About

The APT5 cinema programs are the first to be presented in the Australian Cinémathèque's purpose-built cinemas and exhibition gallery at GoMA.

The programs explore the diversity of cinema practice in the Asia–Pacific region. The work of seven filmmakers is showcased in depth: Jackie Chan (Hong Kong), Beck Cole (Warramungu/Luritja people, Australia), Kumar Shahani(India), Sima Urale (Samoa/New Zealand), Việt Linh (Vietnam), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand) and Yang Fudong (China).

Screenings of works by these filmmakers will feature throughout the APT5 exhibition and as part of the Ongoing Program. In the Cinémathèque's media gallery there will be a display celebrating Jackie Chan as director, action choreographer and actor. In addition APT5 Cinema includes two major thematic film programs, Japan Fantastic: Before and Beyond Anime 12–28 January 2007 and Hong Kong, Shanghai: Cinema Cities 2 March – 27 May 2007.

List of Works

JACKIE CHAN

The Jackie Chan screening program provides audiences with the rare opportunity to appreciate Chan's films in depth and on the big screen in their original 35mm Cantonese versions, as well as his work as actor, director and action choreographer. Films are screened at various times on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 9 and 28 February.

The special documentary Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family provides a rare glimpse into Chan's private life and family history, and will be presented on Wednesday 14 and 21 February.

• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (She Xing Diao Shou) 1978 | Director: Yuen Woo-Ping, Tyrone Hsu Hsia, Corey Yuen Kwai
• Drunken Master (Jui Keun) 1978 | Director: Yuen Woo-Ping
• The Young Master (Shi Di Chu Ma) 1980 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Project A (A'gai Waak) 1983 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Police Story (Ging Chaat Goo Si) 1985 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Armour of God (Long Xiong Hu Di) 1986 | Director: Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang (Uncredited)
• Project A Part II (A'gai Waak Juk Jaap) 1987 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Police Story 2 (Ging Chaat Goo Si Juk Jaap) 1988 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Miracles (Qiji) 1989 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Armour of God II: Operation Condor (Fei Ying Gai Wak) 1990 | Director: Jackie Chan
• Police Story 3: Supercop (Jing Cha Gu Shi III: Chao Ji Jing Cha) 1992 | Director: Stanley Tong
• Drunken Master II (Jui Kuen II) 1994 | Director: Lau Kar-Leung, Jackie Chan (Uncredited)
• Traces of a Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family 2003 | Director: Mabel Yuen-Ting Cheung
• New Police Story (San Ging Chaat Goo Si) 2004 | Director: Benny Chan

BECK COLE

An important new voice in the genres of documentary and fiction, Cole began her career as a journalist with Imparja Television in Central Australia. Since graduating from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in 2002, Cole has directed the majority of her documentaries and short films in Alice Springs. Her films have screened at the Sundance and Edinburgh film festivals and, in 2005, her film Wirriya Small Boy was nominated for Best Short Documentary at the Inside Film Awards in Sydney. Cole is part of a strong Indigenous filmmaking community that is creating new representations of Indigenous culture in contemporary media.

• Flat 2002
• Wirriya Small Boy 2004
• Plains Empty 2005
• Lore of Love 2005

KUMAR SHAHANI

Kumar Shahani is one of the most significant filmmakers working in India today. He has developed an epic idiom that engages with contemporary issues. Shahani's films explore cultural memories embedded in classical Indian art forms, texts and objects. His visual explorations of Indian music and dance, the classical Indian epic and contemporary literature mark his practice as unique in the history of Indian cinema. Shahani also engages with European cinematic traditions. His first feature, Mirror of Illusion (Maya Darpan) 1972, is regarded as India's first formalist film. His oeuvre is considered alongside renowned directors — Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andrei Tarkovsky, Stanley Kubrick, Jacques Rivette and others — whose work is similarly entwined with the visual arts.

• Fire in the Belly 1973
• The Wave (Tarang) 1984
• The Khayal Saga (Khayal Gatha) 1988
• Kasba 1990
• Immanence (Bhavantarana) 1991
• Persistence of Vision (1996 | Directors: Raqs Media Collective
• Four Chapters (Char Adhyay) 1997
• The Bamboo Flute (Birah Bharyo Ghar Aangan Kone) 2000

SIMA URALE

Sima Urale migrated from Samoa to New Zealand with her family in 1974. After training in drama, Urale was drawn to filmmaking as a more immediate form of expression that could reach wider audiences. At the forefront of younger filmmakers telling Pacific stories, Urale is not only influenced by her Samoan heritage but also by the urban cultural mix. Frustrated with stereotypical media representations of Polynesian culture, Urale looks beyond superficial characterisation and delves into complex social issues and family relationships in both Polynesian and pakeha culture. A distinctly visual storyteller, she uses meticulously composed production design, dialogue-sparse character interaction and expressive sound design to create a richly cinematic world.

• O Tamaiti 1996
• Velvet Dreams 1997
• Still Life 2001
• Hip Hop New Zealand 2003

VIỆT LINH

Critically recognised but little-known outside of Vietnam, Việt Linh crafts allegorical films about the history and changing social situations of her country. Often drawing inspiration from literature, Việt Linh treats the fate of her characters in a sensitive and realistic manner. A student at the prestigious National Cinematography School in Moscow during the 1980s, Việt Linh draws from Soviet cinema and the work of Italian neo-realist filmmaker Federico Fellini. Graduating in 1985, she began working for the state-owned Giai Phong Film Studio in Ho Chi Minh City and has completed seven features since 1986. Việt Linh's inclusion in APT5 marks the first major survey of her work internationally and a rare opportunity to see her work screened in Australia.

• Travelling Circus (Gánh Xiếc Rong) 1988
• Devil's Mark (Dấu Ấn Của Quỷ) 1992
• Collective Flat (Chung Cu') 1999
• Me Thao, Once upon a Time (Mê Thảo, Thời Vang Bóng) 2002

APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL

Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a key figure in recent Thai film and a highly original moving-image artist. He studied architecture at Khon Kaen University before completing a Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Influenced by American experimental film, Weerasethakul is one of a small group of independent filmmakers working outside the Thai studio system; his video installations, shorts and feature films explore the genres of documentary and fiction in uniquely Thai contexts. Thai television, radio and comics provide story elements that may be enacted or embroidered by the characters that drive Weerasethakul's films.

Syndromes and a Century premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival 2006 and is the final part in Weerasethakul's 'jungle trilogy', alongside Blissfully Yours (Le Prix Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival 2002) and Tropical Malady (Prix du Jury, Cannes Film Festival 2004). The Australian premiere screening will take place on the opening weekend of APT5 at 7.00pm on Sunday 3 December, introduced by the filmmaker.

• 0016643225059 1994
• Like the Relentless Fury of the Pounding Waves 1995
• thirdworld 1997
• Mysterious Object at Noon (Dokfa nai meuman) 2000
• Haunted Houses (Thai Version) 2001
• Blissfully Yours (Sud Sanaeha) 2002
• Nokia Shorts 2003
• The Adventure of Iron Pussy (Hua Jai Tor Ra Nong) 2003
• This and a Million More Lights 2003
• Tropical Malady (Sud Pralad) 2004
• Worldly Desires