Cinema Alley at Golden Age Cinema

Overview

Golden Age is partnering with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art to bring you an epic double-bill of films for Chinese New Year by acclaimed indie Chinese director Luo Li.

The first, screening at 6.30pm, is Emperor Visits the Hell, making its Australian premiere. It's based on three chapters from Journey To The West, a 16th century Chinese novel, generally thought to have been written by Wu Cheng'en. The core of the plot is Emperor Li Shimin's journey to the underworld — and back. Li places this traditional tale, originally set during the Tang Dynasty (618 A.D. – 907 A.D.), in modern China. "In terms of the complex relationships between power, wealth and morality, we can see the traditional dynamics still at play in many corners of contemporary China," he says.

Then at 8.30pm, it'll be time for Li Wen at East Lake, making its Sydney premiere. This film-documentary hybrid explores people's relationships with East Lake. Found in Wuhan, it's a controversial scenic site in the middle of a tug-of-war between developers and residents. Li said his film was inspired by a friend's observation that, "East Lake is becoming smaller and smaller, but in my memory it is becoming larger and larger." On top of addressing the lake's plight, the film is also a character study of a police officer searching for a mentally unstable person.