Forget about nomads and monks! It’s hip-hop that’s making Mongolia move in the 21st century. Join JUE | Music + Art and the film’s director/producer, Benj Binks, for the China Premiere of insightful yet exciting new documentary, Mongolian Bling. This event also serves as the kick-off to Asian Cinema Week, a multi-city celebration of outstanding film produced in Asia. The film jumps into the thriving music scene in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and follows stars as they rap nationwide with their girls, cars, and jewels. But beyond this bling lies a failed democracy, and a dying ancient culture that the elders mourn the loss of. While many artists still aspire to the West, a handful are using hip-hop to try and salvage their country’s flailing democracy, and bringing Mongolia’s rich musical history into their modern beats and rhymes.
Mongolian Bling, follows the lives of three of Mongolia’s biggest rap stars- Gennie, Mongolia’s first female rapper, Quiza, the country’s superstar of rap, and Gee, a gangster rapper from Ulaanbaatar’s slum Ger Districts. Along the way we meet a supporting cast of characters including an ancient shaman, a music professor, traditional musicians, a retired Socialist government music censor, and Mongolians living both rural and urbanised lives – all of whom have strong opinions on what hip-hop means for the future of Mongolia. It’s the story about a people integrating into a globalised world on their own terms, and choosing and adapting the things from the West that they want.
The festivities of the night start at 7PM sharp with the premiere screening of Mongolian Bling in China at Beijing’s historic music venue Yugong Yishan. Film director Benj Binks will be on hand for a Q&A session afterwards. Following that, there’ll be rousing performances by film stars Gennie and Quiza, Beijing MC Nasty Ray, and members of traditional Mongolian band Hanggai.
About Asian Cinema Week:
Organised by Electric Shadows for JUE | Music + Art 2013, Asian Cinema Week is a bold call to cinematic arms. Including feature films, documentaries and shorts from all over Asia, alongside live music, culinary workshops and interactive events, the inaugural edition is carving out a space for the best Chinese films to be seen in their own country, helping to build a community for local filmmakers to meet, share and develop their work and showcasing the outstanding Asian cinema being produced just beyond the mainland to audiences here in Beijing and Shanghai.
Electric Shadows believes passionately in the power of the moving image and in the strength of the shared communal cinematic experience. We are thrilled to be working with JUE | Film to celebrate those filmmakers eschewing financial and political pressures to create moving, important cinematic works.
About JUE | Music + Art:
觉 / JUE (pronounced joo-eh) –verb: to sense; to awaken. JUE | Music + Art is an annual open-source arts and music festival in both Shanghai and Beijing, presented by Split Works. Now in its fifth year, JUE is all about celebrating the best of the local creative communities in these two great cities and inviting artists from around the world to showcase their talent in China. JUE is a collaborative, open-source affair. Each individual event organizer is entitled to set their own entrance fee and to keep 100% of the proceeds. JUE is growing tremendously year-on-year. The 2012 festival drew over 39,000 attendees to 88 events! But we always strive to maintain a strong sense of community, an intimate vibe, and a top-tier selection of artists and events.
Tickets online: http://juefestival.com/2013/ticketing/
- Start:
- Tickets: Rmb 120 / 100 (presale)
