The city has been a captivating theme in film ever since the birth of the medium. Through movies, audiences traverse known cityscapes as well as unfamiliar urban locales. Just as documentary films endow urban settings with a sense of narrative, narrative films also play a role in documenting the spirit of the city.

The UCCA Art Cinema film series “Beijing on Film, 1980 to the 2000s” revisits the city of Beijing through five narrative films. The opening forum, “The City of Cinematic Memory,” explores how different cityscapes are depicted in film. Meng Xie, curator of UCCA’s Art Cinema program, and Sha Dan, curator of the China Film Archive, will discuss Berlin in Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis, Paris in The Lovely Month of May, and the earliest extant documentary images of Beijing.

Ticketing & Participation: Free, ticket required.

*Doors close 30 minutes after event begins.

*Tickets are limited. No late entry.

*Please collect your ticket from the ticket desk 30 minutes before the event begins.