Davis art highlights include free Chinese film screenings

BOUNTIFUL — Two of the best Chinese films made in the past 70 years will be shown this month at the Bountiful/Davis Art Center. The films have English subtitles.

The BDAC has collaborated with Greg Lewis, associate professor of Asian studies at Weber State University, to develop a series of film showings called "50 Great Chinese Films: A Celebration of Chinese Cinema from 1933-Present."

The 50 films collectively make up the finest Chinese cinema of the past 70 years. Very few of them have been shown in the United States, Lewis said.

Coinciding with the Chinese New Year, the first film will be shown Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theater in the BDAC basement, 745 S. Main, Bountiful. The film, "Hibiscus Town" (1986), is a dramatic story of love and death featuring Hu Yuyin, a bean curd seller, and her family. It is based on a blockbuster novel by Gu Hua and is one of the first to examine the dark side of the Cultural Revolution and Maoist-era politics. It has won several awards.

On Feb. 22, "The Missing Gun" (2002) will be shown. "In China, the only thing more dangerous than having a gun is losing it," Lewis said. This mystery-thriller features popular actor Jiang Went as a detective who loses his revolver and is then implicated in a murder committed with his missing weapon. This film was shown at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

There is no admission fee, and refreshments will be served. For more information, call BDAC, 292-0367 or see its Web site, www.bdac.org.

Annual arts competition

BOUNTIFUL — Bountiful/Davis Art Center's annual statewide competition will be exhibited from Feb. 18 through April 1. This is one of the longest-running juried visual arts exhibitions in Utah, and the 2005 show will mark 40 years of highlighting the works of Utah's most creative visual artists.

The competition is open to all professional Utah artists. Original works of art in the following media will be accepted: watercolors, oils, acrylics, mixed media, drawings, graphics, photographs, weavings/textiles and sculpture.

Artists may enter up to three original works, completed within the past two years and not previously exhibited at BDAC. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $7 per work. BDAC members pay $5 per work. The entry dates for this year's competition are Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11 and 12, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. No entries will be accepted after Feb. 12.