This new cinema event on the Melbourne Chinese Lunar New Year calendar, Screen Presence 23 celebrates Chinese Australian stories on the big screen at The Capitol theatre in the heart of Melbourne on Sunday January 29, 2023. We welcome everyone to share the laughs, learnings, and heartaches of what it means to be Chinese Australian in complex times.
Special guests and leading members of the Australian film industry join filmmaker and host Rosie Lourde in a day featuring screenings, conversations and meditations on their experience, cultures and identity, the hurdles still being faced, and the discoveries being made as the Chinese Australian identity continues to evolve.
Opening with the inaugural Screen Presence In-Conversation, Benjamin Law, Wenlei Ma, Corrie Chen and Adrian Danks talk about representation in storytelling on screens of all sizes.
The film screening program sees:
- broadcaster and screenwriter, Benjamin Law and actor Fiona Choi introduce Shanghai Express (1932), starring Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, which premiered at The Capitol 90 years ago;
- filmmakers Clara Law and Eddie Fong present their film Floating Life (1996) described by Senses of Cinema as 'a turning point in Australian cinema';
- author and artistic director of Queensland Ballet, Li Cunxin AO, speaks with one of Australia's preeminent writers, Jan Sardi AO about their adaptation of his memoir Mao's Last Dancer (2009);
- and to conclude the evening industry icon Tony Ayres presents his autobiographical film The Home Song Stories (2007) and chats with the film's producer and life-long collaborator, Michael McMahon about championing underrepresented, diverse emerging filmmakers.
The day's celebrations close with the presentation and screening of the 2023 NEXT GEN Filmmakers Award winning film, presented by Tony Ayres with Mark Wang, Chinese Museum CEO.
The inaugural event is curated by Chinese Australian Producer, writer, director Lisa Wang whose credits include The Family Law, Please Like Me and the Berlinale selected documentary Monsieur Mayonnaise.
Presented by the Chinese Museum and RMIT Culture with support from CAST – RMIT and is proudly sponsored by VA Digital Hire, Soundfirm and Galvaniize.
