Masters of Asian Cinema: Old Stone, April 11 @Pickford Film Center, and Q&A with Director Johnny Ma April 13

The next Masters of Asian Cinema film is Johnny Ma’s 2016 debut feature, Old Stone.  It will screen on Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay St., in Bellingham.

Ma began his film career as a documentarian and studied and worked extensively throughout the US and Canada. Old Stone, winner of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Best First Feature Award,  is an assured first feature, often described as a “neo-noir.”

The story features a taxi driver named Lao Shi who accidentally hits a motorcyclist.  When emergency services are slow to respond, he tries to help by taking the victim to a nearby hospital, unleashing a series of terrifying consequences.  

Co-sponsored by Western Libraries and the Pickford Film Center, the Masters of Asian Cinema series continues the rich tradition that began with the Masters of Japanese Cinema series, one of the Pickford's longest running and most popular series. Each film in the Masters of Asian Cinema series begins with an introduction from select speakers including local professors, artists, and educators. Old Stone will be introduced by Baozhen Luo, who teaches in WWU's Sociology Department and who introduced Jia Zhangke's Mountains May Depart for the series last November.

Additionally, Professor Luo and  series curator Western Washington University librarian Jeff Purdue have been in contact with Ma and as a complement to this screening, Ma will be available for a  Q&A session via Skype on Thursday, April 13 at 4pm at WWU in Miller Hall 152.  Ma is currently in Beijing doing pre-production on his next feature, and is looking forward to talking with students and others about Old Stone.  

For more information about these events or about the Masters of Asian Cinema series, please contact Jeff.Purdue@wwu.edu.