Chinese Films

Note:

Films that have an asterisk (*) by the title have some particularly violent content that may disturb some viewers. Films that have two asterisks (**) have some erotic content that may offend some viewers.

Film listings are alphabetized by the title name, but if a title begins with “the”, the alphabetizing is based on the second word of the title. Japanese directors’ names are given in western style, with the first name followed by the surname. Chinese directors’ names are given in Asian fashion, with the last name given first.

• Dramas
  • At Middle Age

    China, 1983
    Run Time: 110 minutes
    Color

    Lu Wenting, a middle-aged female eye doctor, is stressed. Once her days were filled with romantic moonlit walks with her husband, but now kids, work, and the daily business of life leaves her with no time to relax. The madness is interrupted when, after doing three operations in one day, she suffers from a myocardial infarction and is hospitalized. She awakes hopeful with her husband at her side and the road before her uncertain.

  • A Beautiful New World

    China
    Run Time: 98 Minutes
    Color
    Directed by Shi Runjiu

    It is a story of a countryman Bow Gun and his rude introduction to city life in Shanghai . He arrives at Shanghai to claim his prize, an apartment, but discovers that he must wait a year and a half for the apartment to be built. Surrounded by cast of characters including his scheming aunt Jin Fang, the gritty subway musician Ah Liang, the beautiful lady Ah Hai and her boyfriend Xiao Bai, Bao Gun must make a go at life in the big city.

  • Beautiful Courtesan

    China, 1981
    Run Time: 137 minutes
    Color

    Du Shiniang sacrifices everything to be with her lover, Li Jia, but his father is less than thrilled. When Sun Fu, who has designs on acquiring Du for himself, learns of this, he persuades an already waffling Li Jia to sell Du. Outraged at the selfishness of both men, Du throws her gems, one by one, into a river, and then jumps in herself, thereby taking control of her own destiny. Stars award winning actress Pan Hong.

  • The Blue Kite

    China, 1993
    Run Time: 138 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang

    Banned in China, where the director was under close government scrutiny for making the film “without permission”, The Blue Kite is one of the most acclaimed and controversial of all of the films to come out of the new Chinese cinema. Told from the perspective of a young boy, Tietou, it traces the fate of a Beijing family and their neighbors as they experience the political and social upheavals in 1950’s and 60’s China. Tietou’s parents, a librarian and school teacher, both loyal Communist party members, soon learn that even the most innocent criticisms can be interpreted by the Party as imperialist propaganda. Over the next fifteen years, Tietou observes the adverse effects of party policy on various members of his family. The only image of hope and freedom offered in the film is a blue kite given to Tietou by his father, which he later passes on to the next generation.

  • Country Teachers

    China, 1993
    Color
    Directed by He Qun

    A young woman… seeking a better life in rural Mainland China, must take a job as a Country Teacher where without tax income, education funding is not guaranteed, nor is the pay. At a time, not so long age, when government sponsored Chinese higher education and the State University Admissions exams were the best hope for rural area boys and girls to overcome poverty, she must learn with her three colleagues, the hope for only one endorsement… the struggle to become a Certified Teacher, a federal government employee with guaranteed salary, a pension and even medical benefits. Here then is the sensitive story of life in a country village, for its children and elders, and their relationship with the country as a whole… a seductive tale that leads you into thinking you're about to watch a situation in Chinese education created by poverty, only to wind up understanding the universal nature of the problems and ideals that educators face all over the world.

  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    Run Time: 120 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Ang Lee

    Two master warriors are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen. A young aristocrat prepares for an arranged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy—and the inescapable, enduring power of love. Set against 19th-century China’s breathtaking landscape, this was an action-packed, box office smash hit in the U.S.

  • Crows & Sparrows

    Run Time: 108 minutes
    Black & White
    Directed by Zheng Junli

    The most renowned of China 's social commentary films of the 1940s, Crows and Sparrows is hailed by film historian Jay Leyda as "a milestone in Chinese film history." Capping the richly creative period of pre-revolutionary Chinese cinema, the film is also a landmark in Neo-Realism (a major movement within European cinema of the era).
    A Greedy landlord tries to sell off his Shanghai Boarding house and immigrate to Taiwan in advance of the expected Communist takeover. His tenants (including a teacher and his family, a peddler, a clerk, and some students) struggle valiantly to keep their homes, triumphing when the landlord is forced to flee the approaching Red Army.

  • Crows and Sparrows

    China, 1992
    Run Time: 108 min
    Black & White
    Directed by Zheng Junli

    The most renowned of China's social commentary films of the 1940s, Crows and Sparrows is hailed by film historian Jay Leyda as "a milestone in Chinese film history." Capping the richly creative period of pre-revolutionary Chinese cinema, the film is also a landmark in Neo-Realism (a major movement within European cinema of the era).
    A Greedy landlord tries to sell off his Shanghai Boarding house and immigrate to Taiwan in advance of the expected Communist takeover. His tenants (including a teacher and his family, a peddler, a clerk, and some students) struggle valiantly to keep their homes, triumphing when the landlord is forced to flee the approaching Red Army.

  • Eat, Drink, Man, Woman

    U.S., 1994
    Run Time: 124 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Ang Lee

    A charming story of love, family, and tradition. Trouble is cooking for widower and Master Chef Chu, who’s about to discover that no matter how dazzling and delicious his culinary creations might be, they’re no match for the libidinous whims of his three beautiful but rebellious daughters. A master surgeon in the kitchen, Chu is at a loss when it comes to the ingredients of being a father. Every Sunday this kitchen samurai whips up a delicacy of dishes for his ungrateful daughters who are so self-consumed that they don’t see his attempt at showing them love—gastronomically. So, as relationships sour and communications break down, Chu concocts a sure-fire recipe that will bring his family back together—he creates his own love affair to rival his daughter’s affections!

  • The Emperor and the Assassin

    U.S., 2000
    Run Time: 161 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    A visually stunning epic, exploring the devastating price one country pays for peace and one man pays for power. Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, has one driving ambition: to unify China’s seven kingdoms into one magnificent empire. Impressed by her lover’s convictions, Lady Zhao (Gong Li) helps Yinig Zheng concoct an assassination plot that would justify the conquest of Qin’s most powerful enemy. When Ying Zheng’s peaceful mission explodes into a brutal holocaust, a disillusioned Lady Zhao is forced to question her loyalty and her lover’s destiny.

  • The Emperor's Shadow

    China , 1996
    Run Time: 123 Minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhou Xiaowen

    The Emperor's Shadow is a majestic tour-de-force that captures both the epic sweep of the formation of China 's first ruling dynasty and the poignant struggle of star-crossed lovers against the cold hand of tradition and the relentless march of history. Driven by the desire to unite China 's disparate kingdoms under his rule and become its first emperor, Ying Zheng calls upon his childhood friend, Gao Jianli to compose a national anthem that will win the people's hearts and minds. When Gao, now a much-admired musician and composer, falls in love with Ying's daughter Yueyang, who is already pledged to the leader of the imperial army, the lovers are forced to conceal their affair. When their liaison is discovered, Ying becomes enraged and deep conflicts arise even as his powerful crusade advances. Still the lovers find each other, and the story hurtles to a moving crescendo with timeless love and the cruel momentum of national destiny tragically poised against each other.

