The Passion of the Mao - film and panel at Cinequest

Sat, Mar 11 - Sun, Mar 12
2:00pm on March 11 and 2:45pm on March 12
$9.00

If you have strong views either way regarding Mao Zedong and his
legacy, here's your opportunity to discuss them along with a panel of
experts following the screening of THE PASSION OF THE MAO at the
Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose on March 11 at 2:00pm. Bring
your friends and controversial questions or thoughts and share them
with the crowd!

To view press kit and trailer: www.thepassionofthemao.com

Please help us spread the word about this one-time only opportunity.
Each of the contributors to this panel are highly regarded in their
field, and the exchange of perspectives on an extremely volatile
topic promises to be animated.

THE PASSION OF THE MAO is an irreverent documentary that reexamines
the Cultural Revolution and restores the once bright reputation of
Mao Zedong. It manages all at once to put a new twist on Mao's life,
to mock the recent film by Mel Gibson, and to demonstrate how Mao's
influence still has a grasp on present day China.


WHO KNEW COMMUNISM COULD BE SO FUNNY?

Mao Zedong-Cultural Revolution chairman, Communism icon, "red
menace." To those facets, The Passion of the Mao now adds "funny
guy." In this rollicking documentary, the life and times of the
People's Republic of China dictator are examined to dispel many of
the misconceptions regarding Mao, as well as to shed new light onto
the many contradictions. Best of all, filmmaker Lee Feigon uses a
cheeky tone to bring the many sides of history together, blending
interviews, stock footage, and animated interludes into an
informative and highly enjoyable essay.


DON'T WORRY, IT WILL BE CONTROVERSIAL!

Feigon interviewed people who lived through the Cultural Revolution-
who say that Mao, and especially the Cultural Revolution, were the
best things in their lives. They credit the Cultural Revolution for
making them feminists and allowing them to have an education. Under
Mao the economy grew fast, laying the foundation for China's recent
success. Even the Dalai Lama speaks fondly of Mao. And what about the
anti-Maoist beliefs that have sullied the reputation of the man once
referred to as "the sun in the sky?" They are part of a vast radical
conspiracy, the result of propaganda churned out by the same people
who turned the tanks on the Tiananmen demonstrators.

The Panel consists of:

Moderator: LEE FEIGON - Director-writer-producer of THE PASSION OF
THE MAO: A research associate at the Center for East Asian Studies of
the University of Chicago, Feigon writes frequently about East Asian
politics, economics, history, and culture for publications such as
The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Nation, the Chicago Tribune, the
Atlantic, and the Boston Globe. He has been interviewed on television
shows such as MacNeil Lehrer, CNN, Hardball CNBC, and the NBC Nightly
News. This is his directorial debut.

His newest and most divisive literary work is Mao: A Reinterpretation
(2002). He is also the author of the acclaimed Demystifying Tibet:
Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows (1996), as well as of
China Rising: The Meaning of Tiananmen (1990). His first book was the
biography: Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Party
(Princeton University Press, 1983).

- GAIL HERSHATTER - Professor of Modern Chinese History at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. She is also the director of the
Center for Humanities Research and the co-director of the Center for
Cultural Studies at the school. She writes on woman and workers
issues in modern China and is the author of Dangerous Pleasures:
Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai (University
of California, 1997), which has been translated into Chinese.

- SUJIAN GUO - graduate of Peking University in Beijing, is an
Associate Professor of Political Science at San Francisco State
University. Dr. Guo has published more than two dozens articles both
in English and Chinese. He is the author of Post-Mao China: from
Totalitarianism to Authoritarianism? (2000) and is the editor of The
Journal of Chinese Political Science.

- DAVID EWING - Co-Chair of the United States/China Peoples
Friendship Association. He is an attorney who specializes in
immigration law for Chinese people. He is a frequent English Language
commentator on China-USA relations and on Mao and the Chinese
Revolution.

- CHRISTOPHER CONNERY - Co-director of the Center for Cultural
Studies and an Associate Professor of Literature at the University of
California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of Empire of the Text:
Writing and Authority in Early Imperial China (Roman & Littlefield,
1998), and "Ideologies of Land and Sea: Alfred Thayer Mahan, Carl
Schmitt, and the Shaping of Global Myth Elements" boundary 2 (Summer,
2001). Professor Connery also serves on the editorial board of
boundary 2.

Venue:

California Theater and Camera 3
345 South First Street and 201 S. 2nd Street
San Jose

Additional Info:

(408) 995-5033
www.cinequest.org