Due to rain last night, we were unable to bring Films at the Gate to the Greenway as planned. Tonight, we’re going to give it another shot.
Join us for our final night as we show Shaolin Soccer at Chinatown Park. The park is just on the other side of the Chinatown Gate from our traditional home on the vacant lot. We’re grateful to the Greenway Conservancy for working with us to make this possible.
Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, 8:00 PM Starring Stephen Chow, Zhao Wei, Ng Man-tat, Patrick Tse. Directed by Stephen Chow. Action direction by Ching Siu-tung.
Over-the-top physical comedy and a heart-warming story about underdogs who triumph over evil made this film an international hit. Learn more about Action Director Ching Siu-tung from Films at the Gate Curator, Jean Lukitsh.
Tonight’s film will be preceded by a Tai Chi and martial arts demonstration class by Bow Sim Mark Tai Chi Arts Association and a short film by local filmmaker Nathan A. Quattrini titled: AMERICAN CHOP SUEY, starting at approximately 6:30PM.
Shaolin Soccer will be shown with Chinese language audio and English subtitles. Directions and event details here.
A limited number of rented chairs will be available. Please bring your own seating if possible, so we can save chairs for people who need them. See you tonight.
Here’s a different angle on Films at the Gate: a series of time-lapse videos showing the vacant lot transformed into a movie theater (and then back again):
Check this site for announcements about possible cancellation of tonight’s event due to rain.
Tonight’s film, Drunken Master, is scheduled to be shown at the Chinatown Park, just on the other side of the Chinatown Gate from our usual location. In case of heavy rain heading into the evening, tonight will be cancelled—there will not be an indoor rain location.
Thanks for coming out last night. An early rain cleared up, and we all enjoyed Fist of Legend:
6:00pm: Our plan is to go on with the show tonight. We’re watching the weather. Check this page for the latest news on Friday’s performances and films.
7:00pm: Light rain is tapering off. Wah Lum Kung Fu Athletic Association martial arts demonstration is underway.
8:30pm: Films are running and no rain. Come on down and join us!
10:00pm: Film is done, gear is packed away, and it has just started to pour on the lot.
Thanks for another great night at Films at the Gate.
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, 8:00 PM
Starring Jet Li, Yasuaki Kurata, Billy Chow, Chin Siu-ho. Directed by Gordon Chan. Action direction by Yuen Woo-ping.
In this 1994 film, Jet Li plays Chen Zhen, the hero made famous by Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY, who avenges the death of his teacher despite the opposition of the Japanese military. (Special thanks to Bey Logan, Vice-president of Asian Acquisitions and Co-production at The Weinstein Company, for permitting the screening of the Dragon Dynasty DVD Fist of Legend.)
Friday’s film will be preceded by a lion dance, a demonstration class, and a Kung Fu demonstration from approximately 6:30 PM to 7:30PM by the Wah Lum Kung Fu Athletic Association. Learn more about the demonstration classes at this year’s Films at the Gate. Tonight’s film will also be preceded by a short film by local filmmaker Nathan A. Quattrini titled: FIVE MINUTES FLAT at approximately 7:30 PM.
Thursday and Friday afternoons, stop by the lot and watch a live silk screening session. Before the films begin, volunteers will be printing original Films at the Gate T-shirts, which will be for sale to help raise money for this community event. Thanks to Catherine Lim and Scott Ferebee for working on designs and pulling together this outdoor, printing session.
A special feature of this year’s Films at the Gate is the Boston premiere of two short martial arts films by local filmmaker Nathan A. Quattrini. FIVE MINUTES FLAT, a do-or-die thriller with the hero racing the clock to save his own life, won an award as “Best Action Sequence Martial Arts Short” at the Action On International Film Festival 2009 in Pasadena, CA, this summer. AMERICAN CHOP SUEY is a comedy about a fellow who believes he learned kung fu from watching Hong Kong action films on TV. When his DVD subscription is canceled, he sets out for revenge against the company that took his ‘master’ from him.
Nathan brings a fan’s passion for classic kung fu movies combined with a professional’s eye for choreography and direction to his work. The result is a New England take on Hong Kong action! See FIVE MINUTES FLAT on Friday and AMERICAN CHOP SUEY on Sunday at Films at the Gate.
A CHINESE GHOST STORY (1987) Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, 8:00 PM
Starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wang, Wu Ma. Directed by Ching Siu-tung. Choreography by Ching Siu-tung.
Swords and sorcery save the day in this comedy/horror film about a hapless young scholar who loves a ghost and must learn to fight the demon who has enslaved her. Learn more about Director Ching Siu-tung from Films at the Gate Curator, Jean Lukitsh.
