A New Old Play

Director: Qiu Jiongjiong

2021 / 179min / DCP

Inspired by the life of Qui’s grandfather and featuring his father, Qiu Zhimin, in a central role, A New Old Play follows a single theater troupe, the New-New Theatre and Opera School, beginning with its inception in 1920s Sichuan Province, then passing through the ructions of the Japanese occupation in World War II, the volte-face following the communist victory in the Civil War, and the ruinous effects of the Cultural Revolution. “Daringly and imaginatively dramatizes 20th-century Chinese political history… [Told] with affecting intimacy and candid observation—and with archly ironic methods… Blatantly contrived sets and supernatural fantasy sequences… virtually shout at viewers not to take the depicted events as literal truth.” —The New Yorker