Cinema Pacific Film Festival and the UO Confucius Institute are joining forces to introduce audiences to The Arts of Wushu, the martial arts of China. The film festival will explore the classic martial arts film genre popularly known as  the wuxia film. Along with the UO Wushu Club, we will also be bringing Master Hu Jianqiang, the highest-ranking Wushu master in the West, for a special martial arts exhibition titled Masters of Chinese Martial Arts on May 3. Wushu Club members will also train attendees in martial arts moves for the Wushu Photobooth at this year’s Fringe Festival in the JSMA.

Daniel Wu, BArch ’97, the Chinese film star and producer, founded the UO Wushu Club while a student at the University. Now, as a film producer, he is developing projects like Tai Chi Zero and Badlands (the upcoming AMC TV series in which Wu will star) that are rejuvenating the classic wuxia genre of heroic swordplay and sorcery. Wu will join us on May 3 via Skype from Los Angeles, where he is shooting Badlands, following a screening of Tai Chi Zero.

Building up to that program will be a series of wuxia film milestones, beginning with King Hu’s A Touch of Zen (1971). Hu’s films, according to film scholar David Bordwell, “lingered on breathtaking landscapes, treated swordfights as airborne ballets, and created a gallery of reserved, preternaturally calm warriors who fought not for prestige or vengeance but to preserve humane values.” Tsui Hark revived the wuxia genre as a postmodern mix of genres (comedy, romance, supernatural swordplay, etc.) and self-aware political commentary. Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China (1991) screens April 29. Wuxia made its biggest American splash with Ang Lee’s Academy Award-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and has continued to be a springboard for artistic experimentation by China and Hong Kong’s greatest film auteurs, Jia Zhang-ke (A Touch of Sin, April 30) and Wong Kar-wai (The Grandmaster). Appearing in person to discuss the wuxia genre and the films by Ang Lee and Wong-kar Wai will be Yanhong Zhu of Washington and Lee University and Kin-yan Szeto from Appalachian State University.

Schedule

*April 21, 3:00 p.m., Willamette 100: THE GRANDMASTER (Wong Kar-wai).

*April 22, 2:00 p.m., GSH 123: Talk by Yanhong Zhu: “What Remains in the Ashes of Time? Nation, Love, and Martial Arts in Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster”

April 28, 7:00 p.m., Bijou Art Cinemas:  A TOUCH OF ZEN  (King Hu)

April 29, 8;00 p.m., Bijou:  ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (Tsui Hark)

April 30, 9:15 p.m.:  A TOUCH OF SIN (Jia-Zhang-ke)

*May 1, 3:00 p.m., Schnitzer Museum: Talk by Dr. Kin-yan Szeto: “Wuxia Cinema After Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”

*MAY 1, 12:30 p.m., Allen Hall 141: GLOBAL INDUSTRIES FORUM with Eric Lin (UO ‘97), Senior Production Manager, Bona Film Group (China). Cosponsored with SOJC.

May 1, 9:15p.m., Bijou: CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (Ang Lee) with introduction by Kin-yan Szeto

May 2, 7:30-11p.m., Schnitzer Museum: FRINGE FESTIVAL including Wushu Photo Booth with UO Wushu Club, plus wuxia remix videos and installations, video games, animation, music, dance, food, and more!

*May 3, 12:30- 3:15p.m., Gerlinger Gym : MASTERS OF CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS:  a live exhibition of wushu featuring Master Hu Jianqiang, wuxia film performer and the highest ranking wushu master in the west, joined by Master Zong Jianmei.

May 3, 4:00 p.m., 156 Straub Hall: TAI CHI ZERO (Stephen Fung) and Skype with Daniel Wu

*= Free