Film fest welcomes the new lunar year with drama, comedy, and monsters
CELEBRATE the Lunar New Year with a host of contemporary Chineselanguage films at this year’s Spring Film Festival, running from Feb. 13 to 18 at the Shang Cineplex in ShangriLa Plaza mall in Mandaluyong City.
Now on its 12th year, the annual festival — organized by the Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies of the Ateneo de Manila University — presents six films with the aim of promoting the “Chinese language and culture in mainstream Philippine society, particularly among young Filipinos,” said Jubilee G. Ong, acting director of the Ricardo Leong Center, during the launch on Feb. 2.
Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis at the Shang Cineplex Cinema 4.
Included in this year’s film lineup is Our Shining Days ( 2017) by Ran Wang. The film festival’s opening film on Feb. 13, this is a story about misfits and cosplaying outcasts who band together to form a Chinese music ensemble. What was initially a reluctant alliance slowly becomes a journey of self-discovery and, finally, a quest to revitalize the aging musical tradition.
A family-centered comedy-drama, What a Wonderful Family (2017) by Lei Huang, tells what happens to a family when the mother, after a marriage spanning 50 years, suddenly asks for divorce as her birthday present.
Walking Past the Future ( 2017) by Ruijun Li, is a drama about the daughter of an aging migrant worker who dreams of a better future while coping with the harsh reality in an era of drastic changes in China. In a last-ditch effort to secure her family’s future, she decides to take part in a series of highly paid medical experiments, with tragic consequences. The film won the Prize of Un Certain Regard at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival
The only musical in this year’s festival, Office (2015) by Johnnie To, sees Hong Kong megastar Chow Yun Fat playing the chairman of a billiondollar company that is poised to go public. But as the company prepares for the IPO, company secrets are revealed as a neophyte enters the company with his youthful ideal and dreams.
Cold War 2 ( 2016) is the followup to the 2012 police thriller film by Sunny Luk and Longman Leung. The sequel, directed by Mr. Leung (without Mr. Luk) takes place after the events in the first film where the rescue operation of five police officers was deemed a partial success. Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) who led the rescue was promoted to police commissioner. He then faces a personal crisis when his wife is kidnapped and her release is conditioned on the freedom of the leader of the criminal group involved in the previous case.
Finally, there is the fantasy film Monster Hunt (2015) by Raman Hui, about a world where monsters rule and humans fight to seize the land. Driven out after a long war, the monsters plot their return and overthrow the current monster regime, forcing the monster queen to flee. Humans get wind of a bounty on the queen’s head and the chase begins.
Aside from the Spring Film Festival, Shangri-La Plaza mall will also host a Chinese Painting Exhibit at the mall’s grand atrium on Feb. 13 featuring works by students and masters of the Ateneo Confucius Institute. The exhibit will run until the 18th and will culminate with a Chinese Painting workshop (Paint your Jeans) where Chinese traditional paintings will be done on several pairs of jeans at 2 p.m. The event is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
Chinese New Year on Feb. 16 will be welcomed with the annual mallwide Chinese Dragon and Lion walkthrough starting at noon. The following day, visitors will get the chance to listen to a Chinese Music concert at 2 p.m. at the grand atrium which will include a performance by the Philippine York Lin School Chorale, among others.
For more information on, and the schedule of, the film festival and other events in celebration of the Lunar New Year, call 370-2597 to 98 or visit facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial.