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MAY 2-11
Last year, the Freer hosted a series of brand-new Hong Kong films. This year’s program, however, raids the vaults. The most recent entry is Comrades, Almost a Love Story (May 9 at 7 p.m.), Peter Chan’s sentimental tale of immigrants from mainland China (featuring Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai, pictured), which won a host of 1996 HK film awards. Also relatively current are 1994’s eye-popping, if rather bewildering, Ashes of Time (May 11 at 2 p.m.), a lush Wong Kar-Wai epic seen last year at the Biograph, and Stanley Kwan’s acclaimed 1992 The Actress (May 4 at 2 p.m.), the story of a ’30s Shanghai silent-film star (Maggie Cheung again) driven to suicide by gossip publications at age 25. But the series also includes four movies from the ’80s—ancient history by the standards of the hectic HK film industry—including director/star Jackie Chan’s 1982 action comedy Project A (May 2 & 7 at 7 p.m.) and 1981’s Prodigal Son, a kung-fu coming-of-age tale directed by Project A co-star Samo Hung (shown with Project A on May 2). At the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium, 12th & Jefferson Dr. SW. FREE. (202) 357-3200. (Mark Jenkins)