Tian Yuan

A country schoolteacher reaching retirement comes to Wuhan in search of his only son. His dying wife has requested to see her boy one last time. He is met by his daughter Yanhong who works as an escort in a karaoke bar. Yanhong introduces him to a policeman who sympathizes with his plight and agrees to help him to find his son.

Flora Lau’s debut feature is a beautifully formed, subtle film that focuses on the lives of two people with very different prospects – a wealthy Hong Kong woman and her mainland Chinese chauffeur – both trying to cope with life’s unexpected dramas. Anna (Carina Lau) struggles to maintain appearances with her status-conscious friends after her husband mysteriously vanishes. Fai’s (Chen Kun) wife is heavily pregnant with their second child, has no health care entitlements in Hong Kong and cannot give birth in their homeland without incurring penalties for breaching the one-child policy. While their daily routines intersect, their fates only momentarily converge and Lau elegantly critiques the social contradictions at play by paralleling their predicaments rather than constructing drama between the two protagonists. (Source: LFF programme)

Flavia is a thirtysomething married teacher. She has suppressed the memory of her adolescent lesbian fling with Jin and is stuck in a stifling marriage. A chance encounter in a supermarket with the playful and seductive singer Yip reawakens dormant feelings and she begins to think back on her teenage affair with Jin.

Throughout ten years of a key era in Chinese and Hong Kong history, a girl becomes fixated on a fellow commuter who she observes regularly. While the two never speak to one another, the girl captures her appearance and life changes during the years through various means such as photos and drawings.

The story of writer Xiao Hong comes alive through memories of her great love affair, literary influence and escape from China during World War II.

Sonq Shiqiao (Angelababy), 22, lives with her devoted mother, widowed shop owner Zheng Qing (Jiang Shan). Shiqiao, who always dreamed of being a ballet dancer, cannot exert herself physically as she suffers from form of myasthenia, a neuromuscular disease, that her father died of; the medication she takes also causes memory lapses. One day, at a charity fair, she bumps into Gong Ning (Mark Chao), a former high-school friend she always liked, and the two end up dating, despite the initial disapproval of her mother. Gong Ning dropped out of university to spend more time with a rock band he leads; also, his girlfriend, dancer Peng Wei (Cindy Yen), has dumped him because of his inability to focus his life. However, for Shiqiao, Gong Ning is the perfect partner.

A divorced couple learns that the only way to possibly save their daughter, who is suffering from blood cancer, is to have another child. The problem is they've both already remarried.

When the leading dancer of Lola is murdered in her dressing room on the very night of the premiere, terror looms over the dance troupe. With the murderer still at large, the coveted role of Lola passes to Tian, a talented but introverted dancer with a traumatic childhood. Suspicion fanned by jealousy soon leads to hostility and rejection from fellow dancers, while figments of childhood memories start haunting her every dream. Tian can only seek solace in the arms of her gaffer boyfriend Zhen. As the murderer strikes again, Tian begins to realize that all the slayings are somehow related to her. No sooner is she inextricably sucked into the curse of the role than she starts suspecting Zhen may actually be harboring a horrifying secret behind these murders and the troupe itself.

Happy Funeral

Love can be bitter, sweet, or spicy. The film revolves around three couples from Beijing, Hangzhou and Chongqing.

Zhang Chi, a hubris and dominating six-time racing champion, falls from grace following a crisis. After a five-year suspension from the motorsport, the now single-father to a six-year-old boy throws down the gauntlet once again.

Fei is on a top secret mission from Shanghai to the UK in order to honour a promise. Not afraid to bend the rules, Fei runs into unexpected troubles that require her to secretly chase Jack, the handsome stranger she met on the plane.

The film was originally named as “Ran Qing Shi Jie Bei” (The Legend of World Cup), but director Xiao Jiang changed the name when the famous octopus in Germany named Paul became a global sensation when he correctly predicted the outcome of all Germany games in the recent football World Cup as well as the result of the World Cup final. “We planned several topics to shoot about, like black horses, prediction results, gambling, misjudges, terrorism and football hooligans. And we chose to shoot the prediction results when the amazing prophet Paul appeared,” said Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang said they have sent invitations to the aquarium in Germany inviting Paul to attend the film premiere in China. The octopus appearing in this film is an ‘actor’ who looks similar to Paul.

