International film series to hit campus

As it does every semester, the East Asian Studies Center is sponsoring the East Asian film series. To promote culture throughout campus, the center has put together a series of seven films from various East Asian countries. \nBut a few changes have been made from past semesters. \n"The screening room was changed from (Fine Arts Room) 102 to (Ballantine Hall Room) 013 because the equipment in Fine Arts was not up to our standards," said graduate student Jeeyoung Shin, an event organizer. "We also changed the show times to 8 p.m. on Saturday so as not to compete, overlap, with the City Lights film series," said graduate student Paola Voci, also one of the organizers.\nVoci said the series has always had a dual purpose.\n"An important purpose is to let people see some movies that they would not otherwise find in the theaters or that they would be unlikely to choose to rent as DVDs or videotapes," Voci said.\nShe said the film series provides a much-needed service to Asian residents of Bloomington.\n"What makes me especially happy is when I see in the audience people, sometimes entire families, that are not directly involved in IU academic life," Voci said.\nThe organizers said they try to pick the latest films that come out of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. But the selection of films from which they can choose is sometimes decreased by a lack of subtitled films.\n"(The series) is a very productive endeavor because the films broaden our horizons and provide the audience with a unique perspective with which to look at the world," said Justin Foster, senior editor of Ryder magazine.\nThis semester's series begins Saturday with the screening of "Kikujiro" (1999), directed by Takeshi Kitano, one of Japan's leading filmmakers. The film tells the story of a young boy who leaves Tokyo to search for his mother. \nThe next film, the Korean film "Christmas in August" (1998), will run Feb. 3. This is a tale of a dying man's relationship with a beautiful woman. The Chinese film "In the Heat of the Sun" (19954) will be shown Feb.17. A box office success in China, this film depicts Chinese life during the Cultural Revolution. \nThe series will spotlight the Japanese film "Postman Blues" (1997) Feb.24. A portrait of the life of a postman, the film depicts the different twists and turns of life. \nThis will be followed by the Korean film "Beat" (1997), which depicts Korea's new "lost generation" of teenagers. The Taiwanese import "Mahjong" (1996) is next on the agenda and will be screened April 7. Made by Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang, the film is a dark comedy and uses the game of mahjong to depict the relationship between traditional Chinese culture and Western materialism in contemporary Taiwan.\nThe last film of the series is "Chinese Odyssey" (1995). The Hong Kong feature actually consists of two films,"Pandora's Box" and "A Cinderella." These films are postmodern renditions of a mythological Chinese tale in which the Monkey King is banished to lead a miserable human existence for his transgressions.\nThe film series consists of a diverse assortment of comedy, fantasy, drama and melodrama.