天注定 | A Touch of Sin

An angry miner revolts against the corruption of his village leaders.  A migrant worker at home for the New Year discovers the infinite possibilities a firearm can offer. A pretty receptionist at a sauna is pushed to the limit when a rich client assaults her. A young factory worker goes from job to job trying to improve his lot in life. Four people, four different provinces. A reflection on contemporary China: that of an economic giant slowly being eroded by violence, A Touch of Sin weaves together four strands, spanning the bustling southern metropolis of Guangzhou to rural townships.

Directed by Zhang Ke Jia | Starring : Tao Zhao, Wu Jiang, Baoqiang Wang, Jia-yi Zhang, Luo Lanshan | Presented at Cannes Film Festival

让子弹飞 | Let the Bullets Fly

Set during the Age of the Warlords in the 1920s, this comic western is the highest grossing Chinese film ever. When circumstances force an outlaw to impersonate a county governor and clean up a corrupt town, the Robin Hood figure finds himself in a showdown with the local “godfather”. Full of surprises and grounded with a smart, humorous script, Let the Bullets Fly’s battles are fought with guns and wit.a

Directed by Wen Jiang | Starring : Wen Jiang, Yun-Fat Chow, You Ge, Bing Shao, Fan Liao | Presented at Tribeca Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Pusan Film Festival, London Film Festival

走到底 | All the Way

This love story is disguised as a road drama and a crime story with all the twists and turns along the way. Aptly directed by Shi Runjiu, with engaging cinematography that matches the feel of the story, All The Way involves many stories of many people surrounding one goal—find the guy who’s got the goods. The goods are antique coins that have been stolen more than once by Ah Dong who has a racket going with “rescuing” and stealing the coins. But now it seems his racket is ruined, and fate is closing in on him. His girlfriend Molly catches a ride with a delivery driver of a new van. The driver, Hong-wei, is drawn into Ah Dong and Molly’s fate as they coerce him with a shotgun to his head. Two truck drivers, two policemen, one artist, two thugs, a few other police characters—all are drawn in as the crime drama deepens. Molly’s story of meeting and loving Ah Dong is tender and touching when told to Hong-wei. This is the love story part—trying to save the one you love and being found by love again. All the Way takes us on a ride to where love and crime meet.

Directed by Runjiu Shi | Starring : Wu Jiang, Karen Mok, Cheng-yu Chang, Kui Zhou, Wang Qian-Yuan | Presented at Rotterdam Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival

鬼子来了 | Devils on the Doorstep

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and banned in its native country, Jiang Wen’s ravishingly photographed anti-war epic is set in 1945 in a Japanese-occupied rural Chinese village. Wen stars as Ma Dasan, a peasant, who, one night at gunpoint, is compelled to shelter two prisoners. One is a captured Japanese soldier who wants to be killed, the other his Chinese interpreter, who wants to stay alive. As the days turn into months, Dasan and his fellow villagers keep their unwanted guests hidden from the Japanese forces, while deciding whether or not to execute their captives. The film’s rich, bold cinematography is matched only by its approach to the subject matter, which, in turn, attracted the unwanted attention of the Chinese censors who ultimately banned it from Chinese screens.

Directed by Wen Jiang | Starring : Wen Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa, Ding Yuan, Yihong Jiang, Zhijun Cong | Presented at Cannes Film Festival, Singapore Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival

洗澡 | Shower

Shenzhen businessman, Da Ming, goes home to Beijing when he thinks his father has died. He finds his father hard at work at the family’s bathhouse (the false message was a ruse of Da’s mentally-handicapped, exuberant brother, Er Ming, to get Da home). Da stays a couple days, observing his father being social director, marriage counselor, and dispute mediator for his customers and a boon companion to Er. Da is caught between worlds: the decaying district of his childhood and the booming south where he now lives with a wife who’s not met his family. When Da realizes his father’s health is failing and the district is slated for razing, he must take stock of family and future.

Directed by Yang Zhang | Starring : Xu Zhu, Cunxin Pu, Wu Jiang, Ding Li, Bing He | Presented at Toronto Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Buenos Aires Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival, Changchun Film Festival, Calgary Film Festival, Jakarta Film Festival

美丽新世界 | A Beautiful New World

Comedy. Baogen, a young man from out of town unused to city living, has won a lottery prize – a new flat in Shanghai. Unfortunately, when he arrives to claim his prize he finds that the new apartment is not nearly ready and – to make matters worse – the estate agent is doing his best to swindle him. Baogen decides to stay in the city and ends up at the home of streetwise Jinfang; an unlikely friendship thus begins to develop.

Directed by Runjiu Shi | Starring : Wu Jiang, Hong Tao, Richie Ren, Ning Chen, Wu Bai | Presented at Berlin Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival, Hawaii Film Festival, Fribourg Film Festival, Thessaloniki Film Festival

活着 | To Live

Directed by 5th generation filmmaker Zhang Yimou; starring Gong Li. When the irresponsible Xu Fugui loses his family’s fortune during a gambling spree, he causes his loved ones incredible hardship. Fugui’s father dies from a heart attack upon hearing the news, and his pregnant wife abandons him. Unable to put bread on the table, even for himself, Fugui works as a street vender, and when his wife notices his uncustomary humility, she returns. Within a year, Fugui desires to open a shop but is unable to raise the necessary funds. Instead of money, the local loan shark gives him his old shadow puppets. Soon, Fugui masters the art of puppetry, which increases his paltry income — but also serves as propaganda for the imminent Communist Revolution.

Directed by Yimou Zhang | Starring : Li Gong, You Ge, Ben Niu, Wu Jiang, Tao Guo | Presented at Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Vancouver Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival