October 4-25: Jacob Burns Film Center Announces “Hidden China” Film Series, an Unprecedented Look Independent Chinese Cinema
Series curated by latest International Fellow Zhu Rikun
Pleasantville, NY – September 24, 2012 – Producer Zhu Rikun and filmmaker Wang Wo, both natives of China, are the two newest international fellows to take up residence at Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) this October, coinciding with our “Hidden China” film series. Zhu Rikun is one of the best known figures in Chinese independent cinema. In 2001 he founded Fanhall Studio, a production and distribution company whose goal was to stimulate the development of independent Chinese cinema. He produced many of the hardest-hitting Chinese films in recent years, including such major works as Xu Xin’s Karamay and Li Hongqi’s Winter Vacation. Rikun was the organizer of the Beijing Independent Film Festival and the Songzhuang Documentary Film Festival, both of which helped flourish Chinese independent film. Wang Wo is a filmmaker and artist, and a teacher at the Li Xianting Film School, the first independent film school in China. Rikun and Wo will be at JBFC throughout the month of October.
While at the JBFC, Zhu Rikun will work on postproduction of a new film with Wang Wo, a close associate and designer of Rikun’s Fanhall Studio complex.
Rikun is the curator of the JBFC film series “Hidden China,” a special look at a group of uncompromising movies that reveal a China we might not otherwise see. The series, which runs from Oct. 4-25, includes 17 programs with introductions and post-screening discussions with Zhu Rikun, Wang Wo, and other figures in Chinese cinema. This series includes four films by Chinese activist, artist, and filmmaker Ai Weiwei, three films by current JBFC Filmmaker-in-Residence Wang Wo, and a program on Chinese animation. What makes “Hidden China” so unique is the fact that many films in this series have never been screened in the United States and, according to a recent New York Times article, are just as difficult to see in China. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/business/global/indie-filmmakers-feel-heavy-hand-of-beijing.html?pagewanted=all
“This is a look behind the scenes, an uncensored and uncompromising vision of one of the most dynamic and rich cultures on earth, but one that remains largely hidden for most of us behind the high walls of language and distance and official censorship. It’s a very rare opportunity to see these unflinching films guided by our latest international Fellows: Zhu Rikun, one of the most influential producers of independent Chinese Cinema, and Wang Wo, a celebrated documentarian,” said Brian Ackerman, JBFC Programing Director. For more information on “Hidden China,” please visit the series page on the JBFC website. http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/films/film-series/detail/56644
