The Peach Blossom Fan

The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian(zh)

The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian is a Hong Kong Chinese Opera musical starring Jackie Chan in a child role.

The Rainbow Pass(cn)

The Rainbow Pass is a Chinese Opera starring Sammo Hung in a child role

The Eighteen Darts (Part 1)(cn)

The Eighteen Darts (Part 1) is a Chinese Opera Musical starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in child roles.

The Eighteen Darts (Part 2)(cn)

The Eighteen Darts (Part 2) is a Chinese Opera Musical starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in child roles.

Qin Xianglian(zh)

Qing (i.e. Qin) Xianglian was the wife of a man named Chen Shimei, who won the first title of national examination and awarded as husband of the emperor's daughter. Then Qing (i.e. Qin) sues Chen as a murderer who plans to kill his wife and son. In spite of the royal power, gownsman Bao Zhen settles the lawsuit and sentences Chen to serve his head.

Farewell My Concubine(zh)

Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.

Opičí císař dostává zbraň v paláci Dračího císaře(cs)

So Siu Siu(zh)

The film opens with a travelogue, showcasing West Lake and the real Mainland Chinese locations used by the film to which only the Left Wing of Hong Kong Cinema had access to at the time. The title character is a young woman raised by her courtesan aunt in the West Lake scenic resort area in Hangzhou. Siu Siu is perused by a local Official, but falls in love with the son of the Prime Minister. They marry, but are separated by the Prime Minister who arranges another marriage for the son. Siu Siu remains at West Lake, where she regretfully uses the desire of the earlier Official to help another of the girls find happiness.

Baijin Long(cn)

A wealthy man's son, who has a sinecure as a hotel owner, poses as a bellhop to win the affections of a woman guest with whom he has fallen madly in love, but who seeks a common man who is earning his own way. This first Cantonese-language talkie was based on a successful 1930 stage musical written by and starring Xue JueXian (Sit KokSin), the plot of which was in turn inspired by a 1929 silent Hollywood romance called "The Grand Duchess And The Waiter" which Xue admired. The film was produced not in Shanghai, by the Tianyi studio, headed by the eldest of the Shaw Brothers, Shao Zuiweng (RunJe Shaw), and was so successful in the Cantonese-speaking parts of China that Shaw moved the Tianyi company to British-administered, Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong to make more Cantonese films in the face of the right-wing Chinese Nationalist government's ban on Cantonese language in favor of Mandarin. A sequel to Baijin Long was made in 1937, and the film itself was remade in 1947.

White Powder and Neon Lights(cn)

This is the first 16mm Cantonese film in full colour, shot on 1940s state-of-the-art Technicolor film stock. Opera star Man-ha (Leung Bik-yuk) enjoys tremendous popularity during her performances in San Francisco, but drowns herself in the vices and temptations of the big city. Increasingly, she fails to show up for performances, almost causing the theatre to go bankrupt. When she sees her lover for the scoundrel that he is, she also sees the errors of her own ways and saves the theatre, restoring it to glory. Joseph Sunn Jue established the Grandview Film Company in Hong Kong during the 1930s and continued making films in the USA during wartime by collaborating with Chinese opera performers in exile there. Wong Hok-sing, an opera actor himself, directed, wrote and starred in this film. He staged a spectacular play-within-a-play at the end, not only to promote the art of Cantonese opera but also to boost solidarity among overseas Chinese through difficult times.

Bamboo Theatre(cn)

This film is a portrait of unique cultural space for Spirits, Gods and People. While permanent theatres are commonly built in most cosmopolitan modern cities, Hong Kong preserves a unique theatrical architecture, a Chinese tradition that has lasted more than a century - Bamboo Theatre.

My Way(en)

When facing a path with no future or precedent success, will we ever choose to stay? Cheuk Cheung’s My Way explores the Cantonese Opera tradition of male Dan performers, men who play female roles, against the backdrop of a Hong Kong society increasingly putting less value on art. Although female performers have long been part of the mainstream of Cantonese Opera, the film follows the stories of two young men who are still fascinated by the art of the male Dan, striving to find their own way to carry on the practice. A moving and searching look at the struggle for identity, My Way is a colourful, musical and moving film which offers a unique and highly personal look at perseverance in the face of a changing society.

Le Serpent Blanc(xx)

Backstage of a traditional Chinese opera, the staff and performers are bringing a play to life: "The Legend of the White Snake."

Sons and Daughters of the Grassland(zh)

The main characters are two youngsters of China's Mongolian nationality, Temur and his younger sister Schin, whose fine revolutionary qualities - courage, tenacity and wholehearted devotion to the public interests - are highlighted in the dance-drama.

River Of Fury(zh)

River Of Fury presents the self-discovery and awakening of a young man (Danny Lee), who has been exposed and fallen for the lucrative powers of wealth. Lily Ho played a role in sharp contrast with Lee, which has helplessly fallen prey to the irresistible temptations of wealth under the influence of her mother. Once again, Ho demonstrates her remarkable talent in Chinese opera following her Beijing-opera showcase in The Warlord (co-starring Michael Hui Kwun-man).

She Sings for the World(zh)

A Chinese Canadian son sets out to make a film on his mother, who was once known as the first ever Chinese Opera Singer to have performed Pingju Opera in English in late 1980's China.

Iron-beaked Hen's Sudden Rise to Power(cn)

Iron-Beaked Hen and Fatso Bo on their way to the city to help a relative out of some trouble, they run into a band of robbers. They stop over an allegedly haunted house where they save the lovers To Lok-yin and Yu Mei-yung from their attemped suicide. Hen learn their story and decide to help them out. Yin comes from a rich family, he lost his father when he was very young and was brought up by his uncle. Now that he is old enough to claim his inheritance, the guardian, his uncle, in order to keep the fortune under control, forces him to marry a girl of his choosing. The couple cannot face separation and resolve to end their lives together. Hen thinks of a way to help them, which involves Yin pretending to comply; that is, to go ahead with the marriage arrangement. On the wedding day, they swap the bride with Yung. Disguised as a matchmaker and a county official respectively, Hen and Bo reprimand To's uncle who schemes to seize To's family fortune. To and Yu marry.

Ye Tang - The Peony Pavilion(de)

My Next Step(zh)

MY NEXT STEP follows a young Kunqu Opera artist YANG Yang(28 year-old) over the course of several years. It offers its audience a glimpse into the world of Kunqu, and a magnifying look into the ambivalence of a young man struggling to find a way out for a fading art.

Yang Female Warriors(zh)