PRESS INFORMATION HONG KONG | MARCH 5 I 2019 Film For its sixth edition, multi-media artist and film producer Li Zhenhua brings together 27 film and video works inspired by the current sociopolitical climate. For further screening information, please visit artbasel.com/hongkong/film. DETAILED FILM PROGRAM Thursday, March 28, 2019, 4pm Short Film Program 'With or Without People' The five films in 'With or Without People' explore some of the most pressing issues in contemporary times. Julian Charrière appropriates found footage of falling trees to construct a melancholic relationship between humanity and the world. Nature is destined to be destroyed. David Noonan reconfigures archival footage to investigate stagecraft and make-believe. Chang-Chien Chi follows refugees who are moving in search of safety and home, taking risks as an observer and documentarian. On a trip to Europe in 2018, Gong Yuan infiltrated public spaces with a fog machine, spreading fear. In a train station in Taiwan, Yuan Goang Ming captures migrant workers, presenting the images in a scroll-like fashion. Julian Charrière, Ever Since We Crawled Out, 2018, 6’47”; Ben Brown Fine Arts, Sean Kelly, Sies + Höke David Noonan, A Dark and Quiet Place, 2017, 28’; Modern Art, Rosyln Oxley9 Gallery Chien-Chi Chang, AZMA, 2017, 12’34"; Chi-Wen Gallery Gong Yuan, Scented Air - The Stroll, 2012-2018, 3’; Tang Contemporary Art Goang-Ming Yuan, The Strangers, 2018, 6’25"; TKG+ Free admission. Thursday, March 28, 2019, 6:30pm Special Screening (Premiere) Liu Xiaodong, 'On the other Riverbanks in Berlin', 2018, 45', Lisson Gallery 'On the other Riverbanks in Berlin' is a documentary by Yang Bo about Liu Xiaodong’s 2018 site-specific project in Berlin. Liu’s project focuses on queer and transgender issues. The two main subjects are Sasha Maria von Halbach, a professional actor, and Zhuang Wei, a Hong Kong–based conceptual artist. Von Halbach and her partner have been living together in their beautiful home in Berlin for many years, while Zhuang’s home is merely a place for work and sleep – every item in his home has a function directly related to his art practice. Opening with a conversation with artist Liu Xiaodong and Film sector curator Li Zhenhua; conducted in Mandarin with English translation. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Friday, March 29, 2019, 4pm Short Film Program 'Le Deuxième Sexe' In these six films, the artists and directors explore personhood and autonomy, delving into contemporary preoccupations and primal fears. What separates a person from an animal? How much can the human body endure? Does the mind differ from artificial intelligence? Are we specks in the cosmos, a blip in a vast timescale? Xing Danwen, Thread, 2018, 11’30”; Boers-Li Gallery Alice Wang, Untitled, 2014, 2’; Capsule Shanghai Cao Yu, The Labourer, 2017, 8’33”; Galerie Urs Meile Alex Prager, La Grande Sortie, 2015, 10’; Comissioned for the Opéra National de Paris 3è Scène. Wu Chi-Yu, Captcha-Captcha, 2018, 13’; Liang Gallery Chen Xi, A Single Life In Multiple Lives, 2018, 6’36”; A+ Contemporary Followed by a conversation with artist Xing Danwen and Film sector curator Li Zhenhua. Friday, March 29, 2019, 6:30pm Special Screening (Premiere) M+ Live Art: Miraculous Trajectories. A live cinema event co-presented by Art Basel in Hong Kong and M+, West Kowloon Cultural District 'Miraculous Trajectories' is a new 70-minute film written and directed by Chinese artist Cheng Ran. It is based on his nine-hour epic 'In Course of the Miraculous' (2015), which imagines the stories behind three real-life mysterious disappearances in 1924, 1975 and 2011. This screening marks the world premiere of this dialogue-free feature. Chinese electronic new wave musician Shao Yanpeng composed the original soundtrack for the film and will perform it live, creating an immersive viewing and listening experience for audiences. Opening with a conversation with artists Cheng Ran and Shao Yanpeng, and Chanel Kong, Associate Curator, Moving Image, M+. Conducted in Mandarin with English translation. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Saturday, March 30, 2019, 2pm Special Screening Liu Xiaodong, 'Hometown Boy', 2010, 72', Lisson Gallery Directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Liu Xiaodong's 'Hometown Boy' is a look into the practice of the accomplished Chinese painter. In this film, Liu returns to his hometown of Jincheng in Liaoning Province to spend three months painting his family and childhood friends while documenting the experience through diary entries, sketches and photographs. The film offers a panoramic view of Liu Jincheng's memories, beginning with when he left as an aspiring 17-year-old art student. Then, Jincheng was a bustling little town that revolved around the paper mill. Three decades later the physical, social, and economic landscape has changed drastically. Years of environmental degradation have taken their toll. