Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym), “THE SHADOW OF KATANA•GUNS•SWORDS—Martial Arts, Samurai and Western Film Festival” will be held from 6 August to 18 September. The opening ceremony of the Festival will be held on 31 July in the movie hall at Block R teaching complex of the Macau University of Science and Technology, during which a classical martial arts film entitled A Touch of Zen will be screened. The public is welcome to redeem tickets for the film at the entrance. During the Festival, two post-screening talks will be held and a number of films will be screened. Tickets will be on sale from 27 July, allowing the public to explore the world of classical cinema.
This Festival features a collection of 25 classical films in the martial arts, samurai and western genres, categorised in five sections, namely “The Aesthetics of Violence”, “Literary Flavours in Action Films”, “Western Guns and Eastern Swords”, “Heroines”, and “Special Screenings”. Among them are Harakiri directed by the famous Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi, which received the Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize; Once Upon a Time in the West, an epic Spaghetti Western film; Warriors from the Magic Mountain, a film adapted from the martial arts fantasy novel Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu by Huanzhulouzhu; and Sukiyaki Western Django, a film in both samurai and western genres. Tickets are priced at MOP60. A 50% discount will be offered to full-time students and seniors aged 65 or above (required to present the respective documents for admission). A 20% discount will be offered when purchasing ten or more tickets for the films.
The two post-screening talks will be held at the Cinematheque‧Passion during the Festival. On 28 August, local scholar Professor Lei Kun Teng and local writer Tai Pei will talk about literature and film after the screening of the film Warriors from the Magic Mountain. On 5 September, local director Chan Nga Lei and local film reviewers Leng Wu Chio and Lei Ka Hon will take the audience to the world of martial heroes, cowboys and samurais after the screening of the film Sukiyaki Western Django.
Tickets for the film A Touch of Zen, the opening film of “THE SHADOW OF KATANA•GUNS•SWORDS—Martial Arts, Samurai and Western Film Festival” are now available for redemption. Spectators with ten tickets (physical or electronic tickets) bought at the Cinematheque‧Passion since its opening can redeem one ticket of the opening film at the ticket office of Cinematheque‧Passion. Spectators will also receive a limited-edition plush. For more information about the Festival, please visit the website of the Cinematheque‧Passion at www.cinematheque-passion.mo. For enquiries, please contact through tel. no. 2852 2585 during office hours.
The Cinematheque‧Passion is open daily from Tuesdays to Sundays, including public holidays, and closes on Mondays. The ticket office is open from 10am to 11:30pm. The exhibition hall and film information hall is open to the public from 10am to 8pm. IC will continue to pay close attention to the development of the pandemic, follow the relevant guidelines of the Health Bureau, implement appropriate measures for the activities. All participants must wear face masks, undergo temperature checks, and present a valid “Macao Health Code” of the day.