On Saturday night, Films at the Gate will feature Jackie Chan’s DRUNKEN MASTER. Check out the full schedule of films here, or read on as Films at the Gate Curator Jean Lukitsh introduces the real drunken master behind Saturday’s film:
Jackie Chan’s DRUNKEN MASTER (1978) is one of the best-loved kung fu comedies of all time. The story is very loosely based on the oral traditions of the Hung Gar school about a famous kung fu expert named Wong Fei-hung. The real Wong Fei-hung died in 1924, but his exploits have been inspired dozens of films. For DRUNKEN MASTER, Jackie Chan and his director, Yuen Woo-ping, decided to have a little fun with the legendary hero. They re-imagined Wong Fei-hung as a naughty teen whose high spirits and lack of restraint exasperates the adults around him. The joke was appreciated by Hong Kong audiences used to seeing Wong portrayed as an austere patriot. Continued…
In 2006, when Films at the Gate first transformed a vacant lot into an outdoor cinema, next door was a sandy construction site where a park was taking shape. With permission, we drew power from a contractor’s trailer, which sat in the middle of what is now, officially, Chinatown Park and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
This year, we’re going to return the favor and make a visit to the Greenway.
In the middle of our run, on Saturday night, August 29, we’ll move the show next door to Chinatown Park, just on the other side of the Chinatown Gate. We’re grateful to the Greenway Conservancy for working with us to make this possible.
Every summer, a vacant lot near Boston’s Chinatown Gate becomes a free, outdoor theater, showing Kung-Fu and classic Chinese-language films under the stars. In 2009, films ran from Thursday, August 27 through Sunday, August 30. Learn more about the project.
FitLab Pilates • Boston Architects Forum • Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy • Leslie & Sam Davol • Goldeneye Systems • Lincoln Filene Center for Community Partnerships, Tisch College, Tufts University • Chad Russell •
Leverett Wing • Vincent Moy • Asian Boston
2009 Special Thanks
Films at the Gate Volunteers • AVOYCE • ACDC staff • Boston Light & Sound • Albert Leung, Hei La Moon and Apollo Restaurants • Bow Sim Mark Tai Chi Arts Association • Wah Lum Kung-Fu Athletic Association • The Boston Globe • Chika Offurum & Olivia Wong, WGBH • Taylor Rental • EveryScape.com • Scott Ferebee • Harvard First-Urban Program • WUNR • Nathan A. Quattrini • Bey Logan/Dragon Dynasty
Founding Sponsors
Asian Community Development Corporation • AnconaHirsch • The Banyan Tree Project / MAP for Health • Beate Becker • The Boston Foundation • Boston Society of Architects (Black Architects Forum) • Berwick Research Institute • Chang & Sylligardos Architects • Chinatown Main Street • Chinese Wushu Research Institute • ImaginAsian TV • Lisa N. Davis • Leslie & Sam Davol • DLA Piper US LLP and Daniel A. Taylor • Emerson College • Douglas Ling • Hiroko Kikuchi & Jeremy Liu • Paul W. Lee • Lincoln Filene Center for Community Partnerships, Tisch College, Tufts University • Belser Louie • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority • Movie Fan • Jerry and Lori Rappaport, Jr. • Tufts Medical Center • Urban Strategy America Fund, A New Boston Real Estate Fund • Utile, Inc • Winthrop Federal Credit Union - South End Neighborhood Branch • Professor Pai-Ling Yin
Due to rain last night, we were unable to bring Films at the Gate to the Greenway 
Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, 8:00 PM
Shaolin Soccer will be shown with Chinese language audio and English subtitles. Directions and event details 
Tonight’s film and performances have been called off due to heavy rain and wind.
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, 8:00 PM
Friday’s film will be preceded by a lion dance, a demonstration class, and a Kung Fu demonstration from approximately 6:30 PM to 7:30PM by the 
Thursday and Friday afternoons, stop by the lot and watch a live silk screening session. Before the films begin, volunteers will be printing original Films at the Gate T-shirts, which will be for sale to help raise money for this community event. Thanks to Catherine Lim and Scott Ferebee for working on designs and pulling together this outdoor, printing session.
A special feature of this year’s Films at the Gate is the Boston premiere of two short martial arts films by local filmmaker 
Nathan brings a fan’s passion for classic kung fu movies combined with a professional’s eye for choreography and direction to his work. The result is a New England take on Hong Kong action! See FIVE MINUTES FLAT on Friday and AMERICAN CHOP SUEY on Sunday at Films at the Gate.
A CHINESE GHOST STORY (1987)
In 2006, when Films at the Gate first transformed a vacant lot into an outdoor cinema, next door was a sandy construction site where a park was taking shape. With permission, we drew power from a contractor’s trailer, which sat in the middle of what is now, officially, Chinatown Park and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
2006-2009
Explore Chinatown via EveryScape.com