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Saturday, March 30, 2019, 4pm Special Screening Liu Xiaodong, 'Dong', 2010, 66', Lisson Gallery 'Dong' is a 2006 documentary by Chinese director Jia Zhangke. It is the companion piece to his feature Still Life, which was released concurrently. The film follows the artist and actor Liu Xiaodong as he paints a group of laborers near the Three Gorges Dam (also the subject of Still Life) and later a group of women in Bangkok. 'Dong' screened at the 2006 Venice International Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Saturday, March 29, 2019, 4pm Short Film Program 'Missing Police' Three short films by Ju Anqi comprise the closing works for this year’s Short Film Program: 'Big Character', 'Drill Man' and 'A Missing Policeman', which discuss the 1960s, 1980s and the present respectively. Beijing-based artist and director Ju made these films after his documentary Poet on a Business Trip (2015). 'A Missing Policeman', which co- stars numerous contemporary artists from China, is a thriller about a policeman who becomes an artist. Audiences may draw parallels between the search for the missing officer and the 1923 short story by Yu Dafu called The Breeze of a Spring Evening. Though the time periods are different, the feelings and challenges remain the same. Ju Anqi, Big Characters, 2015, 17’11”; Arario Gallery Ju Anqi, Drill Man, 2016, 31’51”; Arario Gallery Ju Anqi, A Missing Policeman, 2016, 28’37”; Arario Gallery Free admission. Saturday, March 30, 2019, 4pm Special Screening Lou Ye, 'Spring Fever', 2009, 116' Lin Xue suspects that her husband, Wang Ping, is cheating on her and hires photographer Luo Haitao to produce proof of the affair. As a result of taking this job, Luo and his girlfriend Li Jing become entangled in the lives of Lin and Wang. Tragedy ensues and new love blooms. Director Lou Ye made Spring Fever after China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television banned him from filmmaking for his film Summer Palace. Spring Fever premiered in 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival as a Hong Kong/French co-production in order to bypass the ban; there, it won Best Screenplay. Screened in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles only. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Sunday, March 31, 2019, 2pm Special Screening Videotage Media Art Collection – Centripetal 'Centripetal' explores how early generations of Hong Kong artists adopted video as a progressive art form, revealing how work in the medium has played a significant role in shaping the region’s art history. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, inexpensive portable cameras resulted in an increase in video production within the art world. In these works, the artists manipulate images, sound and text while incorporating unique montage techniques to reorient video from television broadcasting’s reverence for linear storytelling toward an experimental articulation of the cultural context of their times. Isaac Leung, chairman of Videotage, selected the videos for this screening program, drawing from the Videotage Media Art Collection (VMAC). Comyn Mo Man Yu, Man and Woman, 7'48" Ernest Fung, Ninety FiveTwo Or Three, 5'42" Hung Keung, Love, 9'11" May Fung, She Said Why Me, 7'31" Wong Chi Fai, Educational TV, 4'34" Yau Ching, Video Letter 1-3, 10'45" Ellen Pau, Song of the Goddess, 6'05" Danny Yung, Videotable, 11'14" Followed by a Meet & Greet with artists. RSVP essential via ticketflap.com/artbaselfilm. Sunday, March 31, 2019, 2pm Short Film (Rerun) ‘With or Without People’, ‘Le Deuxième Sexe’, ‘Missing Police’ Free admission. NOTES TO EDITORS About Art Basel Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world's premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through a number of new initiatives such as Art Basel Cities, working with partner cities on bespoke cultural programs. For further information, please visit artbasel.com. Partners UBS, Global Lead Partner of Art Basel, has supported the organization for 25 years. As Art Basel’s global network expanded, UBS increased its lead partnership to include all three shows, and as co-publisher of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. UBS has a long record of engagement in contemporary art with the UBS Art Collection, one of the world's most distinguished corporate art collections with more than 30,000 works created by artists from more than 75 countries, at its core. The firm actively enables audiences to participate in contemporary art through its partnerships with leading cultural organizations around the world.