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2015 CHINESE VISUAL FESTIVAL: OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Chinese Visual Festival (CVF) is proud to announce its 2015 program, which runs from May 7th –
22nd at King’s College London, with events also being held at the British Film Institute (BFI)
Southbank, Bertha DocHouse and Chelsea College of Arts. For its fifth edition, the festival is thrilled
to welcome to London some of the most exciting directors currently working in Chinese language
cinema, showcasing documentary, fiction and experimental video art from Mainland China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, Singapore and beyond.
Program Highlights:
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Guest artists Zhang Peili, the father of Chinese Video Art, Wu Xiaohai and Rao Yifan
Guest directors Gu Tao, Yee Chih-Yen, Singing Chen, Chiayun Wu and Shen Xin
More than 40 cutting-edge films, including world and UK premieres
Vision Taiwan strand, featuring the best in independent cinema from Taiwan
Panel discussions and sessions on queer cinema, 'Urban Diary' (Hong Kong) and more
UK tour, including Newcastle, Nottingham and Sussex Universities
The festival opens with director Gu Tao presenting his documentary The Last Moose of Aoluguya,
an award winning film exploring dying tradition and the fate of ethnic minority groups in modern
China. Gu Tao will be in London for the first weekend of the festival, screening his latest work Lost
Mountain at the BFI Southbank as well as taking part in what promises to be a fascinating panel
discussion session on the controversies of ethnographic film making.
CVF is delighted to again be collaborating with the Taiwan Ministry of Culture on our regular Vision
Taiwan strand, featuring the very best in independent Taiwanese cinema, covering a wide range of
films by exciting and talented directors. This year, CVF is bringing London audiences a series of
Taiwanese premieres, including director Singing Chen screening her documentary Mountain Spirits
at DocHouse, Chiayun Wu presenting The Farewell, and Yee Chih-Yen attending our grand closing
ceremony with his award winning Meeting Dr. Sun.
Highlighting creativity in both art and film, CVF this year is honoured to welcome to London Zhang
Peili, originator of the video art form in China. Now world-renowned and the Dean of the New Media
Department at the Chinese Academy of Art and director of OCAT Shanghai, Zhang presents extracts from his single channel video art and video installations in conversation with Prof. Chris Berry
(KCL) and CVF’s curator Sylvia Zhan Xuhua as part of the BFI’s Essential Experiments series. The
Essential Experiments program will also introduce the Chinese video art movement from 2000 to
2015, ranging from highly cinematic work by Wang Gongxin, Yang Zhenzhong, Kan Xuan, Yang
Fudong and Jiang Zhi through to animations by Sun Xun, Lu Yang and Wu Xiaohai.
Other 2015 highlights include Zhou Hao’s Golden Horse Award winning documentary Cotton, Queer
Cinema, Queer China, an evening celebrating the growing Chinese language LGBT film scene,
Urban Diary from Hong Kong, an afternoon of socially aware documentaries charting the changing
face of the territory, and the controversial Singaporean documentary The Naked DJ presented in association with Asia Projector. As usual, CVF guests will be joined by a rich variety of leading academics and key figures in the documentary film industry and related social studies, who will take
part in Q&A sessions as well as a program of talks and symposiums, making the festival a lively forum for discussion and debate.
Festival Director James Mudge commented: “It’s great to be back for our fifth year, marking a real
milestone for the festival. We’ve continued to grow and grow, and it’s been incredibly gratifying to
see audiences responding so well to our efforts in bringing independent Chinese language cinema
to London and now the rest of the UK. The festival has so many highlights this year, but I’m
personally very excited by having the chance to screen Gu Tao’s fantastic documentaries and the
works of Zhang Peili, and by our Vision Taiwan line-up, which includes a truly amazing variety of
creative works, Mountain Spirits and Meeting Dr. Sun in particular - having Gu Tao, Zhang Peili,
Singing Chen and Yee Chih-Yen all coming to London is a real coup for the festival and a sure sign
that we’re going from strength to strength”.
The full festival schedule and tickets are available on the Chinese Visual Festival website:
www.chinesevisualfestival.org
The Chinese Visual Festival Jury Awards, presided by a team of industry and academic
experts, will be announced in early May.
Note to Editors:
Chinese Visual Festival (CVF) has been bringing the best in contemporary Chinese language film
and art since 2011, having worked in the past with a long list of distinguished artists and directors
including Jia Zhangke, Pema Tseden, Wu Wuna, Zhou Hao, Cao Fei and others. The festival has
been hosted by Kings College London, one of the world's leading research and teaching universities
based in the heart of London, for several years now, with other events being regularly held at the
BFI Southbank, the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic,
independent and non-English language films, operated by the British Film Institute, and at the newly
opened Bertha DocHouse, the UK's first cinema dedicated solely to documentary films and events.
Press Enquiries:
For Chinese Visual Festival press passes and interviews: James Mudge (English language PR) at
jamesmudge@btinternet.com, 07841038086 or Elaine Wong (Chinese language PR) at
elainewong27@gmail.com
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