Survival Song (2008)

A soon-to-be first-time voter, the filmmaker’s thought-provoking journey into the Rust Belt and South captures four Asian American voters’ ardent first time grassroots political participation ignited by the 2016 rise of “Chinese Americans for Trump.” FIRST VOTE is a character driven cinema verité style film chronicling the democratic participation of four Asian American voters from 2016 through the 2018 midterm elections.

중국 지역 일본군 ‘위안부’ 피해자 20만 명 2014년 촬영 당시 생존자 단 22명 그 22명의 할머니들이 들려주는 마지막 이야기 그리고… 2018년 8월 현재 중국에 남아 있는 ‘위안부’ 피해자는 단 6명 할머니들 대부분은 90세를 넘겨 삶의 끝자락에 서 있다.

황샤오유의 가족은 오랜기간동안 위기를 겪고 있다. 동성애자로 밝혀진 아버지와 신경질적인 어머니가 아슬아슬한 결혼생활을 유지하고 있기 때문이다. 그러나 프랑스인과 결혼 후 임신 6개월차에 접어든 황샤오유가 친정으로 돌아오며 가족의 위기가 더욱 심해지기 시작한다.

Xuan is a young man working in the film industry in Beijing. To make a documentary film that he wants to present at international festivals, he decides to take advantage of the holidays of the Day of the Dead to return to Chengdu, his hometown located at the other end of the country. The documentary he is about to make is about his relationship with his own lover. He leaves for Chengdu, accompanied by another man, Bo, the cameraman of the film. The two men take the train to Chengdu where Hong, Xuan's lover, is waiting for them. From the first moment of their arrival at the station, Xuan and Bo begin to turn with their camera, Xuan having already explained to Bo what he wanted to film and that Hong would always be "playing", Bo then trusting in Xuan. But Hong is more and more opposed to this camera and the presence of Bo.

A shy boy, who was not good at communicating with others, saw a shining fish in a stream one day and took it home. Since then, his life has changed. The lonely little boy was getting vivacious because of the little fish. But suddenly one morning when he got up, the fish disappeared...

A highway is waiting to go through a quiet village in Hunan, a province in central China where Mao was from. Due to the high cost of construction, construction companies and migrant workers who live on road work rush to here like the tide. In the following four years, they root in this strange place for interests, paying sweat and blood, even their lives. With their arrival, local village and peasants are forced to change their lives. Many hidden interest lines and hidden rules about road construction of the nation are unveiled, together with the shocking truth and emerging secrets.

철도 위에서 3년 이상 촬영하면서 빛과 어둠, 언어와 제스처가 교차하며 변화하는 중국의 내면을 담았다. 추상회화를 연상케 하는 프레임을 통해 인간과 기계의 만남을 묘사한다. 기차의 일상과 인간을 추상적 이미지로 조형한 에세이 필름. (2015년 제16회 전주국제영화제) 리뷰 3년의 시간 동안 중국의 원근각지를 이동하는 철도의 이모저모를 편집하여 만든 에세이 다큐멘터리이다. 철로, 곤히 잠자는 사람들, 콩나물시루 같은 기차의 낭하, 좁은 통로에서 담배를 피우는 사람들은 중국 사회의 빛과 그림자를 무연히 은유한다. J. P 스니아데키 감독은 추상회화를 연상케 하는 회화적인 프레임 구성을 즐겨 사용한다. 순간순간 카메라의 존재를 드러나거나 카메라 뒤에 있는 자신을 드러내기도 한다. 육중한 철의 질감, 비곗덩어리, 핏물이 흐르는 내장 등의 오브제들을 활용하면서 그는 빈 라덴이나 카다피와 모택동을 비교하는 중국 사람들의 이야기를 슬쩍 끼워 넣음으로써 사회학과 문화인류학을 오간다. 슬금슬금 옆걸음질 치며 잠행하는 카메라는 영화의 말미에 쾌적한 상 등급 고속열차로 점핑한다. 철도, 기차의 일상, 인간을 추상적인 이미지로 조형해낸 이 에세이 필름은 사물을 응시하는 밝은 눈을 지닌 예술가의 노력에 의해 탄생했다. 2014년 「필름코멘트」가 선정한 10대 영화에 이름을 올렸다. (2015년 제16회 전주국제영화제/장병원)

Xingxi travels alone to Alor Setar, a town in Northern Malaysia. As a consequence of a blown tire, she experiences three variant adventures. She introduces herself to people using different identities with mysterious secrets. In return, what the journey brings her is thoroughly unexpected. In the first adventure, Brooke is a traveler; in the second adventure, Brooke is an anthropologist; in the third, Brooke is a divorcée. She is a disheartened woman who comes across a French writer named Pierre. The two lonely travelers become instant friends. Their age gap enables them to have their respective insights into life and death. Meanwhile, it is not until the enigmatic side of Alor Setar begins to unfold that Brooke tells Pierre the true reason why she has come. They seek to understand the interaction between love and life. As the story comes to an end, mother nature shows her beauty with the magical Blue Tears phenomenon on prominent display.

