Combo photo shows the portrait of director Zhang Xian and the poster of his movie "Best Director." (Xinhua)CHICAGO, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Three Chinese films will be featured during the "China Week" scheduled from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 at the ongoing Asian Pop Up Cinema Film Festival in Chicago, with a special presentation at a drive-in theater.
The three films are "Best Director" by Zhang Xian, "All About ING" by Huang Zi and "A Touch of Spring" by He Xiaodan.
"Best Director" presents an engaged couple facing off with parents in-laws, old fling and buddies' insatiable favors and demands as they plan to get married. All the key characters want is to embark on an extended honeymoon, but their families are against it. So they are obliged to hold a traditional wedding. A series of struggles over values, lifestyle, and family rituals quickly transforms into a farce.
"All About ING," a Grand Jury Prize winner at the FIRST International Film Festival in China, is about a conflicted family coping with the changes that terminal cancer brings on. The film portrays the daily life of a family in a restrained tone and builds a story from the different perspectives of the family members.
Combo photo shows the portrait of director Huang Zi and the poster of his movie "All About ING." (Xinhua)"A Touch of Spring" is about a Chinese woman in a chaotic marriage in Montreal, Canada. Looking for a place where she can truly belong, the protagonist visits her grandfather at her birthplace in south China. The support and inspiration provided by her family and an old lover help her break the impasse in her life.
"'Homecoming' is a popular setup used by many filmmakers. The three protagonists in the films selected for our 'China Week' program are all back home visiting. It's fascinating to see how different each story eventually unfolds," said Sophia Wong Boccio, executive director and founder of the film festival.
In addition to the three Chinese films, there will be a special Chinese film presentation, a "Movie-with-Mooncakes" night, in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Davis Theater Drive-in in Lincoln Yard on Oct. 1. The program is sponsored by the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago.
Individually wrapped mooncakes will be handed out to each vehicle and their passengers at the end of the film, "The Climbers," by Daniel Lee, based on a true story of the first Chinese climbers to summit Mount Everest.
Other films to be screened during the festival include another eight Chinese films, namely three from Hong Kong and five from Taiwan, and four from Japan and one from the Philippines.
Combo photo shows the portrait of director He Xiaodan and the poster of her movie "A Touch of Spring." (Xinhua)Boccio said that she has made extra efforts to spotlight an exciting lineup at the festival during the pandemic this year. A total of 22 movies from Asia are selected for the festival, among them, 15 are international or U.S. premieres and available for streaming in the U.S. territory during the festival.
"With most film festivals going completely virtual in 2020, Asian Pop-Up Cinema will host a special drive-in program (in addition to streaming movies) to remind us of the fun of watching films on a big screen with a live audience," said Boccio.
During the Halloween weekend at the end of October, the festival will have a "plus" session, presenting a double-feature horror special: "Train to Busan" and its new sequel "Peninsula," both directed by the internationally known Korean director Yeon Sang-ho at the Davis Theater Drive-in.
The Asian Pop-Up Cinema film festival's fall season opened on Sept. 10 and will run till Oct. 31.