Cinedans - the international film, dance and media festival based in Amsterdam is dropping down in Shanghai for a weekend. This is your chance to get updated on the current dance video scene of Europe, or, if you´re a newbie, to get to know a new genre, the dance film. It´s not dance, not film - but something of its own.

The dance film is a genre that through the years has developped into an art form with its own esthetic values. There are of course still examples that can be defined as film, such as documentaries about dancers or choreographers, or for that matter, as dance, when the film is a plain video documentation of a dance performance.

But mostly when talking about dance film nowadays, it refers to the fusion between the two. This is also how Cinedans seems to define it:

Cinedans describes a "dance film" as a true synthesis between two different media - dance and cinematography. At Cinedans the emphasis will lie on choreographies which were created specifically for filming and on special film adaptations of existing dance performances.

And now Cinedans brings this media to Shanghai, with the Dutch Culture Centre as host. It will be a three day program with short and long videos, documentaries and retrospectives, for a price of 90 kuai, or 45 kuai if you´re a student. Day tickets are also available.

Seemingly, there will be quite a Dutch focus on this traveling version of Cinedans, as it "brings the versatility of the Netherlands dance scene to Shanghai." Dance videos by or about some of Netherlands most famous dancers or choreographers will be featured. Hans van Manen, Jíri Kylían, Anouk van Dijk and famous dance video maker Clara van Gool are some of the names, as well as "exciting and surprising works by new and young talent".

Part of the festival is also a 6-day intensive workshop led by famous (dance) video maker David Hinton, giving 10 young talented Chinese video- and dance makers the chance to create their own short dance videos. The outcome of the workshop will also be screened as part of the Festival.

Don´t miss!

Check out what other movies are showing in Shanghai this coming week. Links lead to info about times and venues.

MOVIE EVENTS

• Screening of short movies, installations & performances 2000 to 2010: On Saturday there is a screening of short movies, installations & performances at Moganshan Lu: "Bolla" lives, studies, works, hangs around + sleeps in Karlsruhe, Germany and a few other places on earth. Caution! He´s a (un)structured chaotic. @ Bldg. 19, No. 50 Moganshan Road. 30 RMB/person.
• Asian Film Club @ The Memory of Shanghai: Thursday this week: A biweekly showcase of Asian films presented by a professional film scholar. Embark on a cinematic journey across the four corners of Asia, discover rare, offbeat, popular and classic movies. Sessions to be held in English. First round: Asian Gangster Films: By 1930-1940, Hollywood has reached its golden age and the major studios have completed the elaboration of their main film genres, from westerns to musicals, from screwball comedies to gangster movies. These film genres have spread around the globe ever since, slowly escaping the hands of their creators. Discover how Asian filmmakers manage to push the limits of the gangster film genre, borrow from their Hollywood counterparts, and infuse ingredients specific to their culture to reinvent their own and unique filmography.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Clash of the Titans (诸神之战): "The Clash of the Titans" is set in the Greek city of Argos where a war is about to explode between man and the gods. Perseus (Sam Worthington) raised as a fisherman, but is actually a demi-god. Perseus is the son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) who is about to take on the gods after the death of his family. Zeus' brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) was the one who killed his family, and Perseus wants to kill him. However, it is Perseus's destiny to rescue the city of Argos from the ruthless rage of Hades and his Kraken monster. With nothing to lose, Perseus leads a band of soldiers on a quest to defeat the Kraken. In doing this, Perseus will prevent Hades from overthrowing Zeus and in turn destroying mankind.
• Alice in Wonderland (爱丽丝梦游仙境): In the film, Alice is now nineteen years old and accidentally returns to Underland (misheard by Alice and believed to be called Wonderland), a place she visited thirteen years previously. She is told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature controlled by the Red Queen who terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.
• Fire! (开火): When a young musician and his wife become witness of a bank robbery they get in the midst of a political conspiracy with the risk of loosing their lives.
• Direct Contact (孤胆拯救): Mike Riggins, (Dolph Lundgren) an imprisoned ex-US Special forces operative in Eastern Europe, is offered his freedom and money to rescue an American woman, Ana Gale, who has been kidnapped by a ruthless warlord. But, shortly after freeing her, Mike discovers that the kidnap story was just a ruse to bring Ana out into the open. Our hero suddenly finds himself and his charge being hunted by ruthless government, para-military, and underworld organizations - all who want him dead and Ana under their control. With no one to turn to, and the enemies closing in, Mike must uncover the truth about Ana and bring her to the safety of the U.S. Embassy. Directed by Danny Lerner.