  • Farewell, My Concubine (VHS, 2 copies)

    China, 1993
    Run Time: 157 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    We follow the story of two Beijing opera singers, from their boyhood training during the Warlord period, through the Japanese occupation and on into the Cultural Revolution. A woman comes between them, and heartbreak and tragedy ensue for all parties involved. Rumor has it that Chen Kaige made this movie as an apology to his father, whom he publicly denounced as a boy during the Cultural Revolution.

  • Flowers of Shanghai

    China, 1998
    Run Time: 113 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

    A mesmerizing and seductive tale of sexual intrigue set in the elegant brothels of late 19th century Shanghai. An insular world with its own highly ritualized codes of behavior, the film traces the destinies of the beautiful “flower girls”, whose lives depended on their ability to win, and then hold, the affections of their wealth callers.

  • Girl from Hunan

    
    China, 1986
    Run Time: 99 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Xie Fei and U Lan

    At the turn of the century, a pampered and lively twelve-year-old girl is whisked off to a remote village and straight into an arranged marriage with a two-year-old boy. As she ripens into womanhood, she develops sisterly affection for her toddling husband but finds more substantial companionship in a furtive love affair with a young farmer – which places her in danger from the village’s sever restrictions against adultery.

  • Good Men, Good Women

    Taiwan, 1995 (in Taiwanese, with English subtitles)
    Run Time: 108 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

    Modern-day actress Liang Ching is set to star in a film about the White Terror, the Taiwanese government’s crackdown on suspected Communists during the early 1950’s. Caught up in rehearsals, Liang Ching finds herself imagining the film she will be starring in, but her visualization of scenes from the script seem inflected more and more by her personal memories which are awakened by the mysterious receipt of faxed pages from her old diary. As a result, she is forced to relive the past, blurring the lines between her movie role and real life.

  • A Great Wall

    U.S., 1985
    Run Time: 100 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Peter Wang

    Chinese-born Leo Fang ventures to his homeland 30 years after coming to America. He takes along his American-born Chinese wife and his teenage son to stay with his sister’s family in Beijing. Leo nostalgically searches for the traditional China he left behind, while his son Paul charms cousin Lili with his “wild” Western ways. Culture clashes make for hilarity as each family finds things different than expected. Filmed in Beijing amidst the shadows of ancient monuments, this was the first American movie shot on location in China.

  • Hero

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 98 Minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou
    Director Zhang Yimou brings the sumptuous visual style of his previous films ( Raise the Red Lantern , Shanghai Triad ) to the high-kicking kung fu genre. A nameless warrior (Jet Li, Romeo Must Die , Once Upon a Time in China ) arrives at an emperor's palace with three weapons, each belonging to a famous assassin who had sworn to kill the emperor. As the nameless man spins out his story--and the emperor presents his own interpretation of what might really have happened--each episode is drenched in red, blue, white or another dominant color. Hero combines sweeping cinematography and superb performances from the cream of the Hong Kong cinema (Maggie Cheung, Irma Vep , Comrades: Almost a Love Story ; Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, In the Mood for Love , Hard Boiled ; and Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ). The result is stunning, a dazzling action movie with an emotional richness that deepens with every step. --Bret Fetzer --

  • Horse Thief

    China, 1999
    Run Time: 88 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang

    This film tells the tale of Norbu, a horse stealer, who is driven out by his tribe in an effort to purge it of evil. Forced to live in harsh isolation with his family, Norbu repents after the death of his son, but he must revert to stealing after the birth of another child.

  • The Invisible Net

    China, 1982
    Run Time: 107 minutes
    Color

    Luo Xuan, a gymnastics coach, takes her boyfriend Chen Zhiping, a footballer, home to meet her parents. She fully expects her parents’ approval, and is already dreaming of a happy future. Yet the first meeting sets a bad tone. How could the parents, both of whom are professors, approve of their only daughter marrying a footballer? As it happens, Chen’s parents have an equally negative response. They worry about their son being snubbed and discriminated against. He finally gives in and marries a worker, a marriage arranged by his parents. At this Luo Xuan leaves her family in anger. She defies her parents by rashly marrying a shipyard worker whom she never loved. He is killed soon after they marry. According to the film cover blurb, “the remnants of feudal values going back several thousand years still bind Chinese society like an invisible net. One cannot find love and real happiness unless one has the courage to break through.”

  • The Joy Luck Club (DVD, 1 copy)

    U.S., 1993
    Run Time: 139 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Oliver Stone

    The uplifting story of four remarkable friends, middle-aged Chinese women living in America, whose extraordinary lives are filled with joy and heartbreak. Their lifelong friendship reveals a mosaic of the startling events and conditions that have shaped their lives, and how these experiences have affected the hopes and dreams they hold for each of their children.

  • Ju Dou (DVD)

    China, 1990
    Run Time: 98 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou & Yang Feng Liang

    They were destined, if not doomed, to be together. She was the mill owner’s battered bride; he was his overworked nephew. Out of their plight grew a profound and powerful secret love. Their hearts were free, but only murder could free the lovers from the tyranny of the mill owner. Or could it?

  • The King of Masks (DVD, 1 copy)

    China, 1996
    Run Time: 101 minutes
    Color

    The streets of 1930’s Sichuan province set the stage for this award-winning tale of hope and transformation in the face of poverty and loneliness. As a rare master of an ancient art, the skills of “The King of Masks” are sought out by even the most beloved star of the esteemed Chinese Opera. But tradition dictates that the aging master’s trade only be passed on to a male heir. Desperate for his art to survive, “The King of Masks” finds an apprentice in a destitute child purchased on the black market. When the child reveals an unexpected secret, their relationship is suddenly tested by both the old man’s stubborn sense of tradition and the established customs of China.

  • The Last Emperor (DVD, 1 copy)

    U.S., 1987
    Run Time: 162 minutes
    Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

    The story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, who comes from a long history of a tradition that is irreversibly altered by two world wars and fierce political upheaval. Guided by his English mentor, played by Peter O’Toole, Pu Yi is forced to leave the lavish, protective walls of the Forbidden City and somehow find the strength to build a new life in a strange world he has always longed to explore, but has never really known. Winner of “Best Picture” at the Academy Awards in 1987.

  • Life on a String

    China, 1991
    Run Time: 107 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    Set against the awesome backdrop of the barren mountains and plains of Inner Mongolia, this film unfurls a profound tale of a master and pupil, old and young, both completely blind, who wander the sun-scorched earth in an aimless quest for enlightenment. They express themselves through heartfelt song and fragile lutes they carry, living for the fulfillment of the prophecy that when the thousandth string breaks, the player will be rewarded with the sight and wisdom they so vigilantly pursue. The path before them is laden with new experiences: for the student, a sexual awakening with a peasant girl; for the “saint”, an ongoing battle with his failing health. At other times they confront more frightening obstacles, as when they stumble onto a battle in which massive armies clash in the desert wasteland. Chen Kaige, the writer and director, made this film “in the hope of a better future, not only for the Chinese, but for the world.”
    This is truly a unique film, a sensitive parable, beautifully filmed, that examines the difficult quest for enlightenment in a land torn by political unrest. Be forewarned, though, that this is a slow-moving film that is highly symbolic in nature. At the same time it is highly spiritual, with stunning cinematography, and a most haunting experience for the viewer.

