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.
ANIMATED, GOLDEN AND RESTORED
This selection of animated shorts digitally restored by the China Film Archive offers a rare glimpse of the luminous output of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio during the 1950s-’60s and late 1970s-’80s, often considered the twin Golden Ages of Chinese animation. Featured are vibrant paper-cut animation by one of the pioneering Wan brothers; ink-wash masterpieces co-directed by ASIFA lifetime achievement honoree Te Wei, possibly the only animator ever from China to be so recognized; A Da’s playful modernism; and as a bonus, China’s earliest extant animation (showing Disney and Fleischer influences to boot).
– Cheng-Sim Lim
THE MOUSE AND THE FROG 1934
鼠与蛙
Producer: Wan BrothersHDCAM, b&w, silent with English subtitles, 15 min.
PIGSY EATS WATERMELON 1958
猪八戒吃西瓜
Director: Wan Guchan. Screenwriter: Bao Lei. Cinematographer: Chen Zhenghong. Production Designer: Zhang Tongxuan, Xie Yougen. Animation Director: Hu Jinqing, Qian Jiajun, Shen Zuwei, Che Hui. Composer: Wu Yingju.
HDCAM, color, Putonghua with English subtitles, 20 min.
LITTLE TADPOLES LOOK FOR THEIR MOTHER 1960
小蝌蚪找妈妈
Director/Screenwriter: Te Wei, Tang Cheng / Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Adapted from the story by Fang Huizhen and Sheng Lude. Cinematographer: Duan Xiaoxuan, You Yong, Wang Shirong. Production Designer: Te Wei. Animation Design: Tang Cheng, Wu Qiang, Yan Dingxian, Xu Jingda, Dai Tielang. Background Design: Zheng Shaoru, Fang Pengnian. Composer: Wu Yingju.
HDCAM, color, Putonghua with English subtitles, 10 min.
THE COWHERD’S FLUTE 1963
牧笛
Director: Te Wei, Qian Jiajun. Screenwriter: Te Wei. Cinematographer: Duan Xiaoxuan. Animation Design: Wu Qiang, Jiao Yesong, Lin Wenxiao, Dai Tielang. Background Design: Fang Jizhong. Painter: Fang Pengnian, Qin Yizhen. Flute Solo: Lu Chunling.
HDCAM, color, 20 min.
THREE MONKS 1980
三个和尚
Director: A Da. Screenwriter: Bao Lei. Cinematographer: You Yong. Character Design: Han Yu. Animation Design: Ma Kexuan, Fan Madi, Zhuang Minjin, Xu Xuande, Qin Baoyi. Background Design: Chen Nianxi. Background Artist: You Xiannui. Composer: Jin Fuzai.
HDCAM, color, 20 min.
TRT: 85 min.
Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies, Confucius Institute