CHINESE LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Black Cat Detective (黑猫警长): One of the most popular animated television series in China in the 1980s is now a feature-length film. THe original five stories of the animated series are merged into one, with some modern touches. According to director Dai Tielang, who created the original series, there are no major changes. The popular theme song is remixed and trendy modern elements have been added to some dialogue and to the settings.
• East Wind, Rain (东风雨): In the film, Fan Bingbing plays a spy during WWII. In order to fulfill her mission and keep the organization's information secret, she sacrifices herself. Director Liu set the film, which takes place in Shanghai, before and after the attack on Pearl Harbour. The Shanghai of 1941, as presented in the movie, is filled with spies working for different countries and organizations. An Ming, a Chinese agent, works undercover as a pianist in a local pub. He decodes the "East Wind, Rain" message and tries to pass on the information. Director Liu plays An Ming.
• Go Lala Go! / Du Lala's Promotion (Du Lala's Promotion): Helmed by actress-turned-director Xu Jinglei, the film is adapted from a novel entitled "Du Lala's Promotion". The best-seller centers on a woman named Du Lala who takes the high road to get promoted. The film stars director Xu Jinglei herself as Du Lala, as well as Stanley Huang, Karen Mok, Li Ai, and Pace Wu.
• Macau 1949 (澳门1949): The film tells about a story of how the underground Communist Party instigated rebellion against the ship Lian Rong, the Kuomintang's American landing craft under the background of the founding of the People's Republic and the defeat of the Kuomintang. After being instigated into rebellion, the captain of the Lian Rong hoisted the Chinese national flag for the first time while in Macau's inner harbour. "Macau 1949" was co-produced by the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Macau's return to the mainland. The Hong Kong actor Ray Lui dons a navy uniform to play the captain of the Lian Rong ship. Directed by Bao Fuming.
• Lan (我们天上见): Actress Jiang Wenli tells her childhood story in her directorial debut "Lan". It depicts a little girl, whose parents are political prisoners, growing up with her grandfather during the notorious Cultural Revolution in China.
• Fire of Conscience (火龙对决): Dante Lam, (who directed last year´s "Sniper") is now making a case for himself as the Michael Mann of Hong Kong. In a front-runner for the title of loudest film of the year so far, "Fire of Conscience" tackles the heady subject of police corruption at street and institutional levels. Grizzled cop Man (Leon Lai, sporting a nifty beard) works the pickpocket beat following the death of his wife, but while investigating the death of a prostitute he finds himself drawn into a deadly crime conspiracy, teaming up with former narcotics detective Kee (Richie Jen). After some of his team are killed in a shootout at a restaurant (an amazingly staged scene very reminiscent of the best action moments from Michael Mann) Man is increasingly determined to get to the bottom of the plot, which involves gunrunning, drugs and explosives.
• Beauty on Duty (美丽密令): A rookie policewoman (Choi) rescues a witness of a murder case during her first patrol. The witness is willing to testify against the murderer only if the police team protects his daughter. As a result of this, the rookie is forced to participate in the "Miss Asia Beauty Pageant" together with the girl to ensure she is safe by her side.

