Never before seen: Understand Contemporary China at DC Chinese Film Festival

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2014 DC Chinese Film Festival, held September 4-7 in the Nation's Capital, will showcase over 60 outstanding documentary, narrative, experimental, and animated films from 9 countries and regions, all made by Chinese artists or about China. This will be the first time the DC audience gets to watch so many never before seen Chinese films on the big screen.

Full schedule and ticket information are available at www.dccff.org/2014/schedule

"We're trying to bring in many unique voices that reflect contemporary China. The festival is a rare opportunity to understand China from a fresh perspective, one story at a time," said Echo Xie, Deputy Director of the DC Chinese Film Festival. In addition to screening films, the festival will host Q&A sessions with established filmmakers, experts and scholars on current issues in Chinese society and the film industry. The festival will also hold panel discussions on LGBT issues and film, gender gap behind camera, environmental filmmaking, and independent film production. 

The festival's opening film, Golden Gate Girls, is a tribute to Chinese American film pioneer Esther Eng, an openly gay female director who bridged different cultures with her filmmaking. This year's closing film, The Silk Road of Pop, explores what it means to be a young Uyghur Muslim in China and shows how music becomes a liberating element for a minority trying to assert its identity.

Other highlights include Door God (winner of a 2014 Student Academy Award), which follows a 7-year-old girl in a small village; My Dad is a Rocker, a personal documentary about a first-generation Chinese rock musician recovering from stroke; and Killing a Pig Without Mao, an experimental piece, inspired by George Orwell, features a woman working in a slaughterhouse in Mao's China.

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Freer Gallery, the Kissinger Institute and the Center for Media and Social Impact, the Festival will also present six spotlight screenings that are free and open to the public. These award-winning titles include Stray Dog, Old Dog, Rock Me to the Moon, Cop Shop II, I'm Here and New Beijing, New Marriage.

Founded in 2011, the DC Chinese Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to discovering outstanding Chinese cinema from around the world and to encouraging cultural diversity through film.

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SOURCE DC Chinese Film Festival