PISA CHINESE FILM FESTIVAL 2023/比萨中国电影节

Sci-Fi Red. The future according to Chinese cinema

June 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd 2023

Summer Arena Parco delle Concette – The Nunziatina

In collaboration with the Trieste Science + Fiction Festival and Arsenale Cinema in Pisa. With the friendly collaboration of the Far East Film Festival of Udine

There are many novelties 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, historical partner of the project, this year are 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 MOVIES

MONDAY JUNE 19th | Parco delle Concette – Summer Arena, 930 pm

Journey to the West (宇宙探索编辑部), China 2021

Original language with Italian subtitles

Directed by 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 founders 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 JUNE 20th | Parco delle Concette – Summer Arena, 930 pm

The Last Sunrise (最后的日出), China 2019

Original language with Italian subtitles

Directed by Wen Ren

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.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 21s | Parco delle Concette – Summer Arena, 930 pm

Annular Eclipse (记忆囚笼), China 2023

Original language with Italian subtitles

Directed by 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 he 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 JUNE 22nd | Parco delle Concette – Summer Arena, 930 pm

2046, Hong Kong, China, France, Italy, Germany

Original language with Italian subtitles

Directed by Wong Kar-wai

Thought to be the sequel to In the Mood for Love, it has become an independent 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

All screenings are in the original language with Italian subtitles.

THE EVENTS

JUNE 20th – Seminar “Future Fiction – Exploring the biodiversity of the future”, 730pm

In the frame of the Pisa Chinese Film Festival, on Tuesday 20 June starting at 19.30 at the Nunziatina, the meeting ‘Future Fiction – exploring the biodiversity of the future’ with Francesco Verso will be held: a seminar, a friendly chat with one of the leading experts science fiction and Chinese science fiction 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.

JUNE 21st – Presentation “One hundred ghosts parade tonight” 730pm

On Wednesday 21 June it starts again at 7.30 pm at the Nunziatina with the presentation of the comic strip “One hundred ghosts parade tonight” (Future Fiction Edizioni).

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.

JUNE 22nd – Dragon Boat Festival 830pm

The final evening of the Pisa Chinese Film Festival will be opened by a small celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival.

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).