OTHER LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Les plages d'Agnès / The Beaches of Agnes: Screeining at Alliance Francaise de Shanghai: Returning to the beaches that have marked her life, Agnès Varda invents a form of autodocumentaire. Agnes takes place in her films extracts , images and stories. She shares with humor and emotion of her first appearances as theatrical photographer and creative director of the fifties, her life with Jacques Demy, her commitment to feminism, her trips to Cuba, China and the U.S., her development of independent producer, family life and her love of beaches ... In French.
• Auf der anderen Seite / The Edge of Heaven / On the Other Side: The last film in the German Consulate´s month-long Fatih Akin Retrospective: Ali is a Turkish widower in Germany who decides to ease his loneliness by letting the prostitute Yeter move in. Ali´s son Nejat is not happy about the arrangement but softens up a bit when he realises that Yeter uses the money to pay for her daughters education in Turkey. When Ali and Yeter ends up in a violent fight with tragic consequences, Nejat decides to go to Turkey to search for the daughter, Ayten. But Ayten has left her studies for political activism, is on the run from the authorities, and trying to get to Germany... In German and Turkish.
• Echoes of the Rainbow (岁月神偷): This 2009 Hong Kong film directed by Alex Law stars Simon Yam and Sandra Ng. It won the Crystal Bear for the Best Film in the Children’s Jury "Generation Kplus" category at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. The film depicts Hong Kong in the striving 60s, as seen through the eyes of a child. Nosy, naughty and always running into trouble, the kid observes with wit and humor the ever changing society of Hong Kong. The story revolves around the kid and his family - a working class father, a happy-go-lucky mother, an aspiring, starry-eyed elder brother, and our young protagonist himself. Through the elder brother's first romance, and the family's encounters with love, hope, failure, death and rebirth, we travel back to a place called old Hong Kong, a time we'll always remember, and a place we have always called home.
• El Orfanato / The Orphanage (孤堡惊情): The former orphan Laura raises her adopted son Simón with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. Simón is HIV positive and tells Laura that he has five invisible friends, and she believes they are fruit of his imagination. Laura decides to reopen an orphanage for handicapped children in the location and during the opening party, Simón calls her to show the little cabin of his friend Tomás. The busy Laura does not gives much attention to her son; then she sees a mysterious masked boy and Simón vanishes. Laura feels the presence of other persons in the house and months later, the desperate Laura invites a team of parapsychologists to try to unravel the mystery. In Spanish.
• Yuet Gwong Bo Hup / Just Another Pandora's Box (越光宝盒): Hong Kong director Jeffrey Lau, the director of last years "Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg" is already out with another comedy. With "Just Another Pandora's Box" he´s trying to make fun of many classic movies, including one of his own, "Chinese Odyssey". The story revolves around a bandit and an immortal girl who is in love with him, as they travel back to the Three Kingdom Period, on the eve of the Battle of Red Cliff...Or as another plot summary tells it: an idiot embarks on an adventurous journey with the help of a magic box during the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China.
• Crossing Henessey (月满轩尼诗): "Crossing Hennessy" is an engagingly fresh and enjoyable dramatic comedy that makes great use of its Hong Kong locations as it delves into the romantic complications of modern urban life. 41-year-old slacker Loy (Jacky Cheung) sleeps in all the time and doesn´t do much with his life. His widowed but flamboyant mom (Paw Hee-ching) sets him up on a matchmaking dim sum lunch with Oi Lin (Tang Wei), a quiet mainland girl-next-door (well, a few streets away). Before long, mom starts to arrange the marriage details, not knowing that Loy is still into, and seeing his ex-girlfriend, who´s now divorced and back on the market. Meanwhile Oi Lin is waiting for her bad boy lover to get out of jail soon. Directed by Ivy Ho. In Cantonese and Mandarin.
• Future X-Cops (未来警察): A police officer (Andy Lau) from the year 2085 accidentally arrives in the year 2010. He meets a fellow police officer (Barbie Hsu) and they team up to take on an international crime syndicate. In Cantonese.