September 28: Chen KAIGE – China (born 1952)
FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (Ba wang bie ji) – China/Hong Kong 1993, 154 min., drama. With: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li. Story of two brothers, performers in the Peking Opera, and the woman who comes between them, set amidst the political turmoil of twentieth century China. Cannes 1993: Golden Palm, FIPRESCI Prize.

October 26: Kim KI-DUC – South Korea (born 1960)
SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... AND SPRING (Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom) – South Korea/Germany 2003, 103 min., drama. With: Yeong-su Oh, Ki-duk Kim, Young-min Kim, Jae-kyeong Seo. An old monk living on an isolated lake raises a young boy to follow in his footsteps. The seasons pass by and the child becomes a man. San Sebastian 2003: Audience Award.
3-IRON (Bin-Jip) – South Korea/Japan 2004, 95 min., drama/romance. With: Lee Seung-Yeon, Jae Hee, Kwon Hyuk-ho. Young drifter enters strangers’ houses and lives there while owners are away. One day, he runs into a woman ready to escape her unhappy and abusive marriage. She joins him. Venice 2004: Little Golden Lion, FIPRESCI, and Special Director’s Awards.

November 23: Tsai MING-LIANG, Taiwan (born 1957)
VIVRE L’AMOUR (Aiqing wansui) – Taiwan 1994, DVD/118 min., drama. With: Kuei-Mei Yang, Chao-Jung Chen, Kang-sheng Lee. An empty apartment becomes a meeting place for three seemingly disparate people: a woman desperate to be loved, a young gay boy desperate to love someone and a footloose young man who loves no one nor feels the need to be loved. Venice 1994: Golden Lion.
THE HOLE (Dong) – Taiwan/France 1998, DVD/95 min., drama/ musical (to be confirmed). With: Kang-sheng Lee, Kuei-Mei Yang. A falling-apart Taipei housing project in times of mysterious epidemic. A man and a woman (upstairs/downstairs neighbours) are enduring the situation against their alienation and loneliness. The only connection between them is a hole in the floor/ceiling between their apartments. Cannes 1998: FIPRESCI Prize.

December 14: In the Mood for Laughter
TOGETHER (He ni zai yi qi) – China/Korea 2002, 119 min., comedy/drama. Dir.: Chen Kaige. With: Yu Tang, Peigi Liu, Hong Chen, Zhiwen Wang. A violin prodigy and his father travel to Beijing to find a proper music teacher for the boy. The father puts his whole life on line to ensure his son’s success while the boy struggles to accept the path lying ahead of him. San Sebastian 2003: Silver Seashell – best director, best actor.
SHOWER (Xizao) – China 1999, 95 min., comedy. Dir.: Zhang Yang. With: Wu Jiang, Quenxin Pu, Lu Zeng, Xu Zhu. Shenzhen businessman, Da Ming, goes home to Beijing where he finds his father hard at work at the family’s bathhouse. After death of the father, Da must take charge of the family and their future. Toronto 1999: FIPRESCI AWARD. San Sebastian 1999: Silver Seashell – best director.

January 11: Postcards from Vietnam
CYCLO (Xich Lo) – Vietnam/France 1995, 120 min., drama. Dir. Anh Hung Tran. With: Le Van Loc, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tran Nu Yên-Khê. A bicycle-taxi boy in Saigon gets involved with a group of criminals. His sister turns to prostitution as a matter of economic survival. One of the most dramatic portraits of Third World poverty. Venice 1995: Golden Lion, FIPRESCI Prize.
THREE SEASONS – U.S. 1999, 109 min., drama. Dir.: Tony Bui. With: Ngoc Hiep Nguyen, Don Duong, Diep Bui, Huu Duoc Nguyen, Harvey Keitel. A young woman works harvesting lotuses in the ponds of a reclusive man with leprosy. A riksha driver falls in love with a hotel call girl. An American looks for a daughter he fathered during the war. Sundance 1999: Jury/Audience Prizes.

February 8: Wong KAR WAI – Hong Kong (born 1958)
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Fa yeung nin wa) – Hong Kong 2000, 99 min., romance. With: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung. A man and a woman move into adjacent Hong Kong apartments. They form a bond after discovering that their spouses are involved in extra-marital affairs. Cannes 2000: best actor. César 2000: best foreign film.
2046 – Hong Kong 2005, 129 min., Sci-Fi/drama/romance. With: Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Gong Li, Takuya Kimura, Ziyi Zhang, Carina Lau, Chen Chang. Sequel to In the Mood for Love set in Hong Kong of the ‘60s. An emotionally wrecked writer is preoccupied with sepia-tinted memories of his torrid love affairs.

March 15: TIBET – The Secret Land
THE SALTMEN OF TIBET (Die Salzmänner von Tibet) – Germany/Swiss 1997, 110 min., adventure. Dir.: Ulrike Koch. With: Margen, Pargen, Zopon, Mopsa. Four men from a nomadic Tibetan tribe undertake their annual ritualistic pilgrimage to a sacred salt lake. The journey incorporates a number of rituals necessary for the nomadic culture to survive in the modern world. San Francisco 1998: Golden Spire Prize.
TIBET: CRY OF THE SNOW LION – U.S. 2003, 104 min., documentary. Dir.: Tom Piozet. Filmed during nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal, the film shows oppression endured by Tibetans under Chinese occupation. A collection of undercover and archival images never before assembled in one documentary plus breathtaking images of the Tibetan land.

April 5: China – Tour
BEIJING BICYCLE (Shiqu sui de dan che) – China 2001, 113 min., drama. Dir.: Wang Xiaoshuaai. With: Lin Cui, Bin Li, Xun Zhou. A country boy, working for a bicycle delivery service, is fired when his bicycle is stolen and sold to a high school student. From fighting for the ownership of the bicycle, through sharing it every second day, the two boys eventually become friends. Berlin 2001: Silver Berlin Bear.
ZHOU YU’S TRAIN (Zhou Yu de huo che) – China/Hong Kong 2003, 96 min., romance/drama. Dir.: Sun Zhou. With: Gong Li, Tony Leung Kar-fai, Sun Honglei. Zhou Yu, a ceramic artisan in China’s rural Northwest, has a passionate romance with a poet living in another city. She takes long train rides to visit him every weekend. A chance meeting with a hedonistic veterinarian takes her to another train station and another level of desire.

May 3: Zhang YIMOU – China (born 1952)
HERO (Ying xiong) – Hong Kong/China 2002, 99 min., action/drama. With: Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Daoming Chen, Donnie Yen. A series of Rashomon-like flashbacks revealing a story of one man defeating three sword-master assassins planning to murder the most powerful king in pre-unified China. Oscars/Golden Globes 2003: best foreign film nominee. Toronto 2003: best foreign film.
THE ROAD HOME (Wo de fu qin mu qin) – China 1999, 89 min., romantic comedy. With: Ziyi Zhang, Honglei Sun, Hao Zheng, Yulian Zhao, Bin Li. Prompted by the grief of his mother over his father’s death, a man recalls a touching story of their marriage. Berlin 1999: Silver Berlin Bear.

*All films are presented in their original language with English subtitles.

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