Chinese Film Festival
Japan in an effort to promote better ties with China will annually sponsor a national Chinese film festival program. Technology is an important tool for gaining easy access to a new culture and way of life past, present, and even the future. By educating the Japanese people we will try to erase negative perceptions and misunderstandings about the Chinese people and their society. Film is one of the most important formats for obtaining information, and movie watching is an international pastime.
Some popular Chinese films currently scheduled to be shown at this festival include: Red Sorghum, Judou, Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine, Rouge, Chungking Express, A Better Tomorrow, Once Upon a Time in China, and Fong Sai Yuk. As much as possible, the films will be age-specific and will hopefully attract a diverse group of the Japanese population, from family-films to films for coworkers to watch together to teen hits to films that will appeal to diplomats. Attendees are also asked to make suggestions for future film viewings. The films are free and refreshments will be served afterwards. Locations will include popular Japanese theatres from Kyushu to Tokyo to Hokkaido.
Another important aspect of this program is the Q&A session that will follow each film. These session will feature Chinese guests, including popular actors in and directors of Chinese films. To encourage you to attend, we will also have popular Japanese stars like Takeshi "Beat" Kitano and popular Chinese and Taiwanese actors (i.e. Gong Li and Christy Chung) join in the festivities by saying a few words about their favorite Chinese films. Filmmakers will also be guests of honor. Two potential hosts include Kurosawa, Japan's most famous and popular filmmaker, and Wang Xingdong, a famous Chinese filmmaker. Xingdong's works have won awards in the International Film Festival (Unfilial Son of the Heaven, won the award of Japanese Tokyo 7th International Film Festival in 1994). International celebrities like Chinese-American actress Lucy Liu might also participate in the festival activities.
As another part of this program, Japanese television channels could feature different Chinese films, alternating between the stations. This would probably be most effective as a long-term weekly or monthly film schedule.
The following websites have up to date information about the Chinese film industry and international film festivals:
http://www.cinemaartscentre.org/chinese/chineseshows.htm http://www.cccvan.com/2002filmfestival/intro.htm http://latelinenews.com/ps/english/20011.shtml