China Visual Festival 2016

The China Visual Festival is in full swing at the moment and there are still some great films to catch.

For all the details go to: http://chinesevisualfestival.org

The closing gala film is Panay (Wawa No Cidal) - a drama following the struggle of an indigenous community in Taiwan with urban development and gentrification.


Singer songwriter and TV host Ado’ Kaliting Pacidal stars in Panay and will also be giving a Q&A after the film.  Ado'Kaliting hails from an Amis background - a Taiwanese ethnic minority group, much like the community portrayed in the film. Check out her Youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyuhZzjr5k9oaKZdO-K-WJQ

 

Lucky Cat S11 E06 - Halloween Tunes & London Korean Film Festival

In this week's episode I play some spooky tuneage for Halloween, pay tribute to the sadly departed HK movie legend Tien Feng and interview Hyujin Cho, producer of the London Korean Film Festival.

The London Korean Film Festival celebrates it's 10th year in 2015 with a bumper programme.  I'm very excited that director Chung Chwang Hwa will be giving a Q&A and 3 of his films will be screening:

• Voodoo Women  - Smiley Smith (Zombie Horror CD Collection, Chrome Dreams CD)

• Vampire - The Upsetters (Loch Ness Monster, Trojan LP)

• Legend of Sleepy Hollow  - The Monotones (Zombie Horror CD Collection, Chrome Dreams CD)

• Dracula Prince of Darkness  - King Horror , thought to be Laurel Aitken (Loch Ness Monster, Trojan LP)

• Kung Fu Master  - Solo Banton (Music Addict, Jahtari EP)

• Last Blade  - Disrupt (Music Addict, Jahtari EP)

• Yunnan Reggae  - Lao Hei (soundcloud)

• Arriran  - Various (Korean Folk Volume 1 LP)

• Zombie Jamboree  -  King Flash and the Calypso Carnival (Zombie Horror CD Collection, Chrome Dreams CD)

• Evil Spirits  - Mighty Invaders (Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2015)

• Duppy Dance  - Aquarius Soul Band (Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2015)

• Hell Below  - Crystal Generation (Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2015)

• Mr Brown  - Cliff and the Organizers (Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular 2015)

http://koreanfilm.co.uk/directors/chung-chang-hwa

The Taiwanese director made these films in Korea with Korean cast and crew...including the 1967 martial arts movie A Swordsman in the Twilight.

There are also more populist movies in the Audience Choice strand of the festival.  HK actor Simon Yam stars alongside Kim Yun-seok, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jung-jae and Gianna Jun in the heist movie The Thieves, which in 2013 was the secondhighest grossing movie of all time at the Korean box office.  

Lucky Cat - 31st October 2015 by Resonance Fm on Mixcloud

Playlist:

RIP TIEN FENG 1928 - 2015

DJing @ Dislocating Asia Thursday 2nd October

The Camden Migration Festival 26th September - 6th October 2014

I'm pleased to announce that I will be DJing at the event Dislocating Asia on Thursday 2nd October at the Forge in Camden.  This is part of the Camden Migration Festival which explores the migration of birds and people through the arts, celebrating cultural expansion.  

The event has been organised by senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Winchester; Diana Yeh.  

• Diana will be presenting her new book The Happy Hsiungs: Performing China and the Struggle for Modernity.  The book recovers the histories of two married Chinese writers who lived and worked in Britain from the 1930s onwards: Shih-I Hsiung and his wife Dymia Hsiung. 

• Actors Daniel York and Jennifer Lim will read excerpts from Lady Precious Stream, the play that shot Shih-I Hsiung to worldwide fame. 

• Orwell Prize shortlisted blogger Anna Chen reads from her ‘brilliant and dangerous’ poetry collection, Reaching for my Gnu (Aaaargh! Press), and tries out some new poems. 

Live music from:

• Semi-acoustic Hapa trio Wondermare 
• British Chinese musician/composer Liz Chi Yen Liew (her latest album is  Snapshots), with Dennis Lee on the xiao (flute) and guzheng (zither).

• My DJ set of Chinese golden oldies and fresh new sounds from Shanghai and Beijing.

Tickets are available now from:

https://uk.patronbase.com/_Forge/Productions/EY/Performances

Hope to see you at this fantastic event!

DJing for Duchamp Festival in Herne Bay

Tonight I will be DJing in Herne Bay for the Marcel Duchamp Festival.  I will be on at 7.30pm in Wimereaux Gardens, playing after the band Coco and the Butterfields.
The festival started on 1st August and I DJ'd at the Beach Creative Private View, trying to adhere to a 1913 playlist (tricky!).  Check out the festival Facebook page or web site for more info.

Tonight expect some killah dillah tunage, all vinyl, naturally.  Sugarpie De Santo is at the front of my record box and ready to go...

Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival 2012

Zipangu Film Festival 2012

I'm back from a summer away from blogging, refreshed after a post-free month or so!

I bring you news of the upcoming Zipangu Film Festival.  This year the festival will be at the lovely Cinema Museum in good ole South London, which I first visited for an Anna May Wong screening last year.  The Festival is on for a brief weekend only and has a superb selection - curated by writer and Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp.  So stock up on iced matchas and get yourself ready for a weekend of Japanese celluloid pleasure from 14th - 16th September!

