Movie Drama
Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of filmmakers (including Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke) and their ethos of employing documentary realism to depict the true conditions of contemporary China.
China China
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Xiao Shan Going Home
Xiao Shan, a temporary worker at the Hongyuan Restaurant, has just been fired by his boss Zhao Guoqing. Deciding to leave Beijing and returns to his home in Anyang, he goes to see a series of people from his hometown who have also been living in Beijing-construction workers, train ticket scalpers, university students, attendant, prostitutes-but no one wants to go back with him. Dispirited and confused, he searches out one after another of his old friends who are still in Beijing. Finally he leaves his wild long hair, the symbol of his life in the city, at a roadside barber stand as his offering to Beijing.
Pickpocket
A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
Unknown Pleasures
Three disaffected youths live in Datong in 2001, part of the new "Birth Control" generation. Fed on a steady diet of popular culture, both Western and Chinese, the characters of Unknown Pleasures represent a new breed in the People's Republic of China, one detached from reality through the screen of media and the internet.
Weekend Lover
The film follows a young man, A Xi who is recently released from prison. Once released, he seeks out his old girlfriend Li Xin who has since begun a relationship with La La a young musician. As the two men vie for her attention, tension and violence escalate.
Oxhide
Daily life in an impossibly cramped Beijing apartment takes on epic proportions in this, intimate portrait, with unprecedented access, of a working-class Chinese family. Boldly transforming documentary into fiction, Liu Jiayin cast her parents and herself as fictionalized versions of themselves. Her father, Liu Zaiping, sells leather bags but is slowly going bankrupt. He argues with his wife, Jia Huifen, and his daughter over methods to boost business in the shop. A cloud of anxiety follows them into sleepless nights shared in the same bed. But through the thousand daily travails of city life, a genuine and deeply moving picture of Chinese familial solidarity emerges from the screen.
Chan Is Missing
Two cabbies search San Francisco's Chinatown for a mysterious character who has disappeared with their $4000. Their quest leads them on a humorous, if mundane, journey which illuminates the many problems experienced by Chinese-Americans trying to assimilate into contemporary American society.
A Touch of Sin
Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence.
I Wish I Knew
Focuses on the people, their stories and architecture spanning from the mid-1800s, when Shanghai was opened as a trading port, to the present day.
So Long, My Son
Two married couples adjust to the vast social and economic changes taking place in China from the 1980s to the present.
The Continent
Three men living in the Eastern most island of China go on a road trip to the Western most end of the country, and facing crises of love, friendship, and faith on their journey to the West.
The Buddha
This documentary for PBS by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.
The Best is Yet to Come
In 2003, Han Dong, a teenager who dropped out of high school, arrives at Beijing with a dream of becoming a journalist.
Similiar TV Shows
Bates Motel
A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aired on the E! network, episodes will be updated to reflect the current life or status of the subject.
Family Business
Family Business was an American reality TV series produced for the cable network Showtime. Based in Los Angeles, the series focused on the pornography industry and the life of Adam Glasser, a reality porn star and video director who uses the stage name "Seymore Butts". Also featured on the series were his son, Brady, along with his mother, Lila Glasser, and his older cousin, Stevie Glasser, both of whom help Adam run the eponymous "family business" of the series, which in this case is a successful porn video production and distribution house in the San Fernando Valley, known for the "Seymore Butts" line of videos. The series first aired in 2003. In Canada it is broadcast on The Movie Network, Movie Central, and Showcase Television, in the UK on Channel 4, and in Latin America on FX. The first two seasons are currently available on DVD in North America. The series ran for four seasons. The series won the 2005 AVN award for 'Best Alternative Release'.
On the Case with Paula Zahn
Award winning journalist Paula Zahn unravels shocking crimes interviewing those closest to the case including lawyers, the victim's family, detectives and the convicted murderer themselves.
Ode to Joy
Can five single, independent career women who live in the Ode to Joy apartment building find fulfillment on their own terms? An Di is a successful business woman who has returned to China after studying in New York to find her younger brother. Qu Xiao Xiao is only 25 but already owns her own small business. Fang Sheng Mei grew up in poverty but has shed her “Princess of the Streets” background to work for a multinational company. Qiu Ying Ying is a 20-year-old small-town girl who is trying to make it in the big city. Guan Ju Er is a 20-year-old from a highly educated family, but she must discover what she wants out of life when enters the workforce for the first time. For these women, there is a man (or two) who is trying to get their attention. Dr. Zhao is a flirtatious, handsome doctor. Qi Dian is the stoic businessman. Wang Bai Chuan is Sheng Mei’s steadfast friend who has always carried a torch for her. Yao Bin is a second-generation chaebol. Tan Zong Ming is An Di’s boss who has been friend-zoned by her despite knowing her since their schooldays.