During a dangerous rescue mission, Commander Tiejin and his troupe are locked in heated battle when he stops dead seeing none other than the brother he lost five years before, now fighting alongside the enemy.

Young Dutch director made an (almost) entirely Chinese film. In a city where everything is new, an outsider is in any case no more out of place than the locals. Cinematographic portrait of modern life in the mega-city of Shanghai is made up of three separate stories about dreams and loves of twentysomethings.

A father who cannot cure his own stubborn illness, a professor mother who struggles with existential questions, a son who is confused and precocious, a giant tortoise that suddenly leaves, and a sentimental grandfather who passed away. The uncle cannot finish reading THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. The aunt won't get married. The grandfather is his own daughter's enemy. The uncle does not want to return from the Philippines. And an unborn child. Summer goes, and autumn comes. Things remain, but people change.

Young and Clueless

Anchor Baby

Gao Xing

Chen’s daughter is returning from the UK after her university graduation. On the weekend of her return, Chen accidentally learns her secret when they are hijacked by two ruffians.

The film follows a girl in Hong Kong between her uncle’s dressmaking shop and her studies; between young and youth. Based on a story by Wai Chan.

Yang Fan lives in Yanjiao, which is separated from Beijing by the White River, during the quarantine. Her routine is pretty simple, cooking, cleaning and trying to abide by the rules. Her husband on the other hand, seems to be entangled in a voyeuristic/masturbatory web, where a classic painting of a woman hanging on the wall of her bedroom plays a crucial role. The two of them have sex, but things become more complicated when Yang Fan also starts sleeping with the enigmatic waiter of a restaurant she frequents, who has the tendency to pee under a tree every night after he closes shop. Instead of fighting, the three embark on a threesome trip that soon starts involving other people.

A young Chinese Go board game player arrives in Japan for training. He doesn't speak Japanese and becomes embarrassed living there. By dropping his Go stones, he happens to meet an old Japanese woman who sells vegetables on the street. They become familiar with each other. The young Chinese Go player, the old woman named Igarashi and her grandson Shoichi then live together.

Fury or Love

Special Party Branch

It’s never easy to live a big city life. Faced with the hardships, some end up as parasites while others manage to use their wisdom to turn it around and become artists of life.

As the night has fallen and the bustling offices have gone quiet, Xu Qing You and Mo Ling Ze first meet due to a misunderstanding. White-collar worker Xu Qing You spends all year round working so much that it's always evening by the time she packs up to go home. She has been in a long-term relationship with Fan Yun Xi for ten years and was preparing for her wedding when she finds out that he cheated on her. Fan Yun Xi explains it was an accident yet Xu Qing You resolutely asks to break up.

Mi Chong is a young man with crippling social anxiety. He is so unsatisfied with his miserable existence, which mainly involves staying at home all day, frozen with fear about social interaction, that he finally decides to end his life. He heads down to a nearby river, intent on committing suicide. But when he sees a young girl named Zhi Liu in the river, about to drown, he instinctively dives in to save her. Little did he know but Zhi Liu has also been through a very rough time. Unlike him, she is an extrovert, but her tumultuous family life has taken its toll on her, and she wants to get away from the people who have caused her pain. An unlikely friendship develops between these two individuals, despite their polar opposite personalities – but could love also follow?

亲爱的生命

Qiu Yuan once dreamed of working in heritage conservation, but she had no opportunity to dip her toes into the industry until she meets Qin Zhi Yuan who is the owner of Yuxinzhai. Yuan and Zhi Yuan became acquainted by chance. Zhi Yuan is a legend in the world of conservators. He manages to use Yuan's "rubber board" technology to resolve the crisis at Yuxinzhai but also puts her in danger. They wouldn't have become friends otherwise and from then on, Yuan kickstarts her career in the preservation of cultural heritage with Zhi Yuan as her teacher. Just as Yuan and Zhi Yuan develop feelings for each other, Zuo Huai Ren whom Yuan has crushed for years suddenly returns to China.

Due to negative feedback to a public service announcement on suicide prevention that she created, psychologist He Dun experiences a blow to her career. To cheer up, she meets her best friend at a restaurant where she runs into Qian Kai Yi. He is now hosting a radio program dealing with emotional issues. At his insistence, He Dun agrees to be his collaborator and co-host. As the show gains listenership He Dun's counseling clinic becomes equally busy.