of Edinburgh is a national retrospective, please contact: centre that promotes educational, Noemi Lemoine-Blanchard cultural and economic ties between E: [email protected] Scotland and China. Xin Zhang We have developed an excellent E: [email protected] reputation for our: T: +44 (0) 131 662 2180 • Extensive programme of Chinese Visit our website at: language classes and cultural training. www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk • Unique, inspiring educational, cultural and business events.

12 DIRECTIONS & CONTACT DETAILS

Filmhouse 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ, Scotland, UK T: +44 (0) 131 228 2688 E: [email protected]

TO FIND OUT MORE, VISIT OUR SPECIAL JIANG WEN MINI-SITE confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/film TO FIND OUT MORE, VISIT OUR SPECIAL JIANG WEN MINI-SITE confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/film

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE FOR SCOTLAND Abden House 1 Marchhall Crescent Edinburgh EH16 5HP T: 0131 662 2180 E: [email protected] www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk www.facebook.com/CIScotland www.twitter.com/CI4Scotland