Global Lens Film Series
The Shaft (2008, Chinese, Dixia De Tiankong)
April 28, 2013 - 1pm
In a poor mining town in western China, the stories of a father and his two children intersect and intertwine, illuminating complicated relationships hidden beneath the community’s hardened exterior. Accused of an affair with her manager, the attractive daughter of the household finds herself spurned by her boyfriend and forced to accept an arranged marriage. Her brother dreams of being a singer, but after an unforeseen stint in prison, reluctantly heads into the mines like his father, who spends his days searching for the wife who left him many years ago. Writer-director Zhang Chi’s wise and poetic debut delicately expresses the turmoil of emotion and expectation wrought by a calloused and difficult existence.
Directed by Chi Zhang. Runtime 98 minutes.
Ocean of an Old Man (2008, India)
May 26, 2013 - 1pm
In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and amid the stunning natural beauty of India’s Andaman and Nicobar islands, an elderly British teacher struggles to run a small primary school despite the loss of many of the islands’ children to the recent tragedy. Ignoring the overwhelming grief that washes over the islands, he continues to teach his few remaining students until a government official delivers a relocation order to all residents, causing him to embark on a heartbreaking search for his missing students, convinced they must still be alive. Blending exquisite vistas with the ubiquitous sound of the ocean to convey the precarious balance between human life and the inexorable forces of nature, Rajesh Shera’s debut feature quietly unfolds as a delicate meditation on grief and loss.
The Light Thief (“Svet-Ake” 2010, Kyrgystan)
June 9, 2013 - 1pm
In this colorful modern-day parable of good and evil, a humble village electrician devotes his compassion and ingenuity to destitute neighbors in a wind-swept valley of Kyrgyzstan. Played with wry humanity by writer-director Aktan Arym Kubat, the trusting Mr. Light strikes a suspect bargain with a rich developer running for local office, as unemployment threatens the survival of the community. Stoking a dream to supply wind-generated electricity to the whole valley, the modest visionary comes up against an increasingly dark cloud of corruption in this affecting tale of solidarity and ordinary decency amid the injustices and hardships of a changing world.
The Global Lens Series is being co-presented by the Global Film Initiative and is part of the Global Lens collection. For more information, visit www.globalfilm.org
Sponsored by: the Asian Arts Council
Buddha with Attendants (detail), Korean, Choson period, 18th-19th century, ink, color, and gold on silk, Anonymous gift, 1986.92 Phoenix Art Museum Permanent Collection