This is a public-engaging event co-presented by the DePaul HumanitiesX Collaborative and Asian Pop-Up Cinema. It will feature a gallery walk organized by students enrolled in a DePaul HumanitiesX course: China's Environmental Voices, and the screening of the award-winning film Anima followed with a Q&A session with the film editor Zimo Huang.
Free and open to the public. But RSVP is required.
This event is co-sponsored by DePaul HumanitiesX Collaborative, Asian Pop-Up Cinema, and DePaul Chinese Studies Program.
Event Agenda
5:30PM Registration, Refreshments, & Gallery Walk
6:30PM Filmscreening: Anima
8:45PM Q&A with Zimo Huang
Synopsis:
ANIMA, directed by CAO Jinling and shot in Moerdaoga National Forest Park, Inner Mongolia, China's oldest primary forest, tells the story of brothers Linzi and Tutu who must reckon with where they fit into a new world of settler encroachment on their native Ewenki homeland. Director Cao Jinling and her all stars production team including the award-winning Director of Photography Mark Lee Ping Bing (Assassin) brings to the big screen "an illuminating exquisitely shot man vs. nature drama." Set in the 1980's, we see the brothers driven to participate in the logging trade to support themselves, and how their loyalty to both their land and one another falters.
Starring Xi Qi (So Long, My Son) and Wang Chuan-jun (Dying to Survive, Saturday Fiction), ANIMA runs 120 minutes in Mandarin and Ewenki with English subtitles.
Reviews:
"An illuminating, exquisitely shot man vs. nature drama with a remarkably wide-reaching appeal…" --- Easternkicks.com
Speaker Bio:
Zimo Huang is an accomplished filmmaker who has been a notable presence in the Hollywood film industry since mid-2000s. Throughout these years, he has expertly refined his skills on a wide range of fiction and documentary projects, garnering praise and recognition for his exceptional work. His notable editing credits span an array of critically acclaimed films, including the Oscar-nominated documentary feature "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me”, as well as "Dominion," "Moss," "77 Days," "Sprinter," and "Buffalo Girls."
Zimo also had the privilege of working on the feature film "The Tomorrow Man," which made its premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2019. Recently, he has expanded his impact on the industry by contributing significantly to various television series on popular streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO, and Apple TV. His outstanding work on "Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up" was recognized with a Primetime Emmy award nomination in 2021.
About DePaul HumanitiesX Collaborative:
HumanitiesX is a collaborative that joins faculty and students from DePaul University with community partners from Chicago-area arts, cultural, and civic organizations. Together we are working to reimagine teaching and learning in the humanities and demonstrate what can be accomplished—in our classrooms and our city—by interdisciplinary teams that apply humanities methods to real-world projects.
About Asian Pop-Up Cinema:
Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian Film Festival, is the brainchild of Sophia Wong Boccio, founder of Sophia’s Choice, a Chicago-based 501 C (3) not-for-profit, incorporated in 2015 with the multi-pronged mission of cultivating an interest in and understanding of Asian cultures via a diverse offering of Asian films; connecting the Asian film industry with local Chicago film professionals, educators, and students; and promoting Chicago as a destination for international visitors.
About China's Environmental Voices:
A new course running in the Spring of 2023, explores how Chinese artists and writers interpret, portray, and confront the widespread environmental degradation in China. Toward that end, the course introduces a range of Chinese environmental voices, including those of painters, photographers, filmmakers and fiction writers. Through the chosen artists' works, the course helps to better understand China's environmental challenges and also to reflect upon the broader causes and consequences of environmental destruction.