The "Female Stars" series highlights two seminal films: An Amorous History of the Silver Screen (1931) and Phony Phoenix (1947). An Amorous History, serving both as a "meta-film" and an "archive of cinema," ingeniously inaugurates the May screening series. The film provides an insightful exploration of Shanghai's transformation following its opening to international trade and the concurrent evolution of its film industry, all framed through the romantic escapades of a female star. Phony Phoenix offers a satirical narrative on marital deception, where Li Lihua and Shi Hui vividly illustrate the constructed nature of gender roles within the modern urban marriage marketplace. Echoing the Hollywood romantic comedies of its era, particularly those by Liu Bieqian, the film showcases the progressive representations of gender and the innovative film genres emerging in Shanghai at that time.
Historically, the R.A.S. auditorium played a pivotal role in cultural representation through its film screenings. This venue showcased ethnographic color motion pictures that depicted the peoples, cultures, and landscapes of regions such as Xinjiang and Bali, and it also featured films like the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair, titled World of Tomorrow. These screenings, while ostensibly offering a window into diverse geographies and cultures, also subtly reflected the imperial gaze and colonial spectatorship, along with burgeoning expressions of "high modernism."
Under the aegis of Rockbund Art Museum’s multi-year research initiative, Complex Geographies, the May screening series of AUUUUDITORIUM, Extraordinary Women: Vernacular Modernism in Early Shanghai Film, critically examines the historically implicated gaze of the second-floor space through the lens of vernacular cinema in early 20th-century Shanghai. The program interweaves early film culture with threads of cinema history, urban development, modernity, archiving and restoration, and pulsates with subcultural vitality and feminist perspectives. By showcasing kaleidoscopic images of women on the silver screen — glamorous, magical, amorous, and assiduous — this program uncovers the heterogeneity of early film culture and explores the dynamics of power, translation, and syncretism.
In collaboration with Shanghai-based filmmaker and curator Ag, the series has selected eight films from this period, organized under the themes of "Female Stars," "Female Knights-Errant," "Demonesses," and "Factory Girls." Through screenings and post-screening discussions every weekend in May, we invite audiences to reimagine a dynamic historical moment experienced in the streets and theatres of Shanghai, enriched with essences of modernity, folklore, technology, and metaphysics.
Speakers：
Yuan Yuan is an independent documentary filmmaker and contemporary art critic who has long been involved in various social action video projects. Yuan Yuan lives and works in Beijing.
Ag is a writer, director, and curator who frequently navigates the realms of film, literature, and geographic theater. She resides in Shanghai.
“女星”专场围绕《银幕艳史》（后集）（1931）与《假凤虚凰》（1947）两部作品展开。《银幕艳史》作为一部某种意义上的“元电影”或一部“关于电影的档案”，提纲挈领地开启了整个五月的讲堂主题活动，它通过一个女演员的婚恋故事向我们展现了开埠后上海的大都市景观以及其电影工业的革新盛况；《假凤虚凰》是一出啼笑皆非的骗婚记，李丽华和石挥将现代都市婚恋市场中社会性别角色的“扮演性”表现得淋漓尽致，这类电影可谓比肩同时期刘别谦式的好莱坞爱情喜剧，当时上海电影创作类型与女性形象的超前性可窥见一斑。
历史上，影像放映是亚洲文会讲堂里展示及传播文化的重要环节之一。这里不仅播放了来自中国及亚洲地区文会成员拍摄的民族志影像，还展示了如1939至1940年纽约世博会的彩色电影《明日之世界》等。这些影像看似介绍了多元的地理文化，却隐藏着帝国的凝视和殖民的视角，也显露出“极端现代主义”的早期征兆。RAM活动携手上海影像创作者和策划人Ag，围绕“女星“、“女侠”、“女妖”和“女工”四个主题，精选八部早期在上海制作的电影。通过五月每个周末的交流，我们邀请观众重新想象人们在上海街头及影院中经历的一个充满现代性、民间传说、技术和形而上学的动态历史时刻。
依托上海外滩美术馆发起的“复杂地理”长期研究计划，“讲———堂”五月的系列活动“奇女列传：早期上海银幕上的本土现代主义”将通过呈现二十世纪初上海早期电影文化错综复杂的景观，重审这一空间在历史上的凝视。上海早期电影文化融合了电影史、城市发展、现代性以及档案保存和修复的多重线索，也充满了亚文化的活力和女性主义的视角。通过在银幕上展现女性的万花筒般的形象——迷人的、神奇的、多情的和勤奋的——这个项目尝试揭示早期电影文化的异质性，并探讨权力动态、文化转译和文化融合。
活动携手上海影像创作者和策划人Ag，围绕“女星“、“女侠”、“女妖”和“女工”四个主题，精选八部早期在上海制作的电影。通过五月每个周末的交流，我们邀请观众重新想象人们在上海街头及影院中经历的一个充满现代性、民间传说、技术和形而上学的动态历史时刻。
讲者：
袁园，独立纪录片导演、当代艺术批评人，长期参与各类社会行动影像项目，现生活工作在北京。
Ag，写作者、导演，策划人，常出没于影像、文学与地理剧场之间，现生活于上海。
