爱情麻辣烫 | Spicy Love Soup

Spicy Love Soup starts with a young couple eating sweet (or sour) and spicy soup from a two-sided bowl shaped in a Yin and Yang pattern. Until the couple’s wedding at the end of the film, Spicy Love Soup intermittently shows six different episodes about different generations’ relationships. Love can be sweet, sour, or spicy. And, you’ll taste all those emotions from this contemporary Chinese film.

Directed by Yang Zhang | Starring : Jinglei Xu, Cunxin Pu, Yuanyuan Gao, Liping Lü, Tao Guo | Presented at Changchun Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival

骆驼祥子 | Rickshaw Boy

Xiang Zi was a rickshaw boy who was always having a desire to excel and thirst for freedom. He got married with Hu Niu who unfortunately died of dystocia later. After Hu Niu died, another girl Xiao Fuzi fell in love with Xiang Zi but they were separated by poverty. Xiang Zi worked very hard in order to change his life, but only to find that Xiao Fuzi was dead when he just began to get hopeful for their future. Finally, Xiang Zi, a unflinching man, surrendered to that dark society.

Directed by Zifeng Ling | Starring : Fengyi Zhang, Gaowa Siqin, Bide Yan, Zongxiang Guan, Ziyue Zhao | Presented at Chicago Film Festival