  • The Little Chinese Seamstress

    China
    Run Time: 112 min.
    Color

    Set in China , in the middle of the Cultural Revolution in the early 1970s, in a small village where the intellectuals are "re-educated" by the peasants, the film focuses on three people. Ma is a violinist. Her friend Luo has renamed one of Mozart's sonatas as Mozart thinks about Chairman Mao in order to please the village head. The two accomplices meet a little seamstress with whom they hatch an amorous and literary plot, through the medium of literary classics by Flaubert, Dumas, Tolstoy and Balzac that they read in Secret.

  • Mongolian Ping Pong

    Mongolia
    Run Time: 102 minutes
    Color

    A ping pong ball, found floating in a stream, becomes the source of wonderment for three young boys who live in the remote grasslands of Mongolia, a magnificent landscape little changed since the time of Genghis Khan.
    Bilike, the ball's discoverer, assumes it's a bird's egg. His wizened grandmother proclaims it a magic pearl. Unconvinced, the boys take the ball to the monastery, but even the grasslands' most knowledgeable inhabitants are stumped. when a television show (seen on the region's only set) reveals that the object is the "national ball of China," the determined young scouts decide to embark upon a journey to return the precious talisman to the Chinese capital.

  • New Year Sacrifice

    China, 1956
    Run Time: 100 minutes
    Color

    A film based on one of the great writer Lu Xun’s most famous short stories.
    The story takes place in the years just before the Revolution of 1911, when the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. On a farm in Zhejiang Province lives a young widow, Xianglin, whose family tries to sell her to peasant He, who wants her for a bride. Xianglin instead manages to escape the village, where she works as a housemaid. But Xianglin’s family finds and kidnaps her, and the marriage takes place. Xianglin and He slowly fall in love, and their union produces a son. But tragedy strikes the family. First her husband dies, and then her baby is eaten by wolves. Returning to her former post as maidservant, Xianglin is treated as a pariah, eventually being forced to leave. She becomes a half-crazed beggar, finally dying on New Year’s Eve. The first “post-Liberation classic” from actress Bai Yang.

  • Not One Less (DVD, 1 copy)

    China, 2000
    Run Time: 106 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    In the crushing poverty of rural China, a young woman is ordered to a remote village to be their substitute teacher. Barely older than her students, the shy girl is charged with keeping the class intact for one month or she won’t be paid. Faced with overwhelming family debt, her biggest little troublemaker disappears into the city to find work. The stubborn teacher, however, is determined to follow the boy and bring him back to school. Once in the city, her simple peasant pleas fall on deaf ears, and only when the local television station sympathizes does her search bear fruit.

  • The Peacock Princess

    China, 1982
    Run Time: 120 minutes
    Color

    The king of the Peacock Kingdom had seven beautiful daughters, but his favorite was the seventh, Nan Muluna. Being a peacock princess, she could fly, and one day she flew to the Golden Lake where she met the Prince of Mengbanzha. It was love at first sight, and they were married. But the prince’s father, the King, was under the sway of an evil vulture who had transformed himself into a magician. This magician hated the young prince and did everything in his power to cause him unhappiness. The magician slandered the princess as an evil spirit, and forced her to fly back to the Peacock Kingdom. It wasn’t until the prince did battle with this force of evil that he was finally reunited with his beloved Nan Muluna. Realism at its finest.

  • Postmen In The Mountains

    China
    Running Time: 89 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Huo Jianqi

    A village in southern China , a father, who has been retired from his job as rural postman, is showing his son-the new postman-the ropes on his last round through his route. Both of them have a heavy heart when walking along the roads. The son feels that mountain roads seem to be never ended, the father recalls the days of being a postman. It is a touching story between a father and a son.

  • The Puppetmaster

    Taiwan, 1993
    Run Time: 142 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien

    Based on the actual memoirs of Li Tien-lu, Taiwan’s most celebrated puppeteer and official “national treasure”, this film tells the epic tale of one man’s struggle against a seemingly insurmountable adversary. Spanning the years from Li’s birth in 1909 to the end of Japan’s fifty-year occupation of Taiwan in 1945, this remarkable true story captures the puppetmaster’s hardships as well as the tragic sweep of this war-torn era.
    The film skillfully weaves Li’s recollection with dramatic reenactments of the fateful chapters in his life. The portrait that emerges reflects the emotionally complex state of chinese society during the first half of the 20th century.

  • Qiu Jin – A Revolutionary

    China, 1983
    Run Time: 110 minutes
    Color

    After leaving her husband and children, Qiu Jin leaves for Japan amidst the upheaval of early 20th century China to study. Upon returning, she becomes a revolutionary and joins the Restoration League and the Revolutionary League. Calling on Chinese women to resist the current regime, she led uprising in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. She was eventually captured by Qing officials and executed at Shaoxing.

  • Raise the Red Lantern

    China, 1991
    Run Time: 125 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    Story of an educated woman, played by Gong Li, who is sent off to become the newest wife of a feudal nobleman in 1920’s china. Nearly isolated in his spooky, palatial home, she develops relationships with several of the other wives and slowly becomes aware of a hideous legacy of punishment toward more willful women.

  • Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker

    China, 1994
    Run Time: 117 minutes
    Color

    Set against the close of the Ching Dynasty at the turn of the 20th century, this is a tale of forbidden love, loyalty, and passion. With no male heirs to run their fireworks factory, the Chai family’s beautiful daughter has been groomed for the role of master. Renounced of her femininity, she is clothed like a man and forbidden to marry, a role which she dutifully accepts until a rebellious young artist becomes employed at the factory. He unleashes in her an unbridled passion that challenges her loyalty to her ancestral heritage and threatens the tradition that has bound her family with the people of the factory, leading to an explosive climax that will change their lives forever.

  • Red River Valley

    China, 1996
    Color
    Directed by Feng Xiao Ning

    "Red River Valley" is more sincere, poignant and strongly emotive than Hollywood films "Seven Years in Tibet", "Kundun", or "Red Corner". "Red River Valley" is based on the book by British author Peter Fleming, "Bayonets to Lhasa", the last full account of the British Invasion of Tibet in 1904.
    In the beginning of the century, a country Han girl is being sacrificed to a river god. Rescued first by her brother and then in t twist of fate by an old Tibetan woman, the girl begins her new life taking the name of Snow Dawa, and slowly falls in love with Gesong, the Tibetan woman's son. The young couple later saved two British men buried in an avalanche. These two men have very different views about the future of Tibet. One finds the kindness, hospitality, and purity in the nature of the Tibetans overwhelming. The other is intent upon bringing civilization to Tibet by "liberating" the Tibetan people.
    "Red River Valley", shot against the epic scale of the beautiful Tibetan landscape, provokes thoughts about the similarities of different cultures on opposite sides of the Earth, and why liberation and civilization begin with massacre. This motion picture, deftly directed by Feng Xiaoning, reflects the magnificent simplicity of the Tibetan land and people. The characters in "Red River Valley" carry such weight,they say more than a starlit cast of hundreds ever could.

