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On a 1980s evening, the topmost clown-actor of the 20th century Sichuan opera, Qiu Fu passes away in an accident and half-unwillingly sets off for the Ghost City under the escort of two underworld officials. Along the way, he meets old friends. As they recall the past, a history of the living is conjured up.
An essential background for Qiu Jiongjiong’s recent A New Old Play, this dazzlingly playful short documentary remixes a Sichuan opera company’s dress rehearsal for its tribute to Qiu Fuxin, the director’s grandfather – who was a legendary opera performer of 'clown' comedic roles, and the real-life subject of A New Old Play. This exuberant celebration of a not-yet-lost past re-activates the memories of ageing, but irrepressibly vital, stage artists.
Part of Qiu Jiongjiong’s 'chatterbox' oral history trilogy, this short documentary focuses on current storyteller and ex-cop Huang Songnian. Qiu playfully splices montage cuts between Huang’s wildly entertaining, sometimes very dark stories of intrepid forensic police work (including a super queasy tale of maggots and a body, and another of rural cannibalism), and disruptive yet oddly suitable Sichuan opera excerpts, pigeon portraits, and Qiu’s charming chalk drawings.
Qiu Jiongjiong's stark black-and-white series of interviews with transsexual cabaret singer Madame Bi Langda. Madame Bi's recollections of past experiences explicitly touch on how she performs her way through life, whether interacting with friends, lovers or her audience. More than a document of the increasingly complicated gender identity politics in China, it's also a poignant testimony of a life dedicated to articulating the aesthetics of living.
First film by director Qiu Jiongjiong -- about a restauranteur, his patrons, and the culture of art, poetry, and performance that surrounds them.
The mother is in her eightieth, the son is in his sixtieth, they talking about their past.
The film continues to blend myths, legends, literature and folktales to further expand his narrative of history and weird tales. The story, set in Sichuan cuisine, is divided into four parts: a funeral banquet more than 4,000 years ago in which a grandmother cuts off her own tail to give to her children and grandchildren; a Spring Festival more than 3,000 years ago in which an ancestor king returns in the guise of a bird and is crucified at the banquet; a Mid-Autumn feast in the 1990s in which the gods gather to pay tribute to a millennia-old poet; and a birthday banquet in which a wandering child meets the gods of the underworld .
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.