City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of several weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.
The films spans two decades as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that begin when Qiyue and Ansheng were just thirteen. The two became inseparable until they met a boy who ended up tearing their lives apart.
On the brink of the 90s, 18-year-old Zheng Wei steps into her university life with a hopeful heart for love. She forms a great friendship with her roommates and united as a group, they embark on their university life together. Wei meets Chen Hao-Zheng in a chance encounter, and despite initial reluctance, Chen accepts Wei as his girlfriend and the two become inseparable. Four years of university life pass and Wei looks forward to establishing a life together with Chen. However, Chen is forced into an impossible decision to leave Wei. Devastated, Wei decides to start afresh. A decade later, Wei’s previous lovers Lin and Chen both find their way back into her life and she has to make a choice on her next step in life.
A drama centered on the employees of a Nanjing massage parlor who share a common trait: they are all blind.
Based on the bestselling series of short stories by renowned Chinese writer Zhang Jiajia, I Belonged To You is a touching romantic tale revolving around two radio disc jockeys and the world they inhabit. They find the audience they reach reflects their own love and heartbreak, and forces them to deal with issues larger than just their own lives.
The classic film "Romance on Lushan Mountain" was a big hit in China in 1980. Thirty years later, leading actress Zhang Yu is delivering a sequel to fans, but this time as the director. Now let's take a closer look at Friday's premiere in Nanjing. It's just a peck on the cheek to filmgoers today, but that was the first kiss featured in a movie made after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Not only did it break a taboo on big screen intimacy, but it also made then-23-year-old actress Zhang Yu an idol throughout the country. Now, 30 years later, Zhang is back as the director presenting a sequel to the classic romance. She says the new film is out to explore the meaning of real love. Attaching 2010 to the original name, the new "Romance on Lushan Mountain" appeals to today's audiences. The film will be released across China on October 5th.
A Chinese medical student named Gan Shosho finds himself cut off from his homeland as he is studying in Japan during the outbreak of the war. Despite his difficult circumstances, he finds love in the form of Sachiko and the two marry. They later travel to Nanjing to live a new life together where Sachiko and Shaochang cooperate with the Japanese-backed government. Their ultimate hope is to secure peace but their idealism is not enough to keep them together through brutal times and with the end of the war the two find themselves facing a divorce... --Osaka Asian Film Festival