  • Red Sorghum (DVD, 1 copy)

    China, 1987
    Run Time: 91 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    Beginning as a lusty romantic comedy about a nervous young bride’s arrival and ensuing seduction at a remote winery, and ending as a heroic and harrowing drama of partisan resistance during the Japanese occupation, the builds to a spell-binding, explosive climax.

  • Restless

    U.S.-Chinese, 2001
    Run Time: 98 min
    Color
    Directed by Jule Gilfillan

    Catherine Kellner is Leah Quinn, a late twenty-something American who has been living in Beijing for three years, and has yet to find the love or serenity she has searched the world for. Weigi Master Sun Zhan may be the great love she has been seeking, or another in a string of heartbreaks. Either way, he will show Leah aspects of Beijing, and of herself, that she never knew existed. David Wu is Richard Kao, a Chinese-American who visits Beijing for the first time to deliver his Grandfathers ashes to an ancestral burial ground. While in China, Richard falls for his sheltered cousin Ling Qing Qing and finds out he has more to learn about his heritage then he could ever have imagined. Written and Directed by Jule Gilfillan, Restless is the first U.S.-Chinese co-production filmed entirely in Beijing, and is a tale of international romance caught between the conflicts of cultural traditions.

  • Rickshaw Boy

    China, 1982
    Run Time: 120 min
    Color
    Directed by Ling Zifeng

    An unprecedented event in the history of motion pictures was one of the first contemporary feature films from The People's Republic of China ever to be exhibited in the Western Hemisphere. Rickshaw Boy, based on the well known story by famous Chinese novelist Lao She, Stars Zhang Fengyi. A box office sensation, the film did remarkably well earning eight Chinese and International Film awards and making Zhang a household name. Veteran director's Ling Zifeng's work tells the classic Chinese tale of a hardworking peasant who tries to make his way in the Chinese capital. After three years of back-breaking labor to establish a business of his own, the daughter of the rickshaw company falls in love with him. This story has a tough Chinese twist-revealing much about the collision of ancient class distinctions in the preservation of capital, family and wealth.

  • The Road Home (DVD, 2 copies)

    China, 2000
    Run Time: 89 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    A romantic drama whose story is as beautiful as the cinematography. When his father dies, Luo Yusheng returns from the city to his childhood village where his father was the much-revered local teacher. But what begins as a short trip to bury his father becomes much more when he learns his mother wants a traditional burial for her beloved husband.
    She wants to have him carried by foot, honoring the belief that a body returned this way will never forget the road home. As Yusheng enlists the men needed to fulfill her wishes, the story of his parents’ love affair unfolds. In the days of arranged marriages, he learns theirs was the first based on love.

  • Shadow Magic

    U.S., 1999
    Run Time: 115 minutes
    Color

    An enchanting drama that depicts the wondrous influence of movies in Peking, China, at the turn of the 20th century. Photographer Liu is intrigued by the inventions and western technologies that are coming to his small community. When an Englishman named Raymond Wallace arrives with talk of “moving pictures,” Liu helps bridge the gap between Raymond and the Chinese, unintentionally defying the traditions of his culture in the process. Conflicted by his loyalty to his family and friends, and the opportunity to better his standing in society so he can marry the woman he loves, Liu must decide whether or not to risk everything to help bring the motion picture industry to China and make his dreams come true.

  • Shanghai Triad

    China, 1996
    Run Time: 109 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    The charms of an alluring prostitute are used as bait between feuding ganglords against a dramatic backdrop of 1930’s Shanghai in this exotic and captivating thriller. Winner of various awards for cinematography, one critic commented: “From the glowing artifice and warm surfaces of chic Shanghai to the natural blues and greens of the misty countryside where the tale leads, it is, in the truest sense, poetry in motion.”

  • Shower (DVD, 2 copies)

    China, 2000
    Run Time: 94 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yang

    When successful business man Da Ming is summoned by his younger brother to come home to his father’s old-style bathhouse in Beijing, he can’t wait to return to his fast-paced modern life. But time amongst the crazy cast of characters that frequent the bathhouse gives him a new appreciation for traditional old ways. When a tragic event causes sudden change, Da Ming must choose between the prosperous life he’s made for himself and his responsibility to his family and his heritage.

  • The Silk Road

    U.S., 1988
    Run Time: 99 minutes
    Color

    Countless men died defending the great Silk Road, that in ancient times was the trade route between China and the west. As it cut a jagged ribbon across 5,000 miles of Asian desert, it was home to the rebel armies who preyed on merchants transporting their goods between China and the Middle East and Europe. An educated young Chinese man named Zhao is traveling with a group that is suddenly ambushed by a ruthless rebel army regiment. Zhao is made into a soldier and marched off to the great battle of the South. The resourceful Zhao proves himself a skilled fighter, single-handedly rescuing a captured princess. Alone, Zhao and the princess make their way across a treacherous desert, falling in love, unaware of the dangers that lay ahead. This is mostly an entertainment film, but the final scenes purport to explain how the amazing manuscripts found in the caves of Dunhuang in northwestern China came to be hidden there for many centuries before being uncovered in modern times.

  • A Soul Haunted By Painting (DVD, 1 copy)

    < China , 1995
    Run Time: 130 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Huang Shuqin

    "A Soul Haunted by Painting" is based on the true story of Chinese painter, Pan Yiliang, whose work was celebrated in Paris yet rejected at home. At fifteen years old, she was sold into prostitution. Her life changes when she marries with a high official. Through her husband, she finds expression in western painting and furthers her studies in Paris . Although internationally acclaimed as an artist, painter and sculptor, her past always continued to haunt her at home in China ; and it was only after her death that she finally received the acceptance she so desperately sought.

    Pan Yuliang is played by Gong Li, China 's best known movie star. Directed by Huang Shuqin, a women famous for highlighting the influence of tradition on gender issues, among the movies themes is the debate over the use of live, nude models for painting, an issue first raised in the 1920s and still unsettled in China today.

  • The Story of the Weeping Camel

    Run Time: 87 Minutes
    Color Presented by THINKFilm and National Geographic World Films

    Springtime in the Gobi Desert . A family on nomads assist in the births of its camel herd. They face a crisis when one while calf is rejected by its mother after a particularly difficult birth. When all hope seems lost, the family sends its two young boys on a journey to a far-off village to fetch a musician capable of performing a magical ceremony.

    The Story of the Weeping Camel is a work that combines hard-hitting truth with uplifting drama. The film's sweeping vistas and magical photography capture the very essence of this part of the world, while its emotionally charged story of separation and reconciliation reminds us that the heart, whether human or animal, knows no borders.

  • The Story of Qiu Ju (DVD, 1 copy)

    China, 1993
    Run Time: 100 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    Starring Gong Li as a stoic peasant woman who demands an apology when her husband is kicked in the groin by the village Chief. But the Chief is a proud man who refuses to apologize, sending Qiu Ju on a futile trek through the complicated Chinese court system. From her small village to a nearby city and finally to the large and impersonal district court, hers is a universal battle against bureaucracy and indifference.

