Happy Lunar New Year from the USC US-China Institute!
China Onscreen Biennial: Sauna On Moon (嫦娥) US Premiere
Part of the UCLA Confucius Institute's inaugural China Onscreen Biennial （银幕中国双年展）project, the fantastical factory that is the sauna becomes a vortex of ironies, prompting both scopophilic pleasure and an uncanny catalog of the effects of China's economic divides.
When:
October 20, 2012 7:30pm to 11:00pm
Where
Part of the UCLA Confucius Institute's inaugural China Onscreen Biennial （银幕中国双年展）project, an unprecedented bicoastal collaboration among seven distinguished American educational and cultural organizations to promote US-China dialogue through the art of film. October 13-31, Los Angeles | October 26-11, Washington, DC.
SAUNA ON MOON
Director/Screenwriter/Production Designer: Zou Peng. Producer: Chen Zhiheng. Cinematographer: Yu Lik-wai. Editor: Wenders Li. Sound: Zhang Yang. Composer: Wang Lei. Cast: Wu Yuchi, Yang Xiaomin, Lei Ting, Zhan Yi, Meng Yan.
Zou Peng’s dazzling second feature witnesses life at a boisterous sauna/brothel in the Southern Chinese industrial heartland of Guangdong. The sauna workers, older and younger women alike, observe a brisk regimen of rehearsing the art of providing pleasure, in the interest of creating the region’s leading pleasure palace for high-rolling “special guests.” Zou eschews easy moralistic conclusions about the politics of power, preferring instead to portray a social ecology built around the unabashed pursuit and uses of money. The fantastical factory that is the sauna becomes a vortex of ironies, prompting both scopophilic pleasure and an uncanny catalog of the effects of China’s economic divides. – Shannon Kelley
35mm, color, Putonghua with English subtitles, 93 min.
Preceded by
North American Premiere
THE PEOPLE’S SECRETARY 2010
Director/Producer/Editor: Zhang Qing. Cast: Wang Zhixin, Lu Yuzhen, Lu Tinghai, Zhang Weicheng.
Zhang Qing employs the ubiquity of CCTV cameras to amplify a cheeky satire, with multiple video feeds revealing the super-human good works of a party secretary who single-handedly defends pensioners, roots out corruption and shepherds a whole village from poverty to prosperity. An English voiceover recounts these righteous feats in a style that echoes Chinese TV of the 1980s. – Paul Malcolm
DVD, color, Putonghua with English subtitles, 18 min.
Admission Tickets:
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Billy Wilder Theater
Courtyard Level, Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard (at the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood Boulevards)
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Tickets: $10 online. $9 general admission, $8 for non-UCLA students, seniors and UCLA Alumni Association members (ID required) if purchased at the box office only. Free admission for UCLA students (current ID required); free tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis at the box office until 15 minutes before showtime, or the rush line afterwards. Online tickets available at www.cinema.ucla.edu/calendar; click on the individual program.
Parking: Museum parking lot; enter from Westwood Blvd, just north of Wilshire. $3 flat rate after 6:00 pm on Mondays-Fridays and all day on weekends.
Information: www.cinema.ucla.edu, 310.206.8013
Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies, Confucius Institute
Phone Number:
310-206-8013
Featured Articles
January 4, 2024
We note the passing of many prominent individuals who played some role in U.S.-China affairs, whether in politics, economics or in helping people in one place understand the other.
Events
Thursday, March 21, 2024 - 4:00pm PST
Ying Zhu looks at new developments for Chinese and global streaming services.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 4:00pm
David Zweig examines China's talent recruitment efforts, particularly towards those scientists and engineers who left China for further study. U.S. universities, labs and companies have long brought in talent from China. Are such people still welcome?