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China Documentary Not Seen Since 1919 Gets Screening at Logan Center

By Sam Cholke | November 2, 2015 6:19am
 The Logan Center is showing
The Logan Center is showing "A Trip Through China," which hasn't been seen in the United States since 1919.
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National Film Preservation Society

HYDE PARK — The Logan Center for the Arts will show on Thursday a documentary of China that hasn’t been seen in the United States since 1919.

The Logan Center, 915 E. 60th St., will show “A Trip Through China,” one of the earliest documentaries ever of China, was filmed by a Russian-born businessman from San Francisco who spent five years on the film.

Anthony Cheung and Lu Wang will accompany the film on live piano at 6 p.m. at the Logan Center.

The film was an epic at the time, taking up 10 reels, and purported to show every facet of Chinese life in seven of the country’s major cities, including Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, at a time when approximately 10 documentaries had ever been made about China, according to the National Film Preservation Society.

At one point, only 18 minutes of the film were thought to have survived, but the Taiwan Film Institute has released a new digitally restored version of the film. None of the surviving copies show exactly the same footage, with the longest version clocking in at 1 hour and 48 minutes, according to the society.

The screening is free and open to the public and a discussion will follow the film.

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