Screening and Discussion
UCCA is screening the Rome Film Festival 2014 Cinema Today winner 12 Citizens, a Chinese adaptation of 12 Angry Men directed by Xu Ang. The film reveals the inherent prejudices within contemporary Chinese society unleashed in a struggle to uphold justice. A jury of twelve men is entrenched in a debate to decide the fate of a wealthy young man accused of killing his father. Members of the jury come from all walks of life: a taxi driver, a real-estate agent, a math professor, a security guard from Henan, a Beijing resident, a shopkeeper, and an insurance salesman among others. Closed in an abandoned gym, the men must reach a unanimous decision before a penalty can be assigned, and eleven members are convinced of his guilt. All evidence in the case points to the same conclusion, and the fate of the young suspect hangs in the balance. Each member of the jury slowly brings his own background to the surface until a conclusion is finally reached.