This screening includes Yellow Earth
- Date and time:
- Sun, Jan 20, 2019, From 1–2:29 pm
- Runtime:
- 1 hr 29 min
- Cost:
- Free, but ticketed
35th Anniversary Screening
President’s Choice Film Series: Chen Kaige
Born in Beijing into a family of filmmakers—his father a veteran director and his mother a scriptwriter—Chen Kaige enlisted in the People’s Liberation Army shortly after the Cultural Revolution interrupted his high-school years. Stationed in Laos during the Vietnam War, he was assigned to work in a film lab after the completion of his service in 1975. Wanting something more, Kaige began writing. He passed the Beijing Film Academy entrance exam in 1978 and was admitted to the directing department, where he met fellow classmates who would help him lead the ‘new wave’ and become known as the Fifth Generation filmmakers.
His groundbreaking debut film, Yellow Earth, quickly gained the attention of both audiences and critics worldwide, receiving numerous awards. However, the film was soon banned by the Communist Party—like many of his films would be. Under an assumed name, he received a fellowship to attend the New York University Film School in 1987. Upon completion, Kaige returned to China to direct China’s first co-production with other countries, Life on a String, and published his memoirs, My Life and Times as a Red Guard, that same year. His 1993 film Farewell My Concubine cemented his reputation as a director, winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and a nomination for an Oscar in the same category. Today, Kaige continues to make films and is the dean of the Shanghai Film Academy at Shanghai University. Presented here are three films that secured the director’s international reputation as one of China’s leading filmmakers.
In September 2017, more than 30 Indiana University faculty and staff members presented gifts to endow the Michael A. McRobbie President’s Choice Film Series Fund. The series is now officially part of IU Cinema’s program every semester in perpetuity, honoring President McRobbie’s leadership and his affinity for cinema.
Series: Michael A. McRobbie's Choice