麦田 | Wheat

In the Kingdom of Zhao, all the men have left for war and Lady Li (Fan Bingbing), wife of the absent lord, says victory will soon bring their men back home. When two enemy deserters invade the kingdom they pretend to be Zhao soldiers and improvise a tale for Lady Li describing Zhao’s victory. Word of the supposed victory spreads rapidly throughout the town, causing misplaced optimism among the women until the truth is revealed and despair and horror emerge.

Directed by Ping He | Starring : Bingbing Fan, Zhiwen Wang, Jue Huang, Jiayi Du, Xueqi Wang | Presented at Shanghai Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Ghent Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival

生死劫 | Stolen Life

When Yan’ni starts college she believes she is embarking on a new life away from her family-and she is, but not the new beginning she anticipates. Once at school, she immediately meets Muyu and falls in love with him. What she does not know is that from the moment he met her Muyu began an intricate deception that will lead to the loss of her child and t-he future she believes in.

Directed by Shaohong Li | Starring : Xun Zhou, Jun Wu, Xiaoming Su, Ming Cai, Ni Yan | Presented at Tribeca Film Festival, Kerala Film Festival, Bangkok Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival

大红灯笼高高挂 | Raise the Red Lantern

Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaption by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novel Wives and Concubines by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang.Set in the 1920s, the film tells the story of a young woman who becomes one of the concubines of a wealthy man during the Warlord Era. It is noted for its opulent visuals and sumptuous use of colours. The film was shot in Qiao’s Compound near the ancient city of Pingyao, in Shanxi Province. Although the screenplay was approved by Chinese censors, the final version of the film was banned in China for a period. Some film critics have interpreted the film as a veiled allegory against authoritarianism.

Directed by Yimou Zhang | Starring : Li Gong, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao, Lin Kong | Presented at Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival