Special Film Workshop with Wu Tianming and Luo Xueying
Wu Tianming and Luo Xueying
The Council on East Asian Studies and the Film Studies Program at Yale University are pleased to welcome to campus
Renowned Chinese Film Director WU TIANMING and Producer LUO XUEYING
for a Special Film Workshop
Consecutive translation will be provided during this workshop.
Wu Tianming (吴天明) and Luo Xueying (罗雪莹), the director and producer of the 1996 film The King of Masks (1996), will offer their impressions of the aesthetic changes in Chinese cinema they have witnessed during the industrial and political shifts that have taken place in China over the past few decades. By virtue of Wu’s lengthy career, which began during the 4th Generation of Chinese directors (toward the end of the Cultural Revolution) and has progressed through the 5th and 6th Generations, and Luo’s affiliation with the directors of the 5th Generation, they both can provide us with valuable insights on the following topics: (1) the narrative and stylistic consistencies and divergences between the differing generations of directors; (2) the growing contribution of and reliance upon new technology, particularly digital media; (3) cinematic resonances of political and ideological issues in contemporaneous Chinese society; and, (4) institutional support for and/or constrains on filmmaking practice in China, including apprenticeships, censorship, and the mode of production.
Wu Tianming is a distinguished Fourth-Generation film director and the godfather of Fifth-Generation filmmakers Zhang Yumou, Chen Kaige, and Tian Zhuangzhuang. His celebrated films include RIVER WITHOUT BUOYS, LIFE, OLD WELL, THE KING OF MASKS, AN UNUSUAL LOVE, and his most recent CEO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER), filmed in China and Paris. While head of the Xi’an Film Studio, he played a major role in unleashing the talent of recent Beijing Film Academy graduates Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, now international celebrities. Mr. Wu and colleagues have just launched a major, innovative, private-public film studio, Xi’an Qujiang Film & Television Investment (Group) Ltd., in Xi’an.
Ms. Luo Xueying is currently the Vice Secretary of the Film Critics Association of China. She produced the following Wu Tianming films: “The King of Masks,” “CEO,” and “An Unusual Love.” She also was producer of Wu’s five TV series, “Black Face,” “The Yellow River Men,” “Love in the City,” “The Gadfly,”and “Stories in Nanyang.” Prior to becoming a successful film producer, she served as Editor in Chief of the influential journal “China Screen,” as researcher at the China Film Association, and as professor of philosophy at Beijing University (Beida).