  • The Story of Xinghua

    China, 1993
    Run Time: 89 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Yin Li

    Meet Xinghua. Obedient servant. Compliant wife. Her husband’s submissive possession. Bound by ancient traditions, she dutifully accepts a loveless marriage and endures her husband’s cruelty. Until inescapable passion draws her into a dangerous and forbidden love affair which unleashes her senses… and releases her to dream of the unimaginable: freedom.

  • Strange Friends

    China, 1983
    Run Time: 90 minutes
    Color

    A disaffected woman boards a train in Beijing and confounds her fellow passengers by her moroseness and apparent stupor. A disconcerted man reports this to police, but the woman slips away when the train arrives in Nanjing. She goes to the Yangzi River Bridge, where she stands and contemplates the “ten chaotic years” (presumably a reference to the Cultural Revolution from 1966-76). She has tried to begin life anew but is discriminated against; she is about to throw herself into the river when she is saved by Tongsheng, the man who reported her to the police.

  • Temptress Moon **

    China, 1997
    Run Time: 115 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    The captivating story of a beautiful young woman, her seductive lover and their struggle for power, passion and revenge—so shocking, it was banned in the director’s own country. Highly provocative and filled with unforgettable sensual imagery.

  • That Mountain, That Man, That Dog (Chinese w/ NO subtitles)

    2 copies (DVD)
    China, 1998
    Color
    Run Time: under two hours

    A truly beautiful and sweet film, not yet available with English subtitles. The Chinese dialogue is quite simple, however, and the story is such that it can be enjoyed and understood even without a knowledge of the language. The story is about a rural postman in the remote countryside of Hunan province in the modern day. He is basically the only contact with the outside world that the villages to whom he delivers the mail ever have. Because of the strenous nature of his work, delivering mail over the mountains on foot accompanied only by his faithful German shepherd, by his mid-40’s he knows he will not be able to continue his work much longer. He convinces his son to take over his route for him. One last time the father sets out with his dog to deliver the mail, with his son along to learn the ropes. It is a journey of discovery for the young man, as he comes to really know and respect his father, and realizes for the first time all his father has meant to the villagers whose life he has touched.

  • To Live (DVD, 2 copies)

    China, 1994
    Run Time: 132 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Zhang Yimou

    Set against four decades of Chinese political turmoil, To Live follows the lives of one couple, Fugui and Jiazhen, as they struggle to survive their own changing station within the upheaval. When Fugui gambles away his family’s fortune and loses their home, he is left with nothing but a trunkful of puppets by which to make his living. But his ability to entertain with the puppets lands him at first in the company of the Nationalist army…and then the Red army! As the years go by, bringing bizarre twists, tragic losses, and profound hope, Fugui and his family steel themselves to accept what the future has in store for them by doing the one thing they know how to do best: “To Live”.

  • Together

    China . 2003
    Run Time: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    When violin prodigy Xiaochun and his father head to Beijing seeking fame and fortune, they soon discover a fierce world of cutthroat ambition. But when Xiaochun is "adopted" by a famous music tutor, success finally seems within reach-until a shocking discovery begins to unravel his entire world, and the boy must make the most difficult choice of his life. Can he achieve the fame his father had always hoped for without losing the extraordinary passion that sets him apart?

  • Vive L’Amour

    U.S., 1996
    Run Time: 118 minutes
    Color

    Yang Kuei-Mei and Chen Chao-Jung (both from the hit comedy Eat, Drink, Man, Woman) star as May, a chic and seductive real estate agent, and Ah-Jong, a street merchant. This mesmerizing film revolves around the two young people and their encounters in one of the thousands of vacant, anonymous apartments that fill Taipei, Taiwan. After a chance meeting, the couple use the apartment for their impulsive sexual liaisons. A third person, a shy young gay man, hides in the same apartment, and spies on the couple, creating a bizarre love triangle. A compelling mix of quirky wit and eroticism reminiscent of the best works of Michelangelo Antonioni.

  • The Wedding Banquet

    Taiwan, 1993
    Run Time: 108 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Ang Lee

    A gay Taiwanese yuppie who lives with his American lover tries to end his family’s endless matchmaking attempts by announcing he’s engaged. His parents immediately fly in to meet the bride, an illegal Chinese alien in need of a green card. Within days, they turn the planned quickie City Hall marriage into a banquet with hundreds of guests – and their son’s easy deception becomes a very complicated affair.

  • Woman Demon Human

    China, 1987
    Run Time: 115 min
    Color
    Directed by Huang Shuqin

    Woman Demon Human is a shining example of the "New Chinese Cinema" woven with the Chinese "opera film" whose brilliant allegories reveal so much with extraordinary flair. No less could be expected from the masterful hand of the brilliant female director Huang Shuqin. Born into the world of her parents' Peking Opera Company, a young girl follows her dreams and becomes a professional actress. With her personal world marked by trauma, she submerges herself into her stage roles. Yet she dreams of more: she wants to play the major "male" roles. Will this struggle for modernity and equal rights come through? Or will she be forever trapped in the confinements of traditional culture, living with her own personal ghosts?

  • Women from the Lake of Scented Souls
  • Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl ** (a few short scenes)

    China, 1999
    Run Time: 100 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Joan Chen

    This film tells two stories. Many youths in China were “sent down” to the countryside by the government during the Cultural Revolution for specialized training. This is one girl’s story and the compassionate deed that inspired a man everyone who hears her tale. The young and beautiful Xiu Xiu dreamt of becoming a horse trainer in the wide open plains of Tibet, far away from her busy city home. Her journey begins with a training camp in the isolated plains with a solitary and mysterious man. Slowly, Xiu Xiu discovers that she is unlikely to ever see her home again without a wealthy sponsor. Her world becomes a horrifying cage, where “patrons” promise her escape in exchange for sexual compromise.

  • Xu Mao and His Daughters

    China, 1981
    Run Time: 95 minutes
    Color

    Peasant Xu Mao has nine daughters, all with varying personalities, but this film focuses on two of them, the third and fourth daughters. The Cultural Revolution tears the family apart and turns Xu Mao into a hard-hearted old man. Afterwards the family tries to pick up the pieces in its wake.

  • Yellow Earth

    China, 1984
    Run Time: 89 minutes
    Color
    Directed by Chen Kaige

    Set in the barren wilderness of northern Shaanxi province, this film tells how the life of a fourteen year-old peasant girl is changed forever by the arrival of Gu Qing, a communist soldier who has been sent out to collect folk songs for the use of the revolutionary armies. As the young Cui Qiao slowly falls in love with this soldier, she learns from him that she does not have to remain bound to her lonely, traditional life. Inspired to action she flees from her arranged marriage and escapes across the great Yellow River.

• Documentaries
  • Another Year

    China, 2016
    Run Time: 181 minutes
    Color

    Another Year captures the rhythms of a migrant family's life over the course of a year in Wuhan, China.The three-generation family is used as a lens for seeing deeper into China’s economic boom, and its massive urbanization. Awarded by several major international institutions, and soon to premiere in the US, the film has been described as "displaying an astonishing range in its personal social depiction of working class China.

