THE ongoing Asian Pop-Up Cinema film festival will screen four Chinese films either at theaters in downtown Chicago or online nationwide during the week beginning Monday. Set in a southern cane village, the centerpiece “Good Autumn, Mommy,” directed by Chen Shizhong, tells the story of a woman’s journey to find her family and herself after her newborn daughter disappears without a trace. Founder of the festival Sophia Wong Boccio said she was “particularly impressed” to see that the famous and award-winning Shu Qi had chosen to “play an ordinary cane farmer’s wife in the southern part of China.” To be shown at the AMC NEWCITY 14 theater in Chicago on Sunday, the movie has been honored the Outstanding Artistic Achievement award at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival in 2023. The other three films each tell a contemporary story in China.“The Fallen Bridge,” a crime drama directed by Li Yu, examines the role of the law and the emotional and moral dilemmas of victims who go to great lengths to seek justice. “The Cord of Life” by Qiao Sixue depicts an Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother and her caretaker son, who ties her to him with a rope, and their efforts to find the “home” she longs for in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. “The Coffin Painter” by Da Fei tells a cross-generational friendship between two strangers who are drawn to each other via the challenges they each face in their lives. “There are a lot of hidden gems and moving stories in China that need to be shared with a wider audience,” said Boccio, who selected these four out of 20 Chinese films. The festival runs from March 20 to April 21, with each week featuring a different region of Asia. (Xinhua) | 