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.

An omnibus of 42 short films by auteur directors based on Dreams.

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.

Liang is a four-year-old little rebel, possessed of a pair of luminous eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing, since his parents are often away. Life at the kindergarten appears rich and colourful, made up of a variety of cheerfully sunny rituals and games meant to train these children to be good members of society.

Liang is a four-year-old little rebel, possessed of a pair of luminous eyes and a precociously indomitable will. His father deposits him at a well-appointed residential kindergarten in post-1949 Beijing, since his parents are often away. Life at the kindergarten appears rich and colourful, made up of a variety of cheerfully sunny rituals and games meant to train these children to be good members of society.

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

철따라 무리지어 이동하는 새들의 여행을 담은 다큐멘터리 영화로 96년 '마이크로코스모스'를 프로듀싱했던 자크 페랭의 감독 데뷔작이다. '마이크로코스모스'를 통해 풀숲에서 나누는 달팽이의 사랑, 작열하는 태양 아래 행진하는 개미의 생존 투쟁, 달밤에 울려 퍼지는 경이로운 풀벌레 소리를 보여줌으로써 우리의 무딘 눈과 귀를 자극했던 페랭은 '철새 Le Peuple Migrateur'에서 하늘 위로 카메라를 옮겼다. “새들의 눈으로 바라본 세상을 그대로 보여주고 싶었다”는 감독의 의도대로 카메라는 철새의 무리 안에 최대한 밀착해 인간의 눈으로는 볼 수 없었던 아름다운 영상들을 펼쳐 보인다. 광활한 숲이나 두텁게 드리운 구름층 위로 유유히 날아가는 새떼를 담은 파노라믹한 광경을 볼 때는 탄성이 저절로 새어 나오고, 근접 촬영한 새들의 날개짓을 보면서 두 팔이 날개라도 된 것처럼 흔들어대는 관객들이 있을 만큼 생생한 운동감도 전해준다. 3년여에 걸친 촬영기간 동안 유럽, 아프리카, 미국, 극동 아시아 지역 등 전세계 36개국 76개 지역을 돌며 35종에 이르는 철새들의 여행을 담아낸 이 장대한 ‘야생 교향곡’을 위해 수백 명의 대규모 스탭이 동원됐고 총 2억 프랑 (한화 약 350억 원)의 제작비가 투입됐다. 자크 페랭은 60년대부터 배우로 활동하기 시작해 자크 드미 감독의 '로슈포르의 연인들', 코스타 가브라스 감독의 등에 출연한 바 있는 배우 출신 감독. '마이크로코스모스'로 세자르 영화제에서 제작상을 수상한 그는 ‘97년 '히말라야, 추장의 어린 시절' 등 자연과 인간을 다룬 다큐멘터리로 관심을 옮겨가고 있다. 프랑스 영화계에서는 자연의 아름다움을 시적인 화면으로 담아내는 것에 그치지 않고 카메라를 매개로 자연과 인간의 교감을 이루어내면서 문명에 대한 성찰을 녹여내고 있다는 점을 '철새 Le Peuple Migrateur'의 가장 큰 미덕으로 꼽고 있다.

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.

민감한 젊은 작가 아란은 어느날 동성애자들이 종종 찾는 북경의 국립공원을 거닐고 있던 중 경찰의 수색으로 사령부로 끌려간다. 경찰의 철저한 검색이 계속되자, 아란은 혼란스러웠던 삶의 기억들이 예기치 않게 떠올리게 된다. 그는 어린 시절, 부모님, 학교, 첫번째 성경험, 나라에서 정치적으로 위임받은 소 작농업, 진실한 사랑에 대해 무감했던 시절들을 회상한다. 아란의 인생을 짧지만 섬세하게 훑어본 경관은 자신의 수감자에 대한 감정이 동요되기 시작한다. 이후 묘한 사랑 이야기가 펼쳐지게 되는데...

민감한 젊은 작가 아란은 어느날 동성애자들이 종종 찾는 북경의 국립공원을 거닐고 있던 중 경찰의 수색으로 사령부로 끌려간다. 경찰의 철저한 검색이 계속되자, 아란은 혼란스러웠던 삶의 기억들이 예기치 않게 떠올리게 된다. 그는 어린 시절, 부모님, 학교, 첫번째 성경험, 나라에서 정치적으로 위임받은 소 작농업, 진실한 사랑에 대해 무감했던 시절들을 회상한다. 아란의 인생을 짧지만 섬세하게 훑어본 경관은 자신의 수감자에 대한 감정이 동요되기 시작한다. 이후 묘한 사랑 이야기가 펼쳐지게 되는데...

민감한 젊은 작가 아란은 어느날 동성애자들이 종종 찾는 북경의 국립공원을 거닐고 있던 중 경찰의 수색으로 사령부로 끌려간다. 경찰의 철저한 검색이 계속되자, 아란은 혼란스러웠던 삶의 기억들이 예기치 않게 떠올리게 된다. 그는 어린 시절, 부모님, 학교, 첫번째 성경험, 나라에서 정치적으로 위임받은 소 작농업, 진실한 사랑에 대해 무감했던 시절들을 회상한다. 아란의 인생을 짧지만 섬세하게 훑어본 경관은 자신의 수감자에 대한 감정이 동요되기 시작한다. 이후 묘한 사랑 이야기가 펼쳐지게 되는데...

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.