Reviews

Luo Jiang and Guihua, a poor, middle-aged couple with few prospects, decide to buy an 11- year-old girl, Xiao Ezi (aka "Little Moth"), for $140 in rural China. Xiao Ezi's life is in peril, as she is forced to earn money for her new parents as a beggar while suffering from a blood disease that leaves her unable to walk. Her greedy adoptive father, Luo Jiang, refuses to buy her medicine, while Guihua's growing maternal affection wracks her with guilt. After a run-in with local extortionists, the three flee into the territory of the unsavory Mr. Yang, whose one-armed boy Xiao Chun is also forced to beg. Inevitably the grownups take turns taking advantage of each other, giving the children a rare opportunity to develop a protective bond with one another.

With virtually no budget, a hand-held digital camera and a cast of non-professionals, Peng Tao turns the sordid street life of small town China into a chain-reaction tale of human cruelty and unforgettable suspense. LITTLE MOTH "melds the anger and storytelling scope of Dickens, the doc-influenced immediacy and sensitive gaze of the Dardenne brothers, and the best tendencies of recent Chinese cinema." (Robert Koehler, Variety).

QUEER CHINA, 'COMRADE' CHINA documents the changes and developments in Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender culture that have taken place in China over the last 80 years. Unlike any before, this film explores the historical milestones and ongoing advocacy efforts of the Chinese LGBT community. The film examines how shifting attitudes in law, media and education have transformed queer culture from being an unspeakable taboo to an accepted social identity. The film culminates with the submission of Dr. Li Yinhe's Same-sex Marriage Bill to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress in 2003, a major landmark event in the ongoing struggle for acceptance of queer identity in China. Directed by Cui Zi'en, China's leading queer theorist, activist and scholar, the documentary includes rarely seen footage of the first ever appearance of gays and lesbians on State television, including Cui Zi'en himself. The film features exclusive interviews with over three dozen leading queer activists, scholars and filmmakers, including Shi Tou, Li Yinhe and Zhang Yuan. The opening night film of 2009's ShanghaiPRIDE, China's first ever LGBT pride festival, QUEER CHINA, 'COMRADE' CHINA is nothing less than the most authoritative account of queer cultural history in China to date.

The film has a three-part structure:

VOICES tells the story of Yuehan, the pastor of the local Christian church, and his 87 year-old father, John the Elder, a formerly jailed Lisu pastor who was among the first in the region to study with Western missionaries before they were expelled in 1957. Voices exposes the personal rift between Yuehan and his father as well as questions over the past and future of the church.

RECOLLECTIONS is a story about two young lovers faced with substantial cultural and economic obstacles threatening their relationship. The young man, Pu Biqui, must decide whether to leave Zhiziluo for brighter prospects in the city, while his girlfriend faces the possibility of being sold into marriage to help her family with its financial woes.

INNOCENCE tells the story of Ah Long, a twelve year-old boy who lives alone, having been abandoned by this family. Ah Long scavenges the area to feed himself, while still finding ways to amuse himself as a child, even indulging in a traditional Lisu exorcism.

Xiao-Li (Hu Shuli) is a devoted housewife and an active member of her local Catholic church in the Henan farmlands of southern China. Her faith is put to the test as her husband (Zhang Xianmin) is hospitalized with respiratory illness due to unsafe working conditions, leaving his life clinging to an oxygen machine. Forced to work simple jobs to pay for her husband's hospital care, Xiao-Li takes her young daughter (Lu Shengyue) out of school, unable to pay for tuition. She finds support only from fellow members of her congregation. But will her faith and devotion be enough to save her family?

Filmed with a beautiful eye for both vast rural landscapes and human intimacy, RAISED FROM DUST explores the lives of those rarely seen in modern-day China, and announces Gan Xiao'Er as a new major talent in world cinema.

"Exquisite!" – Tony Rayns, Film Comment "Pure cinema" – Susanna Harutyunyan, FIPRESCI – The International Federation of Film Critics

These everyday subjects are transformed by a groundbreaking digital cinematography unlike any other Chinese film. Alternating deep-focus with bold flatness, Yang explores spaces with a mastery that recalls both classical Chinese and modernist landscape painting. Filmed in a summery palette with images that give off an otherworldly glow, BETELNUT offers a one-of-a- kind vision of what it's like to be young, poor and free in China. "Yang is a first-class visual stylist, and BETELNUT is far and away the most exciting debut film I've seen all year." (Michael Sicinski, The University of Houston).