The Interpreter
She knows what she wants and is determined to go after it. Qiao Fei is a French postgraduate student who dreams of becoming a professional interpreter. Her mentor during her schooling in Paris is Cheng Jia Yang, the son of a foreign minister and a genius French interpreter. Their budding romance is complicated when Qiao Fei’s ex-boyfriend, Gao Jia Ming, happens to be Jia Yang’s adopted brother, and Jia Yang’s family thinks Wen Xiao Hua is much more suited for Jia Yang’s station in life. With the support of his friend, Wang Xu Dong, can Jia Yang stand up to his family and follow his heart?
Dead of Winter
Haunting true tales of murder set in the cruelest conditions. Featuring raw, emotional first-person interviews with family and investigators, each chilling episode explores what happens when detectives must track down a killer, all while battling the unforgiving elements.
Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema
As told through clips from 183 female directors, this epic history of the cinema focuses on women’s integral role in the development of film art. Using almost a thousand film extracts from thirteen decades and five continents, Mark Cousins asks how films are made, shot and edited; how stories are shaped and how movies depict life, love, politics, humour and death, all through the compelling lens of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – all of them women.
Chaos in Court
CHAOS IN COURT examines clips of dramatic, unexpected, and cathartic courtroom moments. Each episode brings the backstories of the crimes and legal proceedings to the forefront with insightful analysis from a diverse panel of experts including judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and criminal psychologists. Featured within each episode are interviews with defendants, family members, and others who witnessed the action to help bring dramatic courtroom moments to life, and the emotional realities of what happens when the ultimate stakes are on trial.
Murder on Middle Beach
A four-part documentary series revolving around the case of single mother Barbara Hamburg, who was brutally murdered in 2010 near her home in the upper-middle class enclave of Madison, Connecticut. The series presents first-time filmmaker Madison Hamburg’s complicated journey as a young man determined to solve an unspeakable crime and absolve the people he loves, while looking for answers within his fractured family and community.
The Rational Life
Shen Ruo Xin is a thirty-something professional who decides to take a stand against unfair societal expectations At her workplace she finds herself drawn to two different men - one her trusted, younger assistant, the other her bachelor boss. Knowing she is considered a 'leftover woman' weighs heavily on her. Will she opt to marry the man society deems appropriate, or will she listen to her heart and screw up the courage to pursue a romance with the younger man?
We Get Married
32-year-old Yang Tao is a beautiful single lady who works as a hotel manager. Yang Tao's mother is anxious for her to settle down to start a family and constantly sets her up on outrageous blind dates much to her despair. Guo Ran is a 35-year-old bachelor who settles divorce cases at the national registry of marriage. Due to the ugly scenarios that he consistently witnesses at work, he adopts a cynical view of marriage. One day, Guo Ran's buddy, Xi Feng, decides to set him up on a blind date with his cousin-in-law who happens to be Yang Tao. The pair start off on bad terms but grow closer as they learn to come to terms with their past failed romances.
New Life Begins
Because of a marriage election, girls from all over the world gather in Xinchuan. Yin Zheng, the sixth young master of Xinchuan, and Li Wei, who only wants to lose the election and live comfortably in her hometown, accidentally meet. There, a new interesting and fun chapter of their lives start. As Yin Zheng opens his house and goes to court, the two of them gradually grow closer, and spend everyday through all four seasons together. They grow together with other siblings of different personalities and fates, writing the warm daily life of the Xinchuan family together.
We Love You, Mr. Jin
When your parents don’t approve of your spouse, is a happy life possible? Mi Xiao Mi is a reporter for a Beijing news agency who meets and falls in love with Jin Liang, a gynecologist. When Xiao Mi insists on marrying Liang, a “bei piao” (a non-native Beijing resident), Xiao Mi’s single mother, Wang Shu Hua, nearly has a heart attack but is forced to accept the relationship. But when living with Liang’s father, Jin Tai Zhu, turns out to be more difficult than imagined, Xiao Mi’s mother refuses to just stand by and just watch. “We Love You, Mr. Jin,” also known as “Jin Tai Lang’s Happy Life,” is a 2012 Chinese drama series directed by Yu Chun.
24 City
24 City chronicles the dramatic closing of a once-prosperous state-owned factory in Chengdu, southwest China and its conversion into a sprawling luxury apartment complex. Three generations, eight characters : old workers, factory executives and yuppies, their stories melt into the History of China.