The Pulse of Entertainment: The 9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition Oct 6-13, 2021, Screens Restored Martial Arts Classics

(December 7, 2021) "He (Goran Topalovic) got the Chinese government to finance...and preserve these films," said Grady Hendrix, a South Carolina native and founder of the New York Asian Film Festival, about the 9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition (OSKFF) screening eight Joseph Kuo films online and onsite at the Museum of Moving Image (MoMI) from December 6-13, 2021. "I was in the middle of writing a book when he called."

Hendrix has 14 novels under-his-belt and is most known for his Best-Seller "Horrorstor." He has a long history with Goran as the founder of the New York Asian Film Festival and co-founder of Subway Cinema, which is presenting the 9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition with MoMI, in associate with Taipei Cultural Center in New York, Ministry of Culture, and the Republic of China, Taiwan.

Seven of the Joseph Kuo films to be screened have been restored and have English subtitles. One of the eight is a fan-favorite-classic. Among those to be screened include 7 Grandmasters, Shaolin Kung Fu, Shaolin Kids, World of Drunken Master, Mysteries of Chess Boxing and 36 Deadly Styles. Joseph Kuo was Taiwan's legendary independent filmmaker of the 70s and 80s writing, producing and directing through his company Hong Hwa International Films has brought 24-classic Martial Arts projects to the big screen. His films made stars out of his cast who included female fighter Jeanie Chang, Jack and Mark Long (Lung Kuan-wu), muscle-man Carter Huang (Wong), and Li Yi-Min. His fight choreographers became infamous as well, who include Corey Yuen and Yuen Cheung-yan.

"I just watched a bunch of them and we fought over which ones," Grady laughed a little when I asked what his role was in presenting OSKFF. "He (Goran) actually did the hard work...to preserve and restore the films."

Kuo last film, "Gui hu (Ghost Lake)," was directed in 2007 when he was 72.

"Subway Cinema has been...since 2000. I wanted the audience to have a good time," Grady said about the Asian film industry. "We (Subway Cinema) have a feel for what the audience wants. The (Asian Martial Arts) movies make people's jars-drop. These movies were designed to glue people in their seats. We feel like, in a small way, we are part of the legacy of Martial Arts in America." www.MovingImages.us www.SubwayCinema.com