  • The Bamboo Cross: Chinese Christianity on the Rise

    China
    Run Time: 53 minutes
    Color

    Chinese Christians are growing in number-but are their beliefs compatible with Western teachings? Why does the Communist government look so favorably on a "foreign" faith? Has the Gospel become a tool of authoritarianism? This program searches for answers as it explores the startling ascent of Christianity in China. Outlining the persecution of Christians under Mao, the film studies a past split between nationalist Catholics and those who obeyed Rome; the differences between the Three-Self movement and the house church phenomenon; and the influence of poverty and migration on church membership. Leaders from Beijing's Christian Council, the China Christian Council, and other groups are featured.

  • China: The Rebirth of an Empire

    China, 2010
    Run Time: not known
    Color

    An American documentary film directed by brothers Jesse and Jeremy Veverka that was released in 2010. The film examines China's economic and political rise in the context of its relationship with its neighbors and a declining United States.

  • China's New Development

    2010
    Run Time: 29 minutes

    The effort to create a green economy in China is a struggle to balance rapid growth with environmental issues. Exploration of why China has a long-standing policy of not supporting the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The film gives an overview of the efforts China is making to transform to a green economy, which relate to the massive population, the agricultural needs, and the need for strong business ethics. She is hopeful changes occur within the next thirty years. China is investing heavily in green energy, especially solar panels and wind turbines. They are the largest manufacturer of these globally. They sell internationally in greater numbers and install in China at phenomenal rates. China does not support the Kyoto protocol because it seems unfair to them to limit China's growth when other nations are already well developed. The film ends with a discussion about China’s GDP, the Future China 500 companies, and the new economic model for China.

  • The Chinese Bubble: Predictions and Perspectives

    China, 2011
    Run Time: 50 minutes
    Color

    Has China circumvented the economic woes of America and Europe, or is the “Chinese miracle” headed for similar implosions in its housing and financial markets? For answers, this film seeks out the opinions of several Chinese commentators—from respected economists who offer complex analysis to ordinary Beijing citizens who describe their day-to-day struggles with the country’s rapid changes. Real estate tycoon Feng Lun, one of the world’s most successful developers, is also featured, insisting that opportunities are equal for all in China. But more nuanced views come from a taxi driver, a car salesman, and a construction worker, as well as from Dr. Wang Jianmao of the China Europe International Business School and Shanghai-based economist Dr. Andy Xie.

  • Factory Complex

    Korea, 2015
    Run Time: 92 minutes
    Color

    Factory Complex" is a powerful exposé that explores the world of working women in Asia and their ongoing struggle for rights. Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale, the documentary subtly questions our own complicity, and powerfully illustrates how much reform is still needed.

  • The gods Come Home: China's traditional faiths persevere

    China, 2008
    Run Time: 52 minutes
    Color

    After decades of Communist oppression and neglect, Buddhist temples are now thriving across China ... can far older spiritual traditions survive in such a rapidly evolving society? This program addresses those questions as it visits monasteries and temples in Shanghai and in rural, economically disadvantaged areas. Following the daily practices of a frugal and soft-spoken monk, the film also features wealthy, high-profile Buddhist officials and interviews China's Minister of Religious Affairs, who encourages Buddhism but frowns on folk religions.

  • Mardi Gras: Made in China

    China, 2005
    Run Time: 74 minutes
    Color

    The life cycle of plastic beads is traced from their manufacture at a Fuzhou, China, manufacturing facility to their extensive use by revelers at the annual Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, La. Documentary filmmaker David Redmon investigates the low wages and substandard conditions endured by the factory's workers, many of whom are young women. Candid interviews with both the Chinese workers and the Mardi Gras crowd reveal the vast economic and cultural chasm between the two.

  • True Believers: Religion in Today's China

    China, 2011
    Run Time: 27 minutes
    Color

    China is on the rise economically, but the post-Mao era has also seen an increasing hunger for something beyond material prosperity. From the novice Taoist monk honing tai chi skills atop a sacred mountain to the uncountable worshippers of the underground house church movement, this program reports on modern China’s emboldened—yet still cautious—religious population. In the city of Wenzhou, evangelical pastor Zheng Datong agrees to be interviewed, despite secret police looking on. Pastor Samuel Lamb, another lightening rod for security surveillance, insists that “oppression simply leads to more believers,” while Pastor Joseph Gu, leader of a mainstream Three-Self Patriotic Movement church, describes the rapid growth of his congregation. For a much different yet equally spiritual perspective, the film turns to Daoist kung fu master Zhong Yunlong at a monastery in the Wudang Mountains, where a sacred shrine still attracts pupils and travelers.

  
  
  

  China: The Dragon's Ascent (Series)

  • Forging the Future: China 's Industrial Heritage

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    China 's first industrial revolution occurred more than two millennia before Europe 's. Today, there is a new wave of industrialization in China as the awakened dragon prepares to test its wings. This program draws on historical evidence and expert commentary to vividly illustrate China 's early mastery of crucial industrial processes and to explain how they contributed to the wealth and progress of Chinese civilization. Pivotal events that hampered China 's advancement in recent centuries and the country's move to regain its momentum as a world-class producer and an Information Age innovator are also examined.

  • Please Vote For Me: An Experiment in Democracy by Chinese 8 year olds

    2007
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Two males and a female vie for office, indulging in low blows and spin, character assassination and gestures of goodwill, all the while gauging their standing with voters.  The setting is not the Democratic presidential campaign trail but a third grade class at an elementary school in the city of Wuhan in central China.  Please Vote for Me, which is on the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ documentary feature short list, packs its fleet hour with keen observations. Chronicling a public school’s first open elections--at stake is the position of class monitor-- filmmaker Weijun Chen has crafted a witty, engaging macro-lens view of human nature, China’s one-child policy, and the democratic electoral process as the ultimate exercise in marketing.

  • The Power to Predict: Chinese Astronomy and the Mandate of Heaven

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    In this program, Dr. Sun Xiaochun and others consider the roles of astronomy and astrology in China as they relate to the Mandate of Heaven: the belief that the power to rule derived from the power to predict the future. Records of ancient sky-watching, divination via oracle bones, revolutionary advances in timekeeping, and the remarkably accurate Chinese calendar are evaluated, as well as the sociopolitical contributions of Confucianism, Taoism, and, later, Christianity. For 3,000 years - until the fall of the last emperor, early in the 20 th century – the Mandate was the key to power.

  • History as a Mirror: Past to shape its Future

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    This program seeks to understand how the Chinese government, arguably the world's most elaborate and long-lived bureaucracy, has managed to balance the tension between controlling its people and keeping them contented enough to sustain national stability. Events unfolding at the village level in Sichuan Province demonstrate the dynamics of an evolving system of rule modeled on Marxism and informed by the legacies of Qin Shihuangdi and Confucius. Can the centralized command and control system first established so long ago continue to sustain China as it moves toward a market-style economy?