In 1946, Heidi is entrusted to a Swiss family by her father. He will never come back for her. Today, François Yang questions his mother about her past. What follows is a journey to China, a quest to reconstruct memory. Through contact with her brothers and sister, Heidi measures the extent of the drama experienced by her family that remained in China, persecuted by the Communist Party.

It has been a month Chang's wife Ling Yue has been missing. With no reasons one fine day she went to work as usual and then never returns. No one knows where she went or what had happened to her. Chang could not figure out why she disappears out of the sudden. She left no message of whatever kind or clues. One day a man named Tong shows up and claims to be Ling Yues lover. Apparently Tong is looking for Ling Yue too. In a turn of event both men formed an uneasy alliance in order to find Ling Yue

Documentary about a tribe of indigenous people in northern China.

마이키앙은 등대에서 일하는 30세 전후의 노총각이다. 외롭고 단조로운 생활속에 그는 꿈속에서 종종 첸킹이라는 여자를 만난다. 호텔에서 일하는 첸은 서른도 못되어 남편을 잃고 자신의 아들 과 함께 불운한 삶을 사는 여자다. 어느날 두사람은 만나게 되고 마이는 첸에게 자신과 관계를 맺을 것을 강요한다. 첸이 울자 마이는 심한 자책감을 느낀다. 호텔 지배인 모아저씨는 첸이 강간 당했다고 믿고 마이를 고소한다. 마이는 감옥에 갇히는데 나중에 첸이 강간이 아니라고 증언을 하여 마이는 석방된다. 첸은 세간의 입놀림의 표적이 되고, 그 사실을 알게된 마이는 첸을 찾아간다.

A documentary about government machinations and family conflict as development raises its head in an isolated country enclave of China.

The relationship between two young men in Beijing becomes strained after one of them develops an unusual fetish.

A passenger on a bus, a man with a barrel on his head, and when they meet, the two worlds are connected...

In his third film on life and work in the (once) heavily wooded north of China, Yu Guangyi (Survival Song) follows the lonely San Liangzi (46), who for the past ten years has been in love with a woman who doesn’t like men much. Intimate and revealing, but never rude. A moving and human portrait of a group of unemployed and above all lonely men who stayed behind when their wives moved to the city looking for work. They worked in the timber industry in the province of Heilongjiang, but deforestation has taken its toll. For instance, we see 46-year-old San Liangzi. Twelve years ago, he divorced his wife and became unemployed. For 10 years, he has had an eye on Wang Meizi, the only unmarried woman in the area. But the love is not mutual.

A documentary chronicling the coming of age of a young chinese man.

Three scenes about three couples with each portraying maybe the turning point of their relationship. First scene, Lim & Amelia are a couple who had been together for almost five years. While he works as a salesman and trying to save up for marriage, the girl are not sure if he’s the one she wants to marry. One day he confronts her about a letter from her admirer. Second scene, Pete & Bernice are a couple who had been together almost ten years. They’re not married because he doesn’t believe in marriage. While she tags along, one day she might realizes this may not be the man she wants to end up with. Third scene, we see Amy & Lai are a pair of secret lovers. This maybe their last meeting or maybe not. They may had loved each other in the past they may not now in this scene. This is the third and final part of James Lee's Love Trilogy which takes offers a glimpse of the life of three lovers.

On a rainy day, Zhang Xin, a filmmaker who suffers from obsession deeply, comes across a strange girl, carrying a durian. He can’t help but walk towards her. This beautiful bubble breaks once the girl turns out to be the reflection of the obsession.

Nicknamed "Mayor of the Night Market", Ninth Uncle has been a temporary worker managing the night market for over 30 years. Despite of his success in the night market, his family life appears quite the opposite. Almost 70 years old now, he continues his life in the night market. As the night falls every evening, Zhong Shan Road and its hundred years of history are now facing reconstruction and the night market full of yummy food venders [sic] is soon to be gone. Ninth Uncle helplessly watches the empire he worked his whole life for slowly fall apart.