Tank Man

The First Emperor(en)

Docu-drama profiling Ying Sheng, the first Emperor of China. Charting the life of the man who unified China, this documentary begins with the future Emperor's rise to power after the death of his father, becoming King of Qin at the age of thirteen. Mostly told through the use of re-enactments, the story continues to the present day and the discovery of the Emperor's tomb and terracotta army in 1974.

Frontline: The Tank Man(en)

On June 5, 1989, one day after Chinese troops expelled thousands of demonstrators from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a solitary, unarmed protester stood his ground before a column of tanks advancing down the Avenue of Eternal Peace. Captured by Western photographers watching nearby, this extraordinary confrontation became an icon of the fight for freedom around the world. FRONTLINE investigates the mystery of the tank man — his identity, his fate, and his significance for the Chinese leadership.

Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party(en)

The true story of the seven weeks that changed China forever. On June 4, 1989, pro-democracy demonstrations were violently and bloodily repressed. Thousands of people died, but the basis for China's future was definitely planted.

Havana Divas(cn)

The story focus on Caridad and Georgina, who had learned the art of Cantonese Opera in Havana as a young age and performed as divas for over a decade before their lives were changed by Fidel Castro's revolution.

Letter from Masanjia(en)

Damascus, Oregon, United States. Julie Keith finds a baffling message hidden in a pack of decorative items, a desperate plea for help, written by someone imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp called Masanjia…

China, My Sorrow(zh)

In August 1966, the Cultural Revolution in full swing, 13-year-old Tian Ben is arrested for playing a pop record; he's sent to a remote mountain camp in Niu-Peng. There he's called "Four Eyes" and, with about 16 other older boys and men, he's made to carry muck up a mountainside, make bricks, saw logs, and sing daily to Chairman Mao of his faults. There's camaraderie among the five youths, especially with a young pickpocket named Baimao, and Tian is also drawn to a silent monk who cares for him when he falls ill and the others expect him to die. The camp is remote, so there are no fences or walls. Tian longs to escape.

Red Cliff(zh)

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

The Good Earth(en)

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

Air Strike(en)

An American pilot is sent to a Chinese province to teach a crew of would-be pilots how to fly war planes against the Japanese during World War II.

The Monkey King(zh)

Sun Wukong is a monkey born from a heavenly stone who acquires supernatural powers. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to India. Thus, according to legend, Buddhism is brought to ancient China.

The Banquet of the Concubine(fr)

Delicately flirting with eroticism, the animated film The Banquet of the Concubine, by young Chinese director Hefang Wei, recounts one of the most famous love stories of Imperial China. In this tale of bitter jealousy, nothing can sweeten the heart of an abandoned mistress, not even the luscious lychee.

Garden of Repose(zh)

Yang Mengchi is a spoiled, rich do-nothing whose habit of smoking opium has cost him his entire fortune and the family mansion, the Garden of Repose, now due to be sold to Yao Guodong. Fearing that Yao's spoiled and unruly son Siaofu will follow in Yang's footsteps, Yao's stepwife Wan Zhaohua tries to instil discipline in the child but her efforts are undermined by the child's indulging and protective father and grandmother. Unable to reform himself despite his own son's chastisement, Yang leaves home to lead a reclusive life in a destitute temple, only helped out by his filial daughter Han'er. The poverty-stricken Yang is drafted into the army and tragedy ensues.

The Lady in Combat(cn)

An early lost swordplay film from Hong Kong. It centered on Wu Lai-Chu as a swordswoman fighting evil.

The East Is Red(zh)

Pre-Cultural Revolution propaganda at its most lavish, this model opera depicts the history and evolution of the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong from its founding in July 1921 to the establishment of "New China" in 1949. Detailed in the musical are several key events in CPC history such as the Northern Expedition, the KMT-led Shanghai massacre of 1927, the Nanchang Uprising and formation of the People's Liberation Army, the Long March and the founding of the PRC on October 1, 1949.

The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel(zh)

World War II: a cholera epidemic ravages the streets of Beijing. A crack team of Chinese intelligence agents kidnap a Japanese general and biochemist who may hold the antidote.

Empress Wu(zh)

The renowned Li Li Hua plays Wu Ze Tian, the most famous woman in China's four thousand year history.

Michael Jackson: Who Was the Man in the Mirror?(en)

Michael Jackson is remembered as the King of Pop, and is a renowned incredibly talented singer and dancer. His style, music and dance moves are celebrated worldwide. He was a one of a kind performer and once in a lifetime entertainer, but few people really know the man he was behind the mask and and the man that the media portrayed him to be. From the age of 5 and up until his last days, the pressure that was put on him was enormous and it had serious repercussions on his physical and mental health. His success was overshadowed by child abuse allegations, and his addiction for prescription drugs and plastic surgery. The show reveals who was the real Michael Jackson, the deeply conflicted man, the man that never really grew up, the man in the mirror.

Film is Dead. Long Live Film!(en)

FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM! is a lively and loving tribute to the private film collector, a celebration of the fetishistic subculture of pre-video movie-love, and a timely reminder of the glories of analog film.

Trapped by the Internet - The Elodie Morel Case(en)

Police receive a strange call claiming that in a few hours, a woman will be kidnapped. The informer describes a couple, sitting at a café and claims the woman is in grave danger. Police rush to the café but find no one matching the couple's description. Then, hours later, a young woman, Elodie Morel, is reported missing. Then the case becomes even stranger. She had responded to an internet advert for models and was supposed to be meeting the casting director at a café. Could she be the woman?

Dezo Hoffmann – Photographer of The Beatles(sk)