Get your Wuchang on

Jackie Chan’s in the house. Well, not in the flesh, but in the premiere feature of the 8th Spring Film Festival, with eight movies being shown at Shangri-la Plaza Cineplex from Jan. 4 to Feb. 22 to promote Chinese culture locally. Chan takes the role of Huang Xing, a revolutionary during China’s homegrown rebellion from Imperial forces in 1911 Revolution. Does he get to use his celebrated martial arts skills in at least one scene against Imperial guards? He does.

At the preview showing of 1911 Revolution, Sidney Bata, director of the Ricardo Leong Center of Chinese Studies, told the media, “Yes, we’re bringing Jackie Chan to Manila… to cinema screens, that is.” (But he hinted Chan might attend next year’s event in Manila.)

1911 Revolution traces the roots of the Wuchang Uprising, a provincial revolt headed by rebellious soldiers against corrupt military leaders and the government of the Qing Dynasty. It’s a sweeping historical tale that shows how Empress Dowager Cixi tried, and failed, to use bank loans from European and US leaders to buy arms and crush the rebellion, and how scholar and doctor Sun Yat-sen eventually became the first president of the Republic of China.

It’s one of eight films that cover historical drama, suspense, romantic comedy and action. There’s Aftershock, which focuses on a devastating earthquake in Tangshan in 1976 that killed 240,000 people, and how a pair of twins struggle to emerge from the rubble.

Snowfall in Taipei tells the story of May, a singer from mainland China who suddenly loses her voice, causing her to leave town and find the warmhearted Xiao Mo, who helps her make ends meet and find a new direction in life. Li Mi Conjecture is about a female taxi driver searching for her long-lost lover Fang Wen, whom she left because of her parents’ disapproval.

In Let’s Fall in Love, musically-gifted Gugin player Tan Momo experiences the ups and downs of the real world; The Go King and His Son tells tells of Liu Yishou and his son Xiaochuan, both talented players of the card game Go; and in Where Is My Home? simple mother Mrs. Geng moves to the city to live with her grown-up son in Where Is My Home?; finally, young He Zhiping becomes the king of urban parkour in the action film City Monkey.

The 8th Spring Film Festival is organized by the Ateneo de Manila University Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies, together with the Confucius Institute, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Credit Suisse and the Ateneo Celadon. Also happening from Jan. 24 to Feb. 6 at the Shang’s East Atrium is a “Chinese Painting Exhibit,” featuring the latest works of artists and students from the International Studies for Chinese Arts and the Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University Chinese Painting class. “Chinese Painting and Crafts Workshops” will likewise be held on Feb. 1, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

As always, admission to the film festival at Shangri-la Plaza is free (first come, first served), and you can contact 370-2500 loc. 597 or log on to www.shangrila-plaza.com for more information.

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