  • Feast or Famine: Water Management and Food Production in China

    < China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    “To manage the country, we must first control the waters,” is an ancient Chinese saying that is more true today than ever. This program documents farmers' hardships – droughts that leave Shanxi Province bone-dry and floods that inundate the lands bordering the Yangtze River – and discusses the exacerbating effects of deforestation and urban growth. Also, potential remedies are showcased, including new dams, increased water conservation, sustainable agricultural practices, improved planting methods, genetic modification of crops, and the monumental South to North Water Transfer Project.

  • The Health Culture: Traditional Chinese Medicine in the 21 st Century

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    This program describes the use of herbal medicines, acupuncture, massage, moxibustion, and qigong to restore bodily balance as well as remarkable successes in battling cancer with a combination of Chinese and Western medical techniques. But as traditional Chinese medicine merges with Western medicine; as mass-produced herbal preparations replace hand-compounded mixtures; and as the last practitioners trained in the time-tested ways are replaced by university-trained doctors, will TCM still be TCM?

  • The Dragon Ascends: Creating China 's Future

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 53 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    In little more than two decades, China made a leap of industrialization comparable to what took the U.S. a century. This program uses the experiences of entrepreneur Guo Guangchang – called one of China' s 100 Richest Business People by Forbes – as a springboard to explore that nation' s prospects as the awakened dragon ascends. A grassroots shift toward democratic structures, a new definition of education that promotes individual thought and responsibility, the wealth disparity between the coastal economies and interior provinces, and whether a modernized and prosperous China is ever likely to adopt liberal political and social structures are addressed.

  • A Day on the Grand Canal with the Emperor of China

    < USA, 1991
    Run Time:
    Color
    Directed by Philip Haas

    World-famous artist David Hockney invites the viewer to join him on a journey down a 72-foot long 17th century Chinese scroll which traces the Emperor Kangxi’s grand tour of his southern domains. Comparing the work with a Canaletto painting and a later Chinese scroll, Hockney spins a dazzling discourse on eastern and western perspective and their relationship to his own artistic vision as he takes us to a world of “mom-and-pop takeout” dumpling shops, fishmongers hawking their wares, and bonsai vendors pruning trees.

  • China at the Crossroads

    USA, 2001
    Run Time:
    Color
    Produced by the English Language Institute/China (ELIC)

    China is truly a nation at the crossroads. As the people of this country face a crisis of spirit and trust, they are searching to have true hope and love in their lives. “China at the Crossroads” highlights an incredibly strategic opportunity for you to point the way using the language you speak every day – English.

  • China: From Poverty to Prosperity

    USA
    Run Time: 30 minutes
    Color

    China in recent decades has found itself wrestling with a dual identity as a strict communist society nevertheless dedicated to the advancement of capitalism. This program examines the enormous economic changes and challenges for China as it transforms itself from a centralized command economy to a market-based one, and from a rural, agricultural society to an urban, industrial giant.

  • China Rises

    Canada
    Run Time: 180 minutes
    
    Party Games
    China is on the march. As Beijing prepares for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, it is envisioning a new political dawn for a growing nation, and is ready to invite the world to see its progress.
    Getting Rich
    In a brief 25 years, China has achieved the most rapid economic advance of any nation in history. How? By scrapping its devotion to collectivism and embracing private enterprise with the zeal of the 19th Century robber barons. But is China's success riding on the backs of the poor?

  • The First Emperor of China

    China
    Run Time: 40 Minutes
    Color
    Directed by Tony Ianzelo & Liu Hao Xue

    One man founded the great nation of China . He not only gave China its name, but also founded the longest enduring nation state in the history of the world. His name was Qin Shihuang - The First Emperor. The Fist Emperor of China chronicles the period of Qin Shihuang's rule. Much of the story has never been told before, and few Westerners are aware of his incredible achievements. From the grandiose inner sanctum of Emperor Qin's royal palace, to fierce battles with feudal kings, this historical drama re-creates the glory and the terror of the Qin Dynasty. The film includes the first documentary footage of Qin's life-sized terra cotta army, constructed almost 2,200 years ago for his tomb. The First Emperor of China offers viewers a unique opportunity to increase their understanding of the nature of ancient Chinese civilization and its extraordinary achievements.

  • Shanghai: The New Chinese Way

    Films for the Humanities & Sciences
    Run Time: 52 minutes
    Color

    A beneficiary of post-Maoist economic reform, Shanghai has been modernizing at a remarkable rate as foreign investment pours into that versatile city. This program tracks the progress of Shanghai's makeover through the diverse voices of its citizens - children of modernity, swept up in the economic revolution, and elders who have witnessed the evolution of Chinese communism over the course of the 20th Century. Will Shanghai succeed in its bid to become the new financial and cultural capital of Asia?

  • THE GIANT AWAKES: Chinese Capitalism: Moving the Mountain

    USA, 1998
    Run Time: 50 minutes
    Color
    Produced by the BBC

    In this documentary about emerging China, Chinese economic modernization is studied at a shoe factory, where communist worker ideals and capitalist goals coexist. In the largest migration in history, 90 million rural Chinese have moved to the cities in search of jobs, a better life, and a larger slice of the capitalist pie, only to find the gap between rich and poor widening each day. Corruption, say many, is rampant. The issue of how these trends will eventually affect China’s stability is examined.

  • THE GIANT AWAKES: Human Rights in China

    USA, 1998
    Run Time: 49 minutes
    Color
    Produced by the BBC

    In this installment of “The Giant Awakes” series, China’s sluggish, though real, progress toward human rights is examined. We meet a radio talk-show host who invites callers to grill government officials, and newspaper editors who sometimes run pieces critical of the government’s human rights record. And while China may have a ways to go in this respect, one Chinese official predicts, “Full bellies and controlled political evolution will keep China on course [toward expanding human rights].”

  • THE GIANT AWAKES: The Path of Chinese Privatization

    USA, 1998
    Run Time: 50 minutes
    Color
    Produced by the BBC

    Two Communist Party officials cruise the dusty streets of Ma Bei village in a new Cadillac. Welcome to China, 1997. Fueled by profits from private businesses, the town is booming, while at a plant up the road thousands of workers, formerly protected under the communist system, may lose their jobs under privatization. Similar situations are developing all over China, and officials are worried that workers may revolt. So they’ve come up with a uniquely Chinese solution: industries will gradually privatize, letting fear of worker unrest dictate the pace.

  • China: The Dance Around the Golden Calf

    USA, 1999
    Run Time: 50 minutes
    Color

    As China continues to experiment with Western-style economics, many city dwellers already enjoy the prerogatives of a market economy. But how will China feed itself as more and more farmers flee their land for the allure of urban living? This program seeks to understand the effects of economic reform on Chinese society, from the villages to the cities. Will cultural values and the traditional arts and sciences retain their importance as China makes its bid for first-world status, or will they and the rest of the old China be swept away by Western attitudes, a burgeoning middle-class, and the country’s new identity as a nascent economic powerhouse?

  • Democracy in China: A Billion Small Voices

    USA,
    Run Time: 30 minutes
    Color

    In China, where approximately 80 percent of the population is rural, the impact of democratic village elections could reshape the future of the nation. Although some Chinese are skeptical, many believe that establishing democracy at the local level will pave the way for a democratic national government. This program focuses on the efforts of The Carter Center to support China’s initiative by inviting Chinese delegates to observe U.S. primaries and by sending emissaries to China to assist in the mechanics of gathering and tabulating votes. In its post-Mao effort to catch up economically with other nations, China is opening the door to Western ways and attempting to take its place in the growing Global Village.

