There are many new features for the 2023 edition of the Pisa Chinese Film Festival, organized by the Confucius Institute of Pisa, starting from the double location. The screenings – all with free admission, in the original language with Italian subtitles – will in fact be held outdoors at the Parco delle Concette Summer Arena in the evocative setting of the historic walls. The presentations and cultural activities related to the festival, always outdoors, will be held at the Nunziatina, in Pisa, once again in the heart of Pisan June.
The 2023 edition sees an increase in collaborations: the one with the Far East Film Festival of Udine, a true institution of Asian cinema in Italy now in its 25th edition, and the one with the Cinema Arsenale of Pisa, historic partner of the project, this he year is joined by the Trieste Science Plus Fiction Festival, a consolidated reality in the panorama of European science fiction culture, organized by the cinematographic and audiovisual research and experimentation center La Cappella Underground.
The 2023 edition inaugurates a new line of research summarized in the title of the review: “Red Science Fiction. The future according to Chinese cinema”.
The titles proposed by the Pisa Chinese Film Festival 2023, in fact, have science fiction as a common element. It is the first time in its now long-lasting activity that the Pisa Chinese Film Festival is confronted with a specific ‘genre’, identifying its peculiar stylistic and content aspects. Science fiction, since its origins, has been the litmus test of a vision of the future, a precious document on the identity of a culture, its expectations, its deep fears. And this is all the more true for a reality like that of contemporary China whose film industry – especially in the last ten years – is investing huge capitals in productions of a high technical level and with a global vocation. After the success of the blockbuster The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) directed by director Frant Gwo in 2019 (grossing domestic hit), Chinese productions have shown that they can compete on the international market with works which, in addition to not fearing comparison with most blatant Western science fiction, show obvious ‘Chinese characteristics’. It is no mystery that the science fiction genre acts as a real vector for the self-image that the People’s Republic is patiently building up in the eyes of the world: a technologically advanced power, capable of facing the challenges of the future, open to knowledge and endowed with that spirit of adaptation that allows it to be avant-garde with respect to global changes, even the most improbable ones (and the result of the imagination). The choice of films on the bill is the result of a synthesis of the best works of the last year of cinematographic activity made in China, a sort of declination of the ‘readings’ of the genre that are most representative of this important phenomenon: from disaster films to ‘close encounters’ ‘, from interplanetary travel to cosmic apocalypses. A renewed approach, which has identified in the field some of the titles that have met the taste of the largest audience in the world, with particular attention to fashions, characters, but also to the ‘signatures’ that enrich the panorama of the contemporary Chinese film industry . China represents a privileged observatory on what are today’s tastes, the avant-gardes, even the histories that sometimes rebound even in the European context.
All the titles on the bill will have free admission and in the original language, with Italian subtitles. Spectator admission is guaranteed until seats are available.
The author’s manifesto
The poster of the 2023 edition is signed by Francesco Guarnaccia. Born in 1994, Francesco Guarnaccia is a cartoonist and illustrator. He is part of the Mammaiuto collective, with which he published ‘From Here To Eternity’. His recent releases are ‘Iperurania’ and ‘Party Hard’. He is the winner of prestigious awards (Gran Guinigi, Micheluzzi, Bartoli) and publishes with Feltrinelli, Bao, De Agostini, BeccoGiallo, Shockdom, Rizzoli, “Linus”, “Internazionale”, “Smemoranda” and many realities of Italian self-production.
Opening of the gates to Parco delle Concette on Monday 19 June at 20.30. Doing the honors will be Professor Huang Yunlin (Director of the Confucius Institute of Pisa), Giada Ali and Fabiana De Carlo (Confucius Institute of Pisa).
At 21.30 the festival will then be inaugurated by Journey to the West(宇宙探索编辑部), by director Kong Dashan. An international case despite being the first work of a debutant author, presented at the Rotterdam and Osaka festivals, the film tells the story of Tang Zhijun, editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘Space Exploration’, who together with his collaborators finds himself investigating the sighting of an unidentified flying object in a remote village in rural China. Inspired by the ‘classic’ tale of the monk Tang Sanzang who traveled west to bring true Buddhism to China in the company of the monkey king Sun Wukong, Kong’s adventure portrays a hero sui generis, whose obsessive search for extraterrestrial life sinks the its roots in the belief that upon the discovery of alien life, humanity would immediately abandon its tragic disagreements and live in perpetual harmony.
Tuesday 20 June the day will start from 19.30 at the Nunziatina, with ‘Future Fiction – exploring the biodiversity of the future‘ with Francesco Verso: a meeting, a seminar, a chat to learn the rudiments of the ‘science fiction case’ that has interested Chinese culture in the last two decades, to learn about curiosities and peculiar aspects of the future made in China.
