The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan.
Raise the Red Lantern is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaptation by Ni Zhen of the 1990 novella Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an acclaimed ballet of the same title by the National Ballet of China, also directed by Zhang.
Gong Li is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer. He is a part of the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, Honorary Doctorate of Boston University and Yale University, Distinguished Professor of Beijing Film Academy. He made his directorial debut in 1988 with Red Sorghum.
Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling. Chen won the Palme d'Or at 1993 Cannes Film Festival and the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award in 1993 for directing Farewell My Concubine.
Bai Ling is a Chinese-American actress known for her work in the films The Crow, Nixon, Red Corner, Crank: High Voltage, Dumplings, Wild Wild West, Anna and the King, Southland Tales, and Maximum Impact, as well as TV shows Entourage and Lost. Notably, she won the Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards and the 2004 Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan for her role in Dumplings.
Not One Less is a 1999 drama film by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, adapted from Shi Xiangsheng's 1997 story A Sun in the Sky. It was produced by Guangxi Film Studio and released by China Film Group Corporation in mainland China, and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in North America and Columbia TriStar Film Distributors internationally.
To Live, also titled Lifetimes in some English versions, is a 1994 Chinese drama film directed by Zhang Yimou and written by Lu Wei, based on the novel of the same name by Yu Hua. It is produced by the Shanghai Film Studio and ERA International, starring Ge You and Gong Li, in her 7th collaboration with director Zhang Yimou.
The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced; this is an honorary award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema.
Blind Mountain is a 2007 Chinese film directed by Li Yang. It is also known as Road Home.
The Days is filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai's 1993 directorial debut. Filmed entirely in black-and-white, The Days follows the life of Dong, and Chun, married artists who have recently graduated from the Beijing Art Institute. Living meagerly in the hope of making enough money off their works, it soon becomes obvious to everyone but themselves that the marriage has begun to die.
Ning Ying is a female Chinese film director often considered a member of China's "Sixth Generation" filmmaker coterie, a group that also includes Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yuan and Wang Xiaoshuai. However, this is more a result of a shared subject matter than anything else, as chronologically, Ning is closer to the earlier Fifth Generation. Her sister, the screenwriter Ning Dai, is a frequent collaborator and the wife of fellow director Zhang Yuan. In 1997, she was a member of the jury at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival.
Cao Baoping is a Chinese film director. He has emerged in recent years as a figure in China's "midrange" cinema industry. Some industry watchers, like Variety, have situated directors like Cao between the older fifth generation directors, such as Chen Kaige or Zhang Yimou, who have achieved major international and box-office success, and the more "underground" sixth generation directors, like Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai.
The Big Parade is a 1986 Chinese film directed by Chen Kaige. It is the story of a tough drill sergeant and his raw recruits, and was photographed by Zhang Yimou.
Zhang Junzhao was a Chinese film director and screenwriter who was mainly active in the 1980s. A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and a contemporary of acclaimed directors Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Tian Zhuangzhuang, Zhang Junzhao was a prominent early member of China's Fifth Generation filmmakers. His 1984 film One and Eight is well known as the film that marked the advent of the Fifth Generation, while The Shining Arc (1988) was selected for competition for the Golden St. George award at the 1989 Moscow International Film Festival.
Li Lili was a Chinese film actress and singer. Her films Playthings, The Great Road and Storm on the Border were blockbusters of the 1930s and 1940s. She was sometimes called "China's Mae West".
Coming Home is a 2014 Chinese historical drama film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Chen Daoming and Gong Li. It was released in the US on September 11, 2015, and first shown to the public on the May 20, 2014, at the Cannes Film Festival. The story is adapted from the novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi written by novelist Geling Yan.
Film censorship in China involves the banning of films which are deemed unsuitable for release and it also involves the editing of such films and the removal of content which is objected to by the governments of China. In April 2018, films were reviewed by the China Film Administration (CFA) under the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which dictates whether, when, and how a movie gets released. The CFA is separate from the NRTA under the State Council.
One Second is a 2020 Chinese drama film directed by Zhang Yimou, about a man who escapes from a farm-prison during the Cultural Revolution. The film is based on the novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi, by author Geling Yan. Yan is not credited in the film, which has led to controversy.
