Talking Entertainment: Your Weekend Guide to the Arts

Big guns, future and explosions or mangoes, literature and baking bread, which do you prefer? Dredd arrives in Chinese cinemas today and Time Out Beijing gave it a pretty bogus review, apparently the film isn’t anything but a festival of violence. On the flip side, Capital Literary Festival launches this weekend with some high-brow foodie and literature sessions. See our blog from earlier this morning on what to expect at Capital M over the next couple of days.

Two indie film events are also being launched over the weekend. Zajia is starting a new indie film series. The Indie Dozen will feature films from around the world curated by producer Gianluigi Perrone. This series is kicking off with a screening of W Zappatore, an Italian Black Metal flick, followed by a Q&A with the director Sunday night. See more on the film here. And the first screening of UCCA’s New Zealand Filmmakers festival is tonight. An Angel at my Table recounts the childhood of author Janet Frame and how insanity helped produce some of her best writing. The film is directed by Jane Campion, most well-known for The Piano and for being the second women to be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards and the first to receive the Palme D’or. The festival continues until March 13.

Let me tag on one more indie film announcement today: The Asian Cinema Week which is being held in conjunction with Jue Festival, put out a call for shorts last week. They are looking for new documentaries, animations, music videos and fiction films. If you have anything you’d like to submit please email info@electricshadowsbj.org. I would also like to take this chance to make a correction. Asian Cinema Week listings on page 64 in The Beijinger March 2013 issue have the following error: 15Malaysia is being shown on March 16 not 15.

Lastly, the Francophone World Festival exhibitions open this weekend. We have more on that here and you can find comprehensive listings for all the festivals this month on P62 in the March issue of the Beijinger. Feel free to download a PDF of the issue from the link below, it's also a great way to keep these events handy on a smartphone or tab.