Yuan Zhang

A young boy starting school for the first time struggles to fit in to a strictly regimented society in in post-revolutionary China. (imdb)

Tao Lan and Yu Xiaoqin are teenage stepsisters. They go to the same high school, sleep in the same bedroom, but couldn't be more different. The first is wild, a bit of a vagabond, while the other is diligent and studies hard. One day Yu Xiaoqin steals money from her father and puts the blame on Tao Lin, who accidentally kills her sister while attempting to prove her innocence... (imdb)

In China, homosexuality isn't illegal, but homosexuals are routinely persecuted by police and arrested for "hooliganism". The film focuses on a young gay writer A-Lan who, being attracted to a young policeman, manages to have himself interrogated for a whole night. His life-story which he tells during the interrogation reflects the general repression of the Chinese society. The policeman's attitude shifts from the initial revulsion to fascination and, finally, to attraction. (imdb)

Dada is the neighborhood coquette. She lives with her divorced mother, works at a pool hall, and is a tease to the local men, including the boy next door, Zhoa, who has a crush on her. One morning she catches him spying on her as she dances, but she continues to flirt with him. Her mother's lecherous new boyfriend also has eyes for her. But when she spurns his advances, he reveals that she's adopted. Hastily packing her bag, Dada heads out of town with Zhoa in search of her birth mother. (sundance)

Shot on an extreme budget within Zhang Yuan's apartment, Mama, follows the story of a mother and her grown mentally challenged son. (wikipedia)

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

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. (imdb)

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. (imdb)

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. (imdb)

Bookish graduate student Wu Fang (Vicky Zhao)often goes on blind dates with men. Every time when she meets a man in coffee shops or bars, she always orders a cup of green tea, believing that green tea will show her the way to true love. (yesasia.com)

Ever since the 1990s, Zhang Yuan has been one of China's most important independent film directors. His recent films have defied the clear line between "approved" and "indie" filmmaking: produced independently, they are also designed to be accessible to Chinese audiences. Zhang has always been interested in portraying youth culture in Beijing, from his groundbreaking underground rock film Beijing Bastards (1993) to his new drama Beijing Flickers. Derived from a photographic video installation (viff.org)

In this animated short, Maylin cooks mouth-watering meals at her father's restaurant in Chinatown, but her father and brothers take all the credit. When a dignitary from China visits and tastes one her dishes, Maylin finally earns recognition. (nfb.ca)

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. (wikipedia.org)