Rediscovering Chinatown
The year is 1933. Joseph Sunn Jue’s Grandview Film Company of San Francisco is born, representing an extremely unique era chapter in diasporic film and media. Producing and creating films out of a makeshift soundstage in Ross Alley, the projects featured actor/singers from the thriving Cantonese opera scene as well as local men and women – often business men and secretaries – who spent their evenings and weekends performing in front of Jue’s cameras. Jue eventually relocated to Hong Kong and was instrumental in developing its film industry.
Today, all but seven of the Grandview films produced in San Francisco have been lost. The lucky survivors were discovered in a dumpster in Oakland Chinatown in 1999 — two have been adorned with English subtitles for the first time. Today, these films serve as the rich loam of cultural significance and historical impact from which our festival was born.
The year is 1972. The Shaw Brothers have released the kung fu movie that has “started it all” — King Boxer (Five Fingers of Death). We’ve come a long way since the back alley sets in Jue’s Grandview films. Run Run Shaw and his brother Runje transformed the International cinemascape with some 1,000 titles and near monopolization of the martial arts film genre. They are the very reason why kung fu and wuxia, chanbara and samurai films exploded in the 70s, 80s, 90s and will continue to enthrall audiences for years to come.
Today, Run Run Shaw is remembered as one of the most notable figures in the entertainment industry: a powerful movie mogul and a recognized philanthropist.
We honor these trailblazers for a number of reasons. Because their impact has empowered us to create art that reclaims our own identities, stories, views and aesthetics. Because they have established the industry in which we work. Because they have so successfully rejected the notion that underrepresentation is the only destiny for the arts of our communities.
And what better way to honor Sir Run Run Shaw and the Grandview Film Company than to showcase their work at the historical Great Start Theatre? Out of commission for 12 years, it was the last of the historic six theaters of Chinatown. showing both Chinese-language films and Chinese Opera.
THE KINGDOM AND THE BEAUTY (1959)
Saturday, March 15, 2PM
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COME DRINK WITH ME (1966)
Saturday, March 15, 5PM
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KING BOXER (FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH) (1972)
Saturday, March 15, 8PM
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WHITE POWDER AND NEON LIGHTS (1947)
Tuesday, March 18, 9PM
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BLACK MARKET COUPLE (1947)
Wednesday, March 19, 7PM
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After the screenings, we recommend checking out some of these Chinatown favorites:
Golden Gate Bakery
R&G Lounge
Li Po Lounge
Hunan Home’s Restaurant
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