MoMA Announces ContemporAsian Line-up

MoMA announces the fall line-up for its ongoing ContemporAsian series in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, showcasing films that get little exposure outside of their home countries or on the international festival circuit, but which engage the various styles, histories, and changes in Asian cinema. Presented in special weeklong engagements, the films in the series include recent independent gems by both new and established filmmakers whose work represent the rapidly transforming visual culture of the region.  ContemporAsian is organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, with William Phuan, independent curator. 
           
The 2010 fall season continues with Soopum Sohn's cleverly wrought super-natural thriller Make Yourself at Home (aka Fetish) (2008, US/Korea) in October; followed by Vimukthi Jayasundara's second feature Ahasin wetei (Between Two Worlds) (2009, Sri Lanka/ France) in November, which mythically explores Sri Lanka's bloody civil war;  and in December the season finishes with Anocha Suwichakornpong's Jao Nok Krajok (Mundane History) (2009, Thailand), a simple story of a male nurse caring for a young man with partial paralysis, that tackles grand and profound concepts.
 
SCREENING SCHEDULESMoMA Presents: ContemporAsian
October through December 2010
 
October 6-11, 2010
 
Make Yourself at Home (aka Fetish). 2008. Directed by Soopum Sohn. Written by Sohn and Margaret Monaghan. With Song Hye-kye, Arno Frisch, Athena Currey.
Peter, a Korean-American returns home from a trip overseas with his beautiful and mysterious new wife, Sookhy, a marriage brokered in a brief visit to the homeland with help from his mother.  When a terrible accident occurs, Sookhy is left a widow.  After a series of bizarre outbursts, it becomes increasingly clear that the grieving Sookhy may not be as innocent as she appears.  Rumored to be a shaman, Sookhy begins to assert herself, not only at home, but with the neighbors, as she fights to keep a piece of the American dream.  In English and Korean; English subtitles. 90 min.
 
Wednesday, October 6, 6:00
Thursday, October 7, 7:00
Friday, October 8, 4:00
Saturday, October 9, 1:00
Sunday, October 10, 5:00
Monday, October 11, 4:00
 
November 22-29, 2010
 
Ahasin wetei (Between Two Worlds). 2009, Sri Lanka/ France. Written and directed by Vimukthi Jayasundara.  With Thusitha Laknath, Kaushalya Fernando, Huang Lu.
With his second feature, Jayasundara boldly continues the allegorical exploration of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war that began with his Caméra d'Or-winning The ForsaKen Land.
A man who apparently fell from the sky picks up a young woman and flees with her from a burning city into the countryside. From there, his travels through a mythic landscape full of astonishing sights and people become exceedingly menacing-and fraught with symbolic meaning. The tableau-like, episodic tale moves confidently between realism and ritual in scenes of stunning beauty: for example, a gorgeous musical number with strapping farm workers, a scene that wouldn't be out of place in a Soviet agitprop film. Print courtesy Memento Films. In Sinhalese; English subtitles. 85 min
 
Monday, November 22, 7:00
Wednesday, November 24, 4:00
Friday, November 26, 4:00
Saturday, November 27, 2:00
Sunday, November 28, 5:30
Monday, November 29, 4:00
 
December 13-19, 2009
 
Jao Nok Krajok (Mundane History) 2009. Thailand. Written by Anocha Suwichakornpong.
Under the guise of a simple story of a male nurse looking after a young man with partial paralysis, Jao Nok Krajok takes on big themes like life, birth and the universe. At times hallucinogenic, meditative and mysterious, but never ponderous, the film drifts through the mundane, almost insignificant moments of everyday life, boldly suggesting that they all add up to something grand and profound yet. In Thai; English subtitles. 82 min.
 
Monday, December 13, 7:00
Wednesday, December 15, 7:00
Thursday, December 16, 7:00
Friday, December 17, 4:00
Saturday, December 18, 1:30
Sunday, December 19, 5:00