AsiaLENS
AEMS Documentary and Independent Film Series
at the Spurlock Museum
AsiaLENS is a series of free public film screenings and lecture / discussion programs -- organized by AEMS in collaboration with the Spurlock Museum -- presenting recent documentary and independent films on issues reflecting contemporary life in Asia.
Local and visiting experts introduce the films and lead audiences in post-screening discussions.
All AsiaLENS screenings are FREE and open to the public.
Spurlock Museum screenings are held the second Tuesdays of September, October and November for Fall 2013. The Spurlock Museum is located at 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL.
Full schedule for Fall 2013 is listed below.
Information on past screenings:Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010,
Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013
AsiaLENS Fall 2013 Calendar:
Beijing Besieged By Waste
Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Tokyo Waka: A City Poem
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana IL
A Perfect Soldier
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Beijing Besieged By Waste
Directed by Wang Jiu-liang. 2011. 72 minutes.
In Mandarin with English subtitles.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Post screening discussion with Karin Chien President & Founder, dGenerate Films.
Description:
Award-winning photographer Wang Jiu-liang traveled to more than 500 landfills to fearlessly document Beijing’s monumental problem of waste spawned by a burgeoning population, booming industry, and insatiable urban growth. In Beijing Besieged By Waste, Wang’s poignant observational visits reveal the decimation of once-essential rivers and farmlands in the backdrop of gleaming high-speed trains, stadiums, and skyscrapers; the sinister cyclical pattern of construction's consumption and garbage; and the daily lives of scavengers who live and work in the dumps at their own risk.
Resources:
Distributed by Icarus Films as part of the dGenerate Films Collection.
Reviews:
Asian Educational Media Service
Senses of Cinema
Filmmaker Interview:
Time Out Shanghai
Tokyo Waka: A City Poem
Directed, produced by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson. 2012. 63 minutes.
In Japanese with English subtitles.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013 -7:00 pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Introduction and discussion by Elizabeth Oyler, Director, Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, UI.
Description:
Tokyo Waka presents a lyrical portrait of the complex and compelling patterns of life found within a world city by focusing on its huge and surprising population of more than 20,000 crows. Through interviews of a wide variety of Tokyo residents including a tofu seller, a homeless woman, a Buddhist priest, conceptual artists, and a gardener, this film not only reveals the uneasy relationship between humans and wildlife cohabiting in an urban environment, but also provides an episodic and discursive poem about life and culture in modern Japan.
Resources:
Distributed by Bullfrog Films
Filmmaker website: Stylo Films
Reviews:
Eye For Film
A Perfect Soldier
Directed by John Severson. 2011. 56 minutes.
In Khmer with English subtitles.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 - 7:00pm
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium, 600 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL
Post-screening discussion with Judy Ledgerwood, Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University.
Description:
As an orphaned child in Cambodia in the mid-seventies, Aki Ra was soon groomed to be an instrument of war by the Khmer Rouge, a regime that killed nearly two million Cambodians. In his adult life, Aki Ra has worked to combat the violence in which he once took part by removing what he can of the six million landmines that still mar Cambodia’s countryside. Aki Ra’s efforts to eradicate landmines and address --in a makeshift roadside museum-- the horrible remnants of war, led to the establishment of the Cambodian Landmine Museum and School and his recognition as one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes in 2010. A Perfect Soldier is an inspiring documentary about the power of one man to create change in society.
Resources:
Distributed by Cinema Guild
Filmmaker website: A Perfect Soldier
Website for The Cambodia Landmine Museum and School
Reviews:
Educational Media Reviews Online
Reel Chicago
Articles About Aki Ra:
CNN
Last Updated August 26, 2013.
