When this year's Academy Award for Best Picture went to Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED, a remake of Andrew Lau's 2002 Hong Kong hit INFERNAL AFFAIRS, the Chinese film community got another feather in its cap--after two decades of growing recognition in the West. As the world's third largest producer of feature films, after India and the United States, the Chinese filmmaking community's size alone warrants attention, but China's influential and celebrated filmmakers and performers have established themselves here. Directors like Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou regularly exhibit their films in US theaters, while John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai have branched out to US production. Actors Jackie Chan and Ziyi Zhang have international fan bases.

Beyond these established stars, emerging Chinese talents have made many outstanding films not yet introduced to American viewers. AFI Silver's China Film Festival highlights outstanding works of contemporary Chinese cinema, including new work and the latest films by recognized masters.

AFI thanks the Embassy of the People's Republic of China for its kind cooperation. Thanks also to the State Administration of Radio, Film & TV for helping to provide prints.

Films include: THE BANQUET [Ye Yan]; LITTLE RED FLOWERS [Kan Shang Qu Hen Mei]; THE GO MASTER [Wu Qingyuan]; STILL LIFE [Sanxia Haoren]; SHANGHAI DREAMS [Qing Hong]; DAM STREET [Hong Yan]; TUYA'S MARRIAGE [Tuya De Hun Shi] and EXILED [Fong Juk].

OPENING NIGHT!
THURSDAY, MAY 3 AT 8:00 PM

THE BANQUET [Ye Yan]

Set in 10th-century China, Zhang Ziyi is legendary beauty and swordswoman Empress Wan. Locked in a hollow marriage to the Emperor, Wan harbors a secret love for the introverted Prince Wu (Chinese idol Daniel Wu). Once her childhood sweetheart, Prince Wu is now her stepson. When the Emperor dies suddenly, his conniving younger brother Li assumes the throne. The Empress sees through Li's murderous ambition and concedes to marry Li, knowing that otherwise Wu's days are numbered. (Note from Toronto Film Festival)

DIR Xiaogang Feng; SCR Gangjian Qui; PROD John Chong and Zhongjun Wang. China, 2006, color, 131 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Thursday May 3, 8:00; Sunday, May 6, 4:45

LITTLE RED FLOWERS [Kan Shang Qu Hen Mei]

Four-year-old Qiang has been orphaned and deposited into a Beijing kindergarten. He has trouble acclimating to the school's regimen of how and when to eat, dress, wash his hands, and use the bathroom. The formation of good habits is rewarded with coveted little red flowers, but because he can't yet dress himself and still wets his bed, he's unable to earn any. His frustration and defiance soon put him at odds with the head teacher, Mrs. Li. (Note from Toronto Film Festival)

DIR/SCR/PROD Yuan Zhang; SCR Dia Ning; PROD Li Bolun, Allen Chan and Yao Lifeng, Marco Muller. China/Italy, 2006, color, 92 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Friday, May 4, 5:00; Saturday, May 5, 12:30

THE GO MASTER [Wu Qingyuan]

Based on the life of prodigy Wu Qingyuan (beautifully played by Chang Chen), the Chinese master of the Japanese board game "go." Torn by bellicose relations between the two countries, Wu stays in Japan and is pulled into a religious cult that exploits his celebrity. At the center of the storm, Wu maintains his own spiritual counsel and loyalty to the discipline of his chosen vocation. This moving and perceptive portrait boasts ravishing lighting and cinematography. (Note from New York Film Festival)

DIR Zhuangzhuang Tian; SCR Cheng Ah and Jingzhi Zou; PROD Xiandian Lui. Japan/China, 2006, color, 104 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Friday, May 4, 7:00, Sunday, May 6, 9:35

STILL LIFE [Sanxia haoren]

Winner of the prestigious Golden Lion at Venice in 2006, STILL LIFE interweaves two fictional stories in connection with the actual geographical transformation of Fengjie, a two-millennia-old city which is now underwater to accommodate the Three Gorges Dam, the largest engineering project in the world. Han Sinming is a miner who revisits the city looking for his wife and adult daughter while nurse Shen Hong (Zhao Tao) looks to reconnect with her estranged husband. A beautiful meditation on loss and alienation.

DIR/SCR Zhang Ke Jia; PROD Tianyan Wang, Pengle Xu and Jiong Zhu. China/Hong Kong, 2006, color, 108 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Friday, May 4, 9:15; Saturday, May 5, 1:00

SHANGHAI DREAMS [Qing Hong]

Qinghong's father has always regretted moving his family from Shanghai to Guizhou in the 1960s to fulfill patriotic duties. Dreaming of returning to his native city, he wants to prevent his daughter from putting down roots in Guizhou. He stalks her when she falls for a local boy and poisons her life with loneliness. SHANGHAI DREAMS maintains a chilling sense of suspense and thriller-like momentum throughout its tale of personal tragedy. (Note from Toronto Film Festival)

DIR/SCR Xiaoshuai Wang; PROD Li Pi. China, 2005, color, 123 min. In Mandarin and Shanghainese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 5, 2:30; Monday, May 7, 9:00

DAM STREET [Hong Yan]

Director Yu Li brings fresh perspective to classic melodrama in this artful and affecting film. When feisty small-town high schooler Liu gets pregnant in 1983 Sichuan province, she is expelled and publicly denounced. Liu's family arranges a secret adoption, after telling her the child died. Ten years later, lonely Liu--dreaming of singing opera but stuck singing pop songs in dive bars--begins an unusual friendship with a precocious young boy, much to her family's consternation

DIR Yu Li; SCR Li Fang and Kechun Li; PROD Li Fang. France/China, 2005, color, 93 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 5, 5:00; Monday, May 7, 7:00

TUYA'S MARRIAGE [Tuya de hun shi]

Winner of the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Though conditions in her village are unforgiving, Tuya refuses to migrate to the city, preferring to stay with her disabled husband Bater, two children and flock of sheep. However, when Tuya falls ill, she begins to consider her husband's divorce proposal, as this would enable her to take better care of him and her children. None of her suitors are eager to provide for Bater until a classmate emerges from the past to court Tuya with dramatic results.

DIR/SCR Quanan Wang; SCR Wei Lu; PROD Jugang Yan. China, 2006, color, 96 min. In Mandarin with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 5, 7:00; Sunday, May 6, 1:00

EXILED [Fong Juk]

Director Johnny To's genre-bending black comedy packs narrative tension with thrilling action and superb cinematography. Hit man Wo wants to quit his criminal life and live quietly with his family, but his former buddies consider him a traitor and come to kill him. Resolved to take him down, they negotiate a gentlemen's agreement, granting Wo another day of life and helping him find one last job to provide for his future widow and newborn baby. (Note from Toronto Film Festival)

DIR/PROD Johnny To; SCR Kam-Yuen Szeto and Tin-Shing Yip. Hong Kong, 2006, color, 100 min. In Cantonese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 5, 9:30; Sunday, May 6, 7:30

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