Zhang Yuan

The first days of 2020's lockdown seem to drag forever for a group of tourists trapped in a Thai hotel. In strict confinement and as the big day of an unexpected event approaches, emotional entanglements, tensions and long kept secrets rise to the surface.

The 2014 edition of an annual short film compilation. Zhang Yuan directs "I love you boss," about the relationship between a wealthy man and his driver. Kang Je-kyu directs "Awaiting," about a South Korean woman striving to reconnect with her husband in Pyongyang. Christopher Doyle does "Education for All," a documentary about the next generation in Hong Kong and Shu Kei's the dream focuses on a bored housewife who fixates on an attractive stranger at the next table.

This short film explores same-sex attraction within the context of power relationships in contemporary China where oppression stems from the socio-economic inequality that leaves the disenfranchised pining for what they cannot have, as a young chauffeur finds himself attracted to his contemptuous and callous boss – without a single word being exchanged between the two men.

Chinese short film directed by Zhang Yuan.

Chinese short film directed by Zhang Yuan.

Beijing is happening these days, but not everyone is living the golden life. Dumped, fired, evicted and abandoned by everyone (including his dog), a down-on-his-luck man finds solace with a circle of equally ill-fated friends, in this touching and lighthearted drama from independent Chinese auteur Zhang Yuan (Beijing Bastards). (TIFF.)

The film tells the story of how an ordinary police officer can fight with criminals, combat criminal offenses, protect people's lives and property, and maintain social stability.

Película de episodios en la que conocidos autores cinematográficos plantean sus ideas acerca de los sueños.

After her mother's lecherous boyfriend reveals she's adopted, incorrigible flirt Dada skips town -- with hopelessly smitten boy-next-door Zhou in tow -- in search of her birth mother.

Un niño comienza la escuela y se esfuerza por encajar en una sociedad estrictamente reglamentada en la post-revolucionaria China.

Un niño comienza la escuela y se esfuerza por encajar en una sociedad estrictamente reglamentada en la post-revolucionaria China.

After Xiao Yu's mother died in an accident, she moved back to live with her birth father who she knows little about. Gradually, they grew to know each other and to accept each other for who they are.

A film about Chinese underground filmmakers who were the first to express their truthful and realistic views on China from 1989 until today. It is also the first film to speak about the Chinese homosexual film scene. The documentary features Chinese intellectuals and directors such as Cui Zi’en, Jia Zhangke, Ju An Qi, Li Yu, Liu Bingjian, Liu Hao, Wang Xiaoshuai, Zhang Yuan.

A mysterious woman frequents tea shops and other places looking for the right man. A cup of green tea will show you the way to find your true love.

A mysterious woman frequents tea shops and other places looking for the right man. A cup of green tea will show you the way to find your true love.

A young woman who has lost her first love begins a relationship with his best friend, and the two of them attempt to create a baggage-free future.

Jiang Jie is famous throughout China: the “Chinese Joan of Arc,” in the words of director Zhang Yuan, a communist heroine executed by the Kuomintang in 1949, on the eve of the revolution. Zhang Yuan’s film, a passionately engaged tribute to the 1964 “revolutionary opera” based on Jiang Jie’s life, follows the original closely...The Revolutionary melodrama plot, not that different from Verdi’s 19th century versions, has of course a completely different resonance today. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) enshrined this kind of “revolutionary opera” — based on traditional Beijing opera, but with substantial stylistic and formal revisions — as the epitome of Maoist propaganda art. In the past ten years, Chinese and Western experts have begun to re-evaluate the art behind the propaganda, to find creativity, and even shocking beauty under the layers of kitsch and repellent politics the works have sometimes embodied. —Shelly Kraicer

Ambicioso documental sobre la migración de las aves, un viaje que recorre más de 40 países. 4 años de trabajo y más de 140 personas contribuyeron a la creación de un singular estudio, no sólo de las diferentes aves migratorias y sus patrones migratorios, sino del ecléctico, espectacular y sorprendente planeta en el que vivimos. Estuvo nominado al Oscar al mejor documental.

In February 1995, after many years of preparation, the modern dancer Venus finally underwent transgender surgery in Beijing. On the eve of becoming a woman, he gave an interview and talked about his determination, aspirations, and good life ideals. The operation was tortuous and painful. After the operation, my father went to the police station to change the gender on the Venus ID card. From then on, Miss Venus was born. In March 2000, Venus once again interviewed her about her many boyfriends in the five years after the operation, her happy life, and her special encounters and adventures. The film allows the audience to see a Miss Venus living in her dream.

Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan

Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and blames on her sister Tao Lan, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence. After 17 years in jail, Tao Lan is escorted by a guard only to find her home long demolished. The two go to the new address of her ageing parents, and the guard becomes witness to the family's difficult reunion.

Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and blames on her sister Tao Lan, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence. After 17 years in jail, Tao Lan is escorted by a guard only to find her home long demolished. The two go to the new address of her ageing parents, and the guard becomes witness to the family's difficult reunion.

A documentary about Li Yang, who tries to teach large numbers of Chinese to speak English, using unusual methods. He holds motivational rallies, where he gets the crowd to shout out English phrases, in order to instill confidence, and tells them not to be afraid of losing face. His goal is to increase Chinese trade, and export Chinese culture, to the main world markets: North America, Japan, and Europe. After the rally, they can continue their English lessons using his taped courses.

This TV documentary recounts the fact that residents of Beijing's old quadrangle refused to move during the process of rebuilding the old city for urban development. This film focuses on the balanced relationship between residents, associations, companies and countries.

This highly personal film essay demonstrates that Chinese cinema has dealt with questions of gender and sexuality more frankly and provocatively than any other national cinema. Yang ± Yin examines male bonding and phallic imagery in the swordplay and kung fu movies of the '60s and '70s; homosexuality; same-sex bonding and physical intimacy; the continuing emphasis on women's grievances in melodramas; and the phenomenon of Yam Kim-Fai, a Hong Kong actress who spent her life portraying men on and off the screen.

En China, la homosexualidad no es ilegal, pero los homosexuales son perseguidos sistemáticamente por la policía y detenidos por "vandalismo". La película se centra en un joven escritor gay A-Lan que, siendo atraído por un joven policía, logra interrogarse a sí mismo durante toda una noche. Su historia de vida que le dice durante el interrogatorio refleja la represión general de la sociedad china. La actitud del policía se desplaza desde la repulsión inicial de fascinación y, por último, a la atracción.

En China, la homosexualidad no es ilegal, pero los homosexuales son perseguidos sistemáticamente por la policía y detenidos por "vandalismo". La película se centra en un joven escritor gay A-Lan que, siendo atraído por un joven policía, logra interrogarse a sí mismo durante toda una noche. Su historia de vida que le dice durante el interrogatorio refleja la represión general de la sociedad china. La actitud del policía se desplaza desde la repulsión inicial de fascinación y, por último, a la atracción.

En China, la homosexualidad no es ilegal, pero los homosexuales son perseguidos sistemáticamente por la policía y detenidos por "vandalismo". La película se centra en un joven escritor gay A-Lan que, siendo atraído por un joven policía, logra interrogarse a sí mismo durante toda una noche. Su historia de vida que le dice durante el interrogatorio refleja la represión general de la sociedad china. La actitud del policía se desplaza desde la repulsión inicial de fascinación y, por último, a la atracción.

Story of a real family in Beijing. The father's drinking problem starts it all. The mother struggles to keep the family together till she cannot take it any more.

Despite its suggestive title, this multi-part Danish omnibus film is not a work of exploitation. Instead, it presents 20 different short films (back-to-back) on the general theme of Danish women, directed by filmmakers including Krzysztof Zanussi, Monika Treut, Gustav Hamos, David Blair, Vibeke Vogel, Dusan Makavejev, Morten Skallerud and Lars Norgaard. Some dramatic vignettes mix with other comedic ones, but all are offbeat and experimental. The picture includes one animated sequence (by Norgaard).

Story of a real family in Beijing. The father's drinking problem starts it all. The mother struggles to keep the family together till she cannot take it any more.

The film documents a day in the life of Tiananmen Square in 1994, a mere five years after the crushing of a student-led democracy movement in 1989.

A rock musician looks for his girl-friend who left while pregnant, trying to decide whether to keep the baby.

Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of filmmakers (including Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke) and their ethos of employing documentary realism to depict the true conditions of contemporary China.

Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of filmmakers (including Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke) and their ethos of employing documentary realism to depict the true conditions of contemporary China.