Asian Pop-Up Cinema at the Block Museum
THE COFFIN PAINTER
(异乡来客)
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
China | Fiction | 2021 | 95 minutes | In Mandarin w/ English subtitles
DIRECTOR & SCREENWRITER: Da Fei
STARRING: Luosangqunpei, Zimu Zhang, Lu Liu
SYNOPSIS:
In his second feature film, director Da Fei tells a warm story of the cross-generational friendship between two strangers: Jia, an older man who has lost his son, and Seven, a middle school girl who runs from debt with her mother. As a coffin painter, the traditional Chinese craftsman who draws religious symbols on coffins, Jia observes people’s different attitudes towards their families living and dead. As time passes, the three characters with distinct personalities drift closer and bring company and warmth to each other. By depicting the mundane daily life in a remote town, Da Fei embodies people’s loneliness in an indifferent world. The sincere and gloomy tone of the film drives us to feel the characters’ burdens and sorrow. As Jia and Seven understand and heal each other with their kindness, their lives begin to turn around…
“While the majority of the Chinese Mainland films that screen in festivals are rather bleak, both in their main subject and in their overall presentation, with this film Da Fei tries to tone it down a bit by including some elements of European cinema in his narrative.” - The Asian Movie Pulse.
Da Fei, Director
Da Fei is a Chinese film writer and director who graduated from Shanxi Media College in 2007. In 2018, his film SILENT WINTER was selected in the First Time Filmmaker Section of the 42nd Montreal International Film Festival. The film won more than 20 nominations and awards including Best Film, Best Screenwriter at South Africa Independent Film Festival, and Best Original Screenplay at the London International Film Festival in 2019.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
Ticketing Note: For free screening ticket holders, seats on the day of the screening are subject to availability on a first-come, first-serve basis. Seats can be guaranteed with a suggested donation of $5 or more. Any guaranteed seats unclaimed 15 minutes prior to showtime will be released.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
5:30 PM
Doors open 30 minutes before screening.
BLOCK MUSEUM OF ART
(AUDITORIUM)
40 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
