For immediate release
Contact: Esther Wu, 214-282-5318
Photos available
ANG LEE FILM FESTIVAL SEPT. 24-26
Ang Lee has been called one of today’s greatest contemporary
filmmakers.
But before the Academy Award winning director brought us such films as
“Taking Woodstock,” “Hulk” and “Brokeback
Mountain,” he introduced film audiences to several aspects of Asian
culture – much of which is deeply rooted in China’s earliest
history.
Now, The University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University
and the Crow Collection of Asian Art are proud to present the “Ang Lee
Film Festival” that will showcase the director’s first three
feature films that explore themes of aging, homosexuality and family roles in a
changing modern society.
“Pushing Hands,” will be shown at 6:30 PM Thursday, Sept.
24 in the Jonsson Performance Hall at UT-Dallas; “Wedding Banquet”
will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 in the Collins Executive
Education Center
at SMU; and “Eat Drink Man Woman,” will be screened at noon
Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.
The screenings are free of charge and there will be a special program
following each film.
“Pushing Hands,” which was Ang Lee’s first feature
film, is a story about an elderly Chinese tai chi chuan teacher and grandfather
from Beijing who comes to the United States
to live with his son and American daughter-in-law and their son. The film
highlights the contrast between traditional Chinese and modern American ideas
of family relationships. The elderly grandfather must learn to start a new life
in a new country. A tai chi chuan demonstration will be held before the
screening and a discussion about the ancient practice will be held after the
film at UT-Dallas. For more information see ah.utdallas.edu/events.
“The Wedding Banquet” was released in 1993 and was
nominated as the Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe and the Academy
Awards. This film is about a gay Taiwanese immigrant who marries a woman from mainland
China
to placate his parents. However the plan backfires when his parents arrive in
the United States
to meet the new bride and to arrange a traditional wedding banquet for the
newlyweds. This film repeats Ang Lee’s theme of East meets West and the
struggles to merge traditional Chinese values in a modern American society. A
reception will be held before the screening and a panel discussion will follow
the film at SMU. For more information visit smu.edu.
“Eat Drink Man Woman” which was released in 1994 explores
one family’s struggles to maintain family traditional roles in a modern
world. Food is the focal point of any major Chinese celebration and it is no
different in this film. The relationship between a widowed master chef and his
three daughters are played out at the dinner table, where the father expresses
his love in the only way he knows how -- cooking. But family tensions prevent
anyone from enjoying meal time and even the aging chef fears that he may be
losing his ability to taste. Teresa Cheng, executive food designer of this film
will discuss what it was like to behind the scenes during the making of
“Eat Drink Man Woman” after the screening. For more information
visit crowcollection.org.
The Ang Lee Film Festival is sponsored by the Government Information
Office of the Republic of China, SMU,
UT-Dallas and the Crow
Collection.
For more information call 214-979-6430.
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