Curated and moderated by Associate Professor Jiwei Xiao, PhD, this film series with companion lectures aims to promote an appreciation for Asian culture and art.
This October film series and its connected talk-backs will be led by Jiwei Xiao, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures in the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield. The series is meant to introduce “Asian Cinema as World Cinema,” a topic that Dr. Xiao also teaches within the Honors Program.
The three films that will be shown, include a monster flick, one family drama, and one that is part love story and part social commentary. The pieces were chosen, Dr. Xiao explained, from “the many titles that have pushed Asian filmmakers to various luminary centers of global cinema.”
“Today some of the most exciting and innovative films screened at film festivals and on streaming websites are made by Asian filmmakers,” Dr. Xiao continued. “The region also looms larger in various aspects of life we live today globally, especially during the pandemic age.”
Although her primary aim is to offer the Fairfield community greater exposure to Asian culture, Dr. Xiao has invited distinguished guests to participate in post-viewing virtual lectures and discussion panels, all of which she hopes will inspire cross-pollination within the College of Arts and Sciences — particularly for other Asian studies courses as well as for classes and study within the visual and performing arts.
“[The films] promise to entertain and excite Fairfield students and the larger community,” Dr. Xiao said. “The transnational collaborations in [the films] appeal to the international audience of art cinema [and] ask us to look deeper into the paradox of being Asian and being international at once.”
All events are free and open to the public.
Wed. October 6
Still Walking (2008)
(Dir. by Hirokazu Kore-eda, 115 minutes, Japanese with English subtitles)
5 p.m. | Film Screening at Kelley Center. No advance registration required.
8 p.m. | Virtual Roundtable Discussion with Dr. Dudley Andrew (Yale University); Timothy Amatulli ’19 (Columbia University); Dr. Ive Covaci (Fairfield University); Dr. Jiwei Xiao (Fairfield University).
Free, but registration is required.
Wed. October 13
The Host (2006)
(Directed by Bong Joon-ho, 119 minutes, Korean with English subtitles)
6 p.m. | Outdoor film screening on the Quad
Rain location: Kelley Center
Free, no advance registration required.
Mon. October 18
What is a Parasite in The Host? With Dr. Seung-hoon Jeong (California State University, Long Beach)
7:30 p.m. | Virtual lecture companion to The Host
Free, but registration is required through quickcenter.com.
Wed. October 20
Ash is Purest White (2018)
(Dir. by Jia Zhangke, 136 minutes, Chinese with English subtitles)
5 p.m. | Film Screening at Kelley Center. No advance registration required.
8 p.m. | Virtual post-screening discussion with Dr. Michael Berry (UCLA); Dr. Mary Ann Carolan (Fairfield University); Dr. Ying Qian (Columbia University); and Dr. Jiwei Xiao (Fairfield University)
Free, but registration is required.
Sponsored by the Humanities Institute; Asian Studies Program; Dept. of Visual and Performing Arts; International Studies Program; Honors Program; Dept. of Communication & Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures.
