Announcement: 2016 Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival

One of the most prominent events of its kind outside of China, the Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival screens at Riverside for the first time this year. With engagements in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, this annual festival will showcase a selection of Chinese films and boost understanding of Chinese film culture locally. Riverside is proud to announce that five of this films will be screening in February. Check out the program below:

Opening Night: ATA
19 February at 7:30pm
Join us for Opening Night of the 2016 Golden Koala Chinese Film Festival. Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Chakme Rinpoche.

Tianyu is a sightless child who dreams about another life different from the disabled ping-pong champion career that his single mother is planning for him. He sees much more than what his mother imagines!

Tickets include a pre-screening drink at Riverside’s Bar (Served from 7pm – 7:30pm).

My Voice, My Life
20 February at 4pm
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Ruby Yang’s newest film, My Voice, My Life follows an unlikely group of misfit high school students from Hong Kong cast together for a musical theatre performance. From low self-esteem to blindness, each student confronts unique personal challenges in the process of developing his or her character.

Kaili Blues
20 February at 7pm
In the subtropical and foggy city of Kaili, morose poet Chen Sheng decides to fulfill his dead mother’s wish and sets off on a surreal journey to look for his brother’s abandoned child. Chinese lyric poetry casts its spell over this radiantly impressionistic film. This remarkable, dreamlike, intensely poetic feature is one of the most auspicious of a young Chinese director in recent memory.

A Fool
21 February at 4pm
Based on Hu Xuewen’s novel Running Moonlight, actor Chen Jianbin’s directorial debut. Latiaozi and his wife make a living as shepherds. One day, their only son is accused of a crime. The couple scrabble up the money to try and reduce the penalty for their son, but they are cheated.

River (Gtsngbo)
21 February at 7pm
Award-winning film River tells the story of Yangchan, a young Tibetan girl from a sheep herding family who is trying to make sense of her changing world. Her father is alienated by villagers for not visiting his ailing father. Yangchan is being weaned from her mother who is expecting another child. Seeking love and affection, she applies herself to tenderly taking care of an orphaned lamb.

Join us 19 – 21 February as we present this diverse selection of films.