Launch of the 4th EU-China Film Festival and EU-China Youth Film Festival
During the 4th EU-China Film Festival and EU-China Youth Film Festival, eight excellent Chinese films will be screened over a period of one month. To inaugurate the festival, an opening ceremony will be held on September 21.
For the opening ceremony of the 4th EU-China Film Festival and EU-China Youth Film Festival on September 21, the film committee has invited special guests: the director of musical film The Family, Professor LIU Hongmei, and four cast members, TIAN Yifan, LI Mengke, WANG Shuai and ZHANG Saiyi. They will give a performance of four wonderful fragments of the musical and hold a Q&A session with the audience afterwards.
There will also be a screening of The Family in its entirety. This musical film tells several tragic romances of young people in China’s early 1900s, a period of new ideas conflicting with stereotypes. The Family is the first original Chinese musical film ever realized. It was produced by the Central Academy of Drama, which is the highest theater educational institution of the People’s Republic of China and also the headquarters of Asia Theater Education Center and the secretariat of World Theater Educational Association.
Program of the ceremony
14.00: Registration
14.30-15.00: Opening speech
15.00-15.30: Performance of fragments from The Family
“Wedding Night”
“Death of Mingfeng”
“Love of Plum Garden”
“Requiem”
15.30: Screening of the musical film The Family
The entry is free of charge ; however, due to the limited number of seats, registration is compulsory.
About the film
The Family is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Chinese author Ba Jin, which tells the story of intergenerational conflict between the old ways and progressive aspirations in an upper-class family in the city of Chengdu in the early 1920s following the New Culture Movement. The Family focuses on three brothers from the Gao family, Juexin, Juemin and Juehui, their love, and their struggles with the oppressive autocracy of their feudalist and patriarchal family. The idealistic, if rash, Juehui, the youngest brother, is the main protagonist and he is frequently contrasted with the weak eldest brother Juexin, who gives in to the demands from his grandfather, agrees to an arranged marriage, and carries on living a life he does not like to live.
About the director
LIU Hongmei is professor at the Central Academy of Drama, doctoral supervisor, Dean of Musical Theater Department, actor, director. For a long time engaged in drama, film, musical theater teaching, and creative work. Main directing repertoire includes the original Chinese musical The Family, the Chinese version of the Broadway musical Crazy for You, and the Chinese version of the Broadway musical Fame.
Hosted by
EU-China Film Festival
EU-China Youth Film Festival
China Children Film Association
Communication University of China
Supported by
Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the EU
China Cultural Center in Brussels
Asian Center in the EU
Organized by
China-Belgium Art & Culture Society
Co-organized by
China Arts Festival in the EU
The program is subject to change. Follow our Facebook page to stay tuned!