  • Hidden People of China

    2008
    Run Time: 26 minutes

    For many different reasons - perhaps because of ignorance or long-standing cultural and political barriers - China is often viewed by outsiders as a homogeneous nation. Such erroneous views are slowly giving way to greater awareness of the country's myriad minority populations. This program introduces viewers to the 55 officially recognized minority groups of China as many of their members gather to celebrate their diversity and preserve their ways in a dazzling display of sport and cultural pride.

  • Building 173: remnants of a Vanishing Shanghai

    < 2008
    Run Time: 53 minutes

    An old building is a volume of human history - with every story containing countless stories. Building 173, a high-rise in downtown Shanghai, has witnessed tumultuous changes over three-quarters of a century. This film weaves together the intimate tales of many of the tower's residents, casting light on China's political and historical events from angles that are by turns poignant, amusing, and chilling. Characters include a British-American author, a Chinese business tycoon, a gangster, a Western-educated diplomat, an opera start, amember of the Red Guard, and the bulding's elevator operator. Although beautifully shot in live action, the film also includes low-key and strangely lyrical animation to reconstruct events.

  • Two-Way Traffic: China , the Hub of the East

    China , 2004
    Run Time: 58 Minutes
    Color
    Produced by Films for the Humanities & Sciences

    China 's Great Wall suggests a land that shut itself off from the world, yet travelers, ideas, inventions, and good have flowed in and out of China since ancient times. Buddhism and Islam entered via its fabled silk roads, and innovations in the arts and industrial sciences were exported from its cosmopolitan seaports to the centers of the known world. Why, then, did the most powerful economy on Earth isolate itself from outside trade? In this program, archaeologists, scholars, and others shed light on the tides of China 's cultural and economic fortunes, from ancient times to today, as the country once again opens its doors to the world.

  • Voices of Dissent: Freedom of Speech and Human Rights in China

    < 2008
    Run Time: 45 minutes

    Although China's government has pledged to revise its policies toward political dissidents, that promise remains largely unfulfilled. This program reveals egregious cases of political oppression occurring in recent years, countering the picture China painted of itself as it promoted the Beijing Olympics. Pushing back against bureaucracy and official stonewalling, the program examines the work of activist Hu Jia, his arrest and jail sentence, and the constant police harassment faced by his wife and lawyers. Numerous other cases are profiled while government apologists also appear - including China's Olympics Media Director and the head of Beijing's Deng Xiaoping Thought Research Center.

  • From Somewhere to Nowhere: China's Internal Migrant Workers

    2009
    Run Time: 86 minutes

    High-density population centers of enormous size are springing up in China with dizzying speed, and with them comes an increased demand for migrant workers in construction, manufacturing, and mining. Through still images by Andreas Seibert and documentary footage by Villi Hermann, this program travels throughout China to vivdly capture the experiences of these mingong, tens of millions on the move from the countryside to the cities in the too-often misplaced hope of building a better life for themselves and their families. An intriguing angle on urbanization fueled by explosive economic growth - and a moving composite portrait of laborers who typically toil in obscurity.

  • Made in China: The People's Republic of Profit

    2008
    Run Time: 60 minutes

    A one-hour original special reported by CNBC's Melissa Lee that takes viewers to the frontlines of business in China. Lee introduces viewers to some of the "young guns" of China, the new wave of entrepreneurs who are starting companies in the wake of economic reform, and are hoping their ventures will help fuel China's ferocious growth into the future. Lee explores how large American companies are blazing their own unique trails to succeed in China including Home Depot, which is tapping into the new breed of homeowners hoping to create a new do-it-yourself class. Kraft is also going so far as to change the formula for America's favorite cookie, the Oreo, to appeal to the delicate tastes of the Chinese. Lee takes viewers inside the latest venture at Yum Brands, the company known for KFC and Pizza Hut, which is now selling Chinese food in China. In addition, she follows the leadership of California based clothing company, American Apparel, which is hoping to defy convention by selling "Made in the USA" clothing basics to China, where a third of all garments are made. CNBC also goes inside the battle for the fastest growing Internet market in the world. Lee speaks to Robin Li, founder of Baidu.com, the leading Internet search engine in China. And, she asks Google China's president, Kai-Fu Lee, why the search giant is in second place behind the Chinese upstart. Viewers will also get a rare look inside one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world, where membership, which costs $250,000 a year, has its privileges.

  • China or Bust! Chasing Success in the World's Fastest-Growing Economy

    2008
    Run Time: 51 minutes

    There are fortunes to be made in China today - but fortune seekers from overseas face immense challenges. This program offers three engaging business case studies, each following a Western entrepreneur who grapples with Chinese business practices and culture. Tony Caldera's cushion business has been ruined by Chinese imports, but he hopes for a turnaround y building a factory here. Peter Williams is about to embark on the toughest challenge of his life: selling an energy-saving device to the Chinese. Finally, there's Vance Miller, who gained notoriety for selling cheap Chinese kitchens in Britain. Now he's in China, determined to overcome setbacks. All three studies are ideal for sparking discussion and analysis in international business courses.

  • Seeds of Change: A Case Study of Sustainable Development in China

    < 2008
    Run Time: 48 minutes

    After surviving an emergency crash-landing, Dr. Sam Chao resolved to do something that would make a difference in the world. This award-winning program follows the outcome of his resolution: ECO, the Ecological Conservancy Outreach fund. Donating his life savings to the project, Dr. Chao enlists his childhood friend, Dr. Larry Wang, to clean up the Yangtze River and its tributaries, ravaged by erosion due to deforestation. As the video shows, sustainable ecological improvement must be linked to economic improvement for farmers whose very lives hang in the balance of such plans. Filmed largely in China's Yunnan province, Seeds of Change visits the farmers who switch from growing crops on the riverbanks to forest-based agriculture.

  • China on the Rise: Paul Solman Reports

    2007
    Run Time: 73 minutes

    Will the 21st century be the Chinese century? Economics correspondent Paul Solman examines the rise of China as a global economic power - and the challenges that lie before it - in this timely collection of NewsHour reports. the episodes are:
    - China's Growing Economy
    - The Chinese Consumer
    - The Cult of Mao Zedong
    - Misinvestment in China
    - Interview with Cheng Siwei
    - Piracy Explored
    - Bumps in the Road?

  • China Inside Out: Building Relationships with the Next Superpower

    2008
    Run Time: 42 Minutes

    Many Americans fear China's growing strength and influence around the world. But the rise of China is an aunavoidable geopolitical event, according to John Thornton, professor and director of Global Leadership at Tsingua University in Beijing. This ABC News program features interviews with Thornton and other experts who examine America's need to forge a stronger relationship with China. The program also studies China's approach to the U.S. and other nations, such as Cambodia, Angola, and Brazil. Commentators include Evan Osnos, Beijing bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune; Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International magazine; and Wang Guangy, China's UN ambassador. Original ABC broadcast title: China Inside Out.