Crossways

Last year at Ziapngu I had the pleasure of watching the rarely seen 30's horror film The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen.  This year another vintage gem is on offer with the 1928 film Crossways dir by Kinugasa (one of the first Japanese films ever seen in the West, with a new score by Minima).

My picks of the festival are both showing on the opening night Fri 14th:

• A short animated film by Atsushi Wada The Great Rabbit 

The Great Rabbit

Somi - The Taekwon-do Woman

• Somi - The Taekwon-do Woman which has never before been shown in the West, co-production between Japan and North Korea, made in 1997.  The film  promises lush, epic martial arts action with a kick ass female lead in Ri Mi Yang (apparently an amateur who was chosen by the North Koreans "because they thought that the Japanese might like her face").
• But there's aso a cat themed movie I should mention!  Chat Noir Lucy which looks fabulously colourful and fun (see pic below).

You really are spoilt for choice, such a great line up.  A connoisseur's festival for sure.
All the details and how to book: http://zipangufest.com/

Chinese Visual Festival Podcast

Here's the podcast of last week's special edition of Lucky Cat when I was joined live in the studio by Jing Jing Xie, Candy Ma, Ming Qiang Xie (Jeremy) and Zach Dunbar (all pictured above).

A wonderful show to record, featuring live performances of Mandarin versions of songs from the musical Sweet Charity by Boulevard Productions. Music from reknowned pipa player Wang Ting is also featured.

Both Boulevard productions and Wang Ting will be performing at the Chinese Visual Festival.

Please see previous post for details. Enjoy listening!

Zoë interviewing Jing Jing Xie at Resonance FM.

The talented Candy Ma belting out Hey Big Spender, fabulous!

Ming Qiang Xie (Jeremy) and Zach Dunbar of Boulevard Productions.

Thanks to James Mudge for the photos.

Lucky Cat Special - Radio Programme on the 2nd Chinese Visual Festival

Thursday 14th June 5.30pm on Resonance 104.4FM / www.resonancefm.com
I will be broadcasting a special edition of Lucky Cat previewing the Chinese Visual Festival. This is the second festival of Chinese visual culture brought to London by China Culture Connect. I will be joined live in the Resonance FM studio by the Festival's Marketing Manager James Mudge and the show will feature a live musical performance by Boulevard Productions (pianist Dr Zachary Dunbar and actor/singer Ming Qiang (Jeremy) Xie and friends). Boulevard Productions will be performing a Mandarin version of the classic musical Sweet Charity at the Festival's Music Night on 28th June.

The Festival opens on June 22nd, the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, at the Free Word Centre in central London and will feature the UK premiere of the film Dragon Boat by acclaimed director Cao Dan. Through the ancient Chinese sport of dragon boat racing, the film tells the story of rapid economic development in modern China and the resulting disappearance of rural traditions. Cao Dan will be at the Gala for an audience Q&A session.

The Festival runs from 22nd June to 6th July 2012 across four central London venues and is themed Run, China, Run. The theme ties in with the Olympics; hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics has affected Chinese society and the festival looks at the ‘aftershock’ of the 2008 Beijing Olympics through a variety of Chinese films and art. The running also refers to China's race for modernisation.


The film section will feature 17 independent documentary films from China. As well as Cao Dan for Dragon Boat, other directors will be present for audience Q&A sessions, including Wang Bang for University City Savages on 27th June and Guo Xiaolou for Once Upon a Time Proletarian on 6th July.

The Chinese Visual Festival will present its first Directorial Retrospective on 30th June, Zhou Hao – The Constant Documentarian, with his two most influential films, Senior Year and Using being shown at the Birkbeck College Cinema.

The Festival also includes an art exhibition by Wu Xiaohai and a music concert by renowned Pipa musician Wang Ting.
The full programme and tickets for all events are available on the Chinese Visual Festival website: www.chinesevisualfestival.org

Do tune in for a preview of the Festival on Thursday 14th June at 5.30pm on Resonance 104.4 FM with me Zoë Baxter.
The radio show will also be repeated on Resonance the day the Festival begins (7pm Friday 22nd June).

Terracotta Far East Film Festival 2012

This year the Terracotta Far East Film Festival is a little bit earlier: 12th - 15th April @ The Prince Charles cinema in London.
I'll be previewing the festival with a special programme on Resonance FM on Friday 30th March @ 8pm GMT. I will joined by festival organiser Joey Leung to discuss the films in this year's festival programme.

There are some exciting films on offer, including a special preview of the new animated classic From Up On Poppy Hill from the legendary Studio Ghibli.


Korean epic My Way opens the festival, with a pan Asian cast of Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri and Fan Bingbing.
The first film ever to be shot in Burma shows on the Friday: Return to Burma / Gui lái dí rén, which depicts the story of Wang Xing-Hong who is living as an immigrant laborer in Taiwan saving his money to return home to Burma.
Friday night also brings some terror to Leicester Square with a special Terror-Cotta (geddit?) triple bill of spine tinglers: Gyo, The Grudge and Zombie 108.



I'm most excited about the European premiere of Daniel Wu & Kevin Spacey film Inseparable! A superhero dark comedy set in HK - with a Hollywood star (also London-lover, Old Vic director and all round nice guy!).

Japanese auteur Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Cold Fish) closes the festival with the UK premiere of 'Himizu'.
For all the details check the festival programme: http://terracottafestival.com/programme/2012