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Courtesy of Sony Pictures
Classics
Danny Chan Kwok Kwan stars as Brother Sum in the hit action-comedy
“Kung Fu Hustle,” the latest in a string of China’s
well-received exports to the United States that combine a
Chinese aesthetic with accessible storytelling. |
East-West Film Summit
Dean to foster U.S.-China dialogue on films, TV
BY AJAY SINGH
UCLA Today Staff
When China celebrates the 100th anniversary of its cinema in June,
one of the VIPs at the occasion will be Robert Rosen, dean of the
School of Theater, Film and Television. But Rosen won’t just
be catching up with the many Chinese filmmakers he has known since
his first visit to China in 1984.
During his weeklong stay in Shanghai, where the 8th Shanghai International
Film Festival will be under way, Rosen will be a key participant
in a dialogue between the film and television industries of China
and the United States.
He will moderate a panel discussion on future collaborations between
high-level industry executives and government officials from the
two nations.
Besides exploring co-production and distribution possibilities,
the discussion will focus on intellectual property rights issues
and “the kind of stories that reflect the culture of the country
from which they come, but still speak to audiences across national
boundaries,” said Rosen.
Rosen said he would advise Chinese filmmakers to continue to make
films such as the acclaimed “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
and “Kung Fu Hustle,” which draw on the “integrity
and specificity” of Chinese culture but are strengthened by
the kind of accessible storytelling that partly accounts for the
success of American films.
Rosen will be accompanied to China by Haiping Yan, a professor
in UCLA’s theater department, who will moderate a discussion
on the historical and cultural importance of cinema and the need
to preserve film heritages.
China’s diverse filmmakers are sometimes at odds with their
government, and this historical tension will be an issue for film
artists to address as they explore their “personal vision
and the official role of culture and national identity,” said
Rosen.
Movies everywhere result from that kind of complex dialogue, he
added, because “they take so much money to make.”
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