Kaili Blues

press release:

Kaili Blues (Lu Bian Ye Can) (2015, China, 113 min., Digital)

Dir: Bi Gan; Cast: Chen Yongzhong, Zhao Daqing, Luo Feiyang, Xie Lixun, Zeng Shuai

One of the year’s most celebrated art films is this transcendental wonder from 26 year-old poet Bi Gan, a first-time filmmaker from rural China. Searching for his brother’s long-lost child, a doctor journeys to a mysterious town where people’s lives overlap, and past, present, and future converge.  This beguiling, spectral odyssey introduces an exciting new voice in world cinema.  “A tour de force. The most memorable new movie that I’ve seen in quite some time…. manages to evoke Resnais, Tarkovsky, and Hou Hsiao-hsien” (J. Hoberman, New York Review of Books).  “Dazzling originality. It’s hard to emerge from this waking dream of a film without feeling the shock of the new” (Andrew Chan, Film Comment).  In Mandarin with English subtitles.

This fall, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) will premiere a powerhouse slate of acclaimed films to Madison audiences.  MMoCA’s Spotlight Cinema will show eight critically-celebrated and award-winning narrative features and documentaries from around the world, screening every Wednesday night from September 28 through November 16. Highlights include the winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival (Dheepan), the winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Sand Storm), and new work by master directors Hirokazu Kore-eda (After the Storm) and Nikolaus Geyrhalter  (Homo Sapiens).

​"MMoCA's Spotlight Cinema series is Madison’s chance to experience eight of the year’s most acclaimed and vital arthouse films on the big screen. These eight films comprise a wide-ranging survey of contemporary world cinema, including top prize-winners from Cannes and Sundance, new work by revered master directors, and envelope-pushing visions from the auteurs of tomorrow," stated Mike King, Guest Film Curator.

Spotlight Cinema is curated by Mike King, and is a program of MMoCA’s education department. Funding for the series has been provided by maiahaus, Venture Investors, LLC, and an anonymous donor. Ticket sales begin at 6:30 pm in the Museum lobby; films screen at 7 pm in the lecture hall. Admission is free for MMoCA members and $7 per screening for the general public.