Cinema series spotlights Chinese culture

Augusta University‘s Cinema Series will showcase Chinese cinema and culture Saturday with four films at the Grover C. Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre.

Admission is free, and attendees may view one, two, three or all four films if they wish.

“We do something like this every spring. We received a few requests for China because a number of scholars on campus focus on Chinese culture, and we have the Confucius Institute. The Cinema Series is held in conjunction with The Lyceum Series and is a beautiful day with something for everyone,” said Matthew Buzzell, assistant professor of communications with the Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Buzzell’s selections include Mountains May Depart, directed by Jia Zhange, whom Buzzell said is “one of the most important filmmakers in the world,” and The Mermaid, which was a record-breaking box office smash in China.

The film schedule is as follows:

• 1 p.m. – King of Peking (in Chinese with English subtitles). Synopsis: King of Peking follows Big Wong and Little Wong, a close knit father-and-son duo, who hatch a scheme to create and sell bootleg DVDs. “Together, they secretly run their new business — which they name King of Peking — out of the basement of the movie theater. As business booms, Little Wong starts to question the moral and ethical implications of their scheme and Big Wong senses that he is slowly losing his son’s trust,” according to the Tribeca Film Festival.
• 3 p.m. – Mountains May Depart (in Chinese with English subtitles). Synopsis: The story moves its primary character, Zhao Tao, through three different time periods, from 1999 to 2014 and then 2025. Her joys, hopes and sorrows are played out against the backdrop of sweeping historical events.
• 7 p.m. – The Mermaid (in Chinese with English subtitles). Synopsis: When tycoon Liu Xuan’s plan for an ocean preserve threaten the merpeople living there, mermaid Shan is sent to assassinate him. But, her plan goes belly up when she falls in love with Xuan.
• 9 p.m. – Enter the Dragon (in English). Synopsis: Martial arts expert Lee (Bruce Lee) infiltrates a narcotics gang through a kung fu competition to avenge the death of his sister.

Complimentary food and drinks will be served throughout the day thanks to support from the Confucius Center, and there will be live musical performances in between films.

The Grover C. Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre is located on the Summerville Campus, 2500 Walton Way.

Free admission is made possible by Augusta University Student Life and Engagement and the support of The Bee’s Knees and The Hive.