Born in 1973, Francesco Verso is among the most interesting science fiction authors of recent years. Since 2008 he has dedicated himself full time to publishing, both as a genre author and as editor and curator of the Future Fiction project. He wrote Human antidotes, e-Doll (Urania Mondadori award 2008) and Livido (Odyssey award and Italy award 2012), published by Apex Books in the United States and by Bofeng in China under the title of Nexhuman. In 2015 he won a second Urania Award with Bloodbusters which was released in the UK by Luna Press and in China by Bofeng. His latest novel, in the solarpunk genre, is entitled The Walkers and consists of The Pulldogs and No / Mad / Land. In 2019 he won the Golden Dragon for the promotion of international science fiction and the award for best science fiction publisher awarded by the European Science Fiction Society, he is also the honorary director of the Fishing Fortress Center in Chongqing (China) where he runs a creative writing course international, the Future Fiction Workshop.
At 21.30 at the Parco delle Concette it will be screened The Last Sunrise (最后的日出) by director Wen Ren. Also the first work, on the bill at the 19th edition of the Trieste Science + Fiction Festival, the film tells of a future based on solar energy that plunges into chaos when the Sun disappears, forcing a lonely astronomer and his neighbor to leave the city. The temperature drops below zero and the oxygen runs out: the only hope is in District Four, a place still equipped with light and breathable air. Between ambushes, fear, terror and cold, the two will be able to get to know each other better, to open up to each other, confess fears and remorse, while around them death and despair hunt them down and life seems destined to disappear together with the sun. An authorial work far from the glories of blockbusters, but seductive and mysterious, which already has the flavor of a classic of tomorrow.
On Wednesday 21 June we start again at 19.30 at the Nunziatina with the presentation of the comic strip A hundred ghosts are parading tonight (Future Fiction Editions). Inspired by the famous story of the science fiction writer Xia Jia, from the pen of Serena Meo and with the drawings of Gabriele “Caelpher” Ghirelli, the story tells of Ning, a boy who lives in an amusement park of the future. The designer of the work, Gabriele “Caelpher” Ghirelli, will be present with Francesco Verso. The initiative is included in the ‘Fumetti & Popcorn 2023’ program curated by the Cinema Arsenale of Pisa.
At 21.30 at the Parco delle Concette it will therefore be the turn of Annular Eclipse (记忆囚笼), by director Zhang Chi, a futuristic thriller on the theme of memory, which manages to find its originality in a colorful and bizarre staging. The film, Zhang Chi’s second work, was in turn in competition at the Trieste Science + Fiction Festival. In 2030 science has managed to cure Alzheimer’s disease thanks to the innovations of the Brian Science Lab. Gen and Song are two super efficient hit men who work for an organization led by the “father”, a mysterious figure who appears on video as a sheep. Soon, Gen realizes his memories have been manipulated. Thus begins an investigation that will lead him to discover truths that he is not ready to face, while society prepares for the advent of a mysterious annular eclipse that appears once every thousand years.
Thursday 22 June the evening will take place entirely at the Parco delle Concette and will be opened by a small celebration, organized by the Confucius Institute, of the Festa delle Barche Drago. For the occasion, the teachers of the Institute will perform traditional activities such as the practice of Qigong, fan dancing, and other Chinese games. There will also be the opportunity to taste the typical snack of the party: rice rolls called Zongzi (粽子 Zòngzi).
Finally, at 21.30, the Pisa Chinese Film Festival celebrates the twentieth anniversary of a film that has represented one of the milestones of world cinema. In 2003, in fact, the production of 2046 by director Wong Kar-wai. Thought to be the sequel to In the Mood for Love, it has become an autonomous work of untouched charm. A writer, destroyed by the disappointment of having lost the only love of his life, searches his memory and other women for shreds of the woman he will never have again. 2046 is a place, a time, a book, finally the number of a hotel room (the same one where Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung met, in fact, in In the Mood for Love). A jewel that has not lost a gram of its freshness, presented again to the public of the Pisa Chinese Film Festival in the original version with subtitles.
The Pisa Chinese Film Festival has always been a promoter of the many innovations that distinguish the Chinese film scene – says Professor Huang Yunlin, Director of the Confucius Institute of Pisa. This 2023 edition sets itself the important task of offering Italian viewers an essay on the most recent Chinese science fiction production. It is a new phenomenon for us, but which immediately proved to be extremely effective in exploring the present, the prospects, but also the doubts and dreams, above all of the younger generations, better than other more classic genres. Through imagining the future we can speak of our hopes, as a people and as a culture; we can tell, through fiction, how we imagine our relationship with technology and the role it will play in our lives tomorrow. They are just hints of a much broader picture, which we will be happy to share with all those who want to take part in the evenings of our festival>>.
The Pisa Chinese Film Festival takes a new step forward – says Professor Alberto Di Minin, Italian director of the Confucius Institute of Pisa. In recent years we have invested heavily in all-round research, at the same time taking advantage of important collaborations such as the one with the Far East of Udine, to which the friends of the Trieste Science + Fiction Festival have joined in this 2023 edition, fundamental allies for this year’s theme which revolves around the ideas of the future and the imagination of tomorrow. Furthermore, the Cinema Arsenale in Pisa is increasingly confirming itself as the backbone of our organization: this year we will be together in the beautiful setting of the Parco delle Concette, a great gift for an edition that promises to be special. We are parts that interact in a model made up of exchanges, observation, constant collaboration: this is the formula we have refined over the years and of which we are proud>>.