Languages Archives: Mandarin

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Shorts 8: Architecture – Versions of Home

  Various

  France, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United States     77 minutes

Synopsis

In celebration of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, this program tracks how we establish strong connections to a place, and the complications of staying in it. Featuring works by Camille Authouart, Mariia Ponomarova, Lloyd Lee Choi, and Ufuoma Essi.

An artist explores, observes, and draws scenes of La Défense, a neighborhood west of Paris whose large-scale public artworks constitute the largest open-air museum in Europe, in The Great Arc (France). Former residents remember happier times in a beloved apartment in Three Windows on South West (The Netherlands, Ukraine). Closing Dynasty (U.S.) follows a day in the life of a streetwise kid named Queenie as she navigates her own path through New York City. And Is My Living In Vain (U.K., France, New Zealand) explores the Black church as a site of personal and political belonging through portraits of communities across west Philadelphia and southeast London.

 French, Mandarin, Russian, Ukrainian with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

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Shorts 4: Documentary – In Motion

  Various

  Bhutan, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States     90 minutes

Synopsis

These short documentaries offer singular looks into lives that have been transformed by pivotal events. Featuring works by Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi, Sean Wang, Jon Siskel, Kevin Jerome Everson, Claudrena N. Harold, Arun Bhattarai, Francesca Scalisi, and Mark Olexa.

Displaced by war, Ukrainian children make a former military barrack their playground in waking up in silence (Germany, Ukraine). Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (U.S.) is a moving portrait of an elderly pair, their quirky rituals, and their strong sentiments for life. The community of Highland Park, Illinois, commemorates those who lost their lives in the Independence Day shooting of 2022 in Memorial (U.S.). In Accidental Athlete (U.S.), Paulette Jones Morant recounts her athletic journey at the University of Virginia in the 1970s. Mountain Man (Bhutan) chronicles Phuntsho Tshering and his annual sacred journey to the Himalayas to track the movement of the glaciers. The poetry of the passage of time is seen on the faces of the elderly and in the voices of a youth choir in A reflection (Switzerland).

 Dzongkha, English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainain with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Virtual Screening

This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.

Sponsors

Documentary Program Sponsors

Logo: WTTW (2019)Cynthia Stone Raskin

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A young girl standing outside a tall building holds a cigarette in her hand in front of her face.

Closing Dynasty [short film]

  Lloyd Lee Choi

  United States     17 minutes

Synopsis

Streetwise kid Queenie navigates her own path through New York City. This beautifully shot film is a love letter to the city at street-level and young actor Milinka Winata delights with a funny and heart-felt performance.

This film screens as part of the Shorts 8: Architecture – Versions of Home program.

  

 English, Mandarin with subtitles 

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Close-up of two older women holding up a long lit lighter.

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó [short film]

  Sean Wang

  United States     17 minutes

Synopsis

Sean Wang visits his maternal and paternal grandmothers who live as roommates during the pandemic. The resulting, roving portrait of Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó’s lives together and their shared love for him is hilarious, moving, and full of the hard-won wisdom of later years.

This film screens as part of the Shorts 4: Documentary – In Motion program.

 Mandarin with subtitles 

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A man watches in front of him as a light shines from the projector beside him.

Only the River Flows He Bian De Cuo Wu

  Wei Shujun

  China     101 minutes

Synopsis

1990s small town China. A woman’s body washes up in the local river. The chief of police, Ma Zhe, is tasked with heading up the investigation. An obvious perp leads to a hasty arrest, though the mystery lingers in Ma Zhe’s mind. What kind of darkness is truly at play here?

In director Wei Shujun’s murky throwback film noir, gritty, textured film grain captures the pulpy proceedings, Torrents of rain envelop the characters as they descend into madness in pursuit of the truth. Equal parts atmospheric tour-de-force and beguiling puzzler, Only the River Flows is at once a masterfully styled ode to a bygone cinematic era and a sharp-edged portrait of provincial paranoia.

 Mandarin with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Tang Xiaohui, Huang Xufeng, Li Chan, Shen Yang
  •   Kang Chunlei, Wei Shujun
  •   Mattieu Laclau
  •   Chengma
  •   Zhu Yilong, Chloe Maayan, Hou Tianlai, Tong Linkai
  •   Tu Duu-Chih, Tu Tse-Kang
  •   Tang Xiaohui, Dorothy Zeng, Li Chan
  •   KXKH Film

Sponsors

International Competition Program Sponsor

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation