Screen Time: Free Brazilian Cinema & Chinese Documentaries

Two exciting film events hit the capital this weekend, mixing Latin and local flavors in a tasty cinematic mix. At Instituto Cervantes behind the Workers’ Stadium, Beijing’s first Brazilian film festival kicks off this Saturday, while Fangjia Hutong’s Studio-X hosts an exhibition by Zhao Liang, one of China’s greatest contemporary documentary makers. The exhibition includes free subtitled screenings of several of Zhao’s films.

First to the Latin action. A small group of volunteers have worked to bring six of the most important Brazilian films of the last five years to Beijing for the First Brazilian Cinema Festival, running from Saturday, November 20 to Tuesday, November 23.

The festival kicks off on Saturday afternoon with an introduction to Brazilian cinema. At 4pm the first film, Beyond the Light, will be screened with English and Chinese subtitles, followed by a Q&A with director Ivy Goulart. This award-winning documentary takes us into the world of seven blind Brazilians.

The full program and subtitling details are set out below. All films are in Portuguese, and most of the films have been subtitled by local volunteers, so double check the subtitles for each session to make sure it’s in a language you understand. All screenings are free, however Instituto Cervantes cinema only seats 90, so tickets will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis starting one hour before each screening. For further information about the films check out: www.brapeq.com.cn

First Brazilian Cinema Festival Program
All screenings are free and films are in Portuguese language.

Saturday, November 20

3pm
Talk: A Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Cinema by Anamaria Boschi

4pm
Beyond the Light (Documentary, English and Chinese subtitles) 82 min.
Looks at the lives of seven blind Brazilians.

5:30pm
Q&A with Beyond the Light director Ivy Goulart

7:30pm
Beyond the Light (Spanish and Chinese subtitles) 82 min.

Sunday, November 21

2pm
Canta Maria (Spanish and Chinese subtitles) 95 min.
A story of outlaw gangs in Brazil in the 1930s.

4:30pm
The Story of Me (English and Chinese subtitles) 100 min.
Based on real life, this film is set in the impoverished area of Belo Horizonte at the end of the 1970s. Roberto Carlos Ramos, with an enormous talent at recounting stories, is chosen to go and live in a new institution recently created for those living in poverty.

7pm
Estomago: A Gastronomic Story (English and Chinese subtitles) 112 min.
In life, there are those who devour and those who are devoured. Raimundo Nonato has discovered another path: he cooks. A fable that explores power, sex and cuisine.

9pm
Q&A with Estomago screenwriter Lusa Silvestre (via videoconference)

Monday, November 22

2pm
The Story of Me (Spanish and Chinese subtitles) 100 min.

4:30pm
Estomago: A Gastronomic Story (Spanish and Chinese subtitles) 112 min.

7pm
The Man Who Bottled Clouds (Documentary, English and Chinese subtitles) 106 min.
A musical documentary about the life and work of Humberto Teixeira: lawyer, federal deputy, and the man created the laws protecting copyright.

Tuesday, November 23

2pm
The Man Who Bottled Clouds (Documentary, Spanish and Chinese subtitles) 106 min.

4:30pm
Canta Maria (English and Chinese subtitles) 95 min.

7pm
The Ballroom (English and Chinese subtitles) 92 min.
From the moment a São Paulo dance club opens its doors in the morning to closing time shortly after midnight, a diverse set of characters circulate through the ballroom.

9pm
Announcement of the best film selected by the public.

On a more local front, Studio-X in Fangjia Hutong art complex is currently hosting an exhibition of photographs and video works by local documentary filmmaker Zhao Liang, entitled Beijing Landscape. For the next few weeks, Studio-X will be screening a selection of Zhao Liang’s films every Sunday night at 8pm. The screenings are free and all films are subtitled in English.

Zhao has been making films since the mid-1990s, when he was part of Beijing’s first unofficial artists’ village at Yuanmingyuan. Last year he unveiled the highly acclaimed documentary Petition, tracing his harrowing involvement with petitioners in Beijing over more than a decade. You can read more about that film here.

Unfortunately the screening of Zhao’s earlier title Crime and Punishment took place last Sunday, before the Beijinger was aware of the exhibition. You can read a detailed account of that film here. The remainder of the program plays out over the next three Sundays – see below for the full schedule.

Zhao Liang Documentary Screening Schedule

Sunday, November 21, 2010 8pm
Farewell, Yuanmingyuan, 1995-2006, 108 min

Sunday, November 28, 2010 8pm
Paper Airplane, 1997-2001, 77 min

December 5, 2010 8pm
3 Shorts: City Scene, Jerks, Don’t Say “F**k”, and Bored Youth Sunday

Zhao Liang: Beijing Landscape is at Studio-X until December 7. The gallery is open from Tues-Sun, 11am-7pm. Entry is free.

You can read an interview with Zhao Liang here.

Finally, two quick reminders. NORDOX continues with its program of cutting edge Nordic documentaries up at UCCA until next Thursday - you can read all about it here. And the epic EU Film Festival continues until the end of this month at various venues around town - you can find the full program here.