Night and Fog: Hong Kong Social Problems On the Big Screen – Arts & Entertainment

Ever since