Zhao Xiaoding Movies

As China is ravaged by war in the late '30s, a young English journalist named George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) leads 60 orphans over the Liu Pan Shan mountains and into the safety of the Mongolian desert. Joining the journalist and the children on their arduous journey are an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the fearless leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun-Fat). The journey won't be easy, but as they boldly forge forward through snow-covered mountains and unforgiving desert, they learn the true meaning of responsibility, courage, and love. Jane Hawksley pens a drama based on actual events and directed by renowned filmmaker Roger Spottiswoode. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe qualifies as perhaps the most formidable, ambitious and impressive nonprofit that is devoted exclusively to the artistic expression of the disabled. Founded in 1987 Beijing by a collective of 30 physically and mentally-handicapped performers, CDPPAT took root in response to the United Nations' 'Decade for the Disabled.' In the early years, the organization launched itself and made its presence known by tailoring individual projects to the needs and abilities of its members, and toured accordingly throughout Asia, Europe, and the West; circa 2000, the CDPPAT began staging "My Dream" musical revues with wall-to-wall singing and dancing, and had blossomed to a substantial 88-performer membership - 55 with hearing impairments, 28 with impaired vision. With his documentary My Dream, Chinese director Wang Honghai both traces the group's history and pays unbridled homage to its foundational principles, vision and accomplishments. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

On the heels of such extravagant historical swordplay epics as Hero and House of Flying Daggers, Mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou returns to the reins to tell this intimate tale of an aging father who attempts to remedy a longstanding rift with his grown son. Summoned to Tokyo by his daughter-in-law, Rie (Shinobu Terajima), village fisherman Gou-ichi Takata (Ken Takakura), arrives at a city hospital to find his son, Ken-ichi (Kiichi Nakai), bedridden by liver cancer. Though Gou-ichi attempts to use the visit as a catalyst to heal a decade-long dispute between the pair, stubborn Ken-ichi rejects his father's attempt at reconciliation outright. Subsequently handed a videotape by Rie before departing back to the countryside, Gou-ichi returns home unsuccessful in his efforts to build a bridge of peace between himself and his ailing son. Upon watching the videotape, a research project exploring the Chinese folk arts that was shot by Ken-ichi in the Southern province of Yunnan, Gou-ichi is oddly affected by the onscreen failure of his son in convincing well-known opera singer Li Jiamin (playing himself) to perform the titular song, a classic operatic piece espousing the values of friendship. Now determined to travel to Yunnan and videotape the performance that his son could not, Gou-ichi embarks on a life-changing quest that will not only give him a greater understanding of the relationship between himself and his own son, but set into motion a healing process that will also have a profound impact on the troubled opera singer and the man's long-lost illegitimate son as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A visually stylized and offbeat tale of urban romance from music video director Zhang Yibai, Spring Subway is the first release from the Beijing-based, independent production company Electric Orange Entertainment. Their seven-year-old marriage collapsing from simple ennui, twentysomething city dwellers Jian Bin (Geng Le) and Xiaohui (Xu Jinglei) cling to familiarity in hopes of maintaining their comfortably numb existence. While designer Xiaohui embarks on a extramarital affair with one of her co-workers, Jian Bin doesn't tell Xiaohui about getting fired from his job and maintains the facade of going to work by spending his day on the Beijing subway. Eavesdropping on young couples in love while daydreaming on the subway, Jian Bin himself is tempted with infidelity when he comes to the aid of an injured schoolteacher and provides anonymous care from afar during her convalescence in a local hospital. If Xiaohui and Jian Bin can only bring themselves to be as honest with one another as they are with their outside relationships, there may yet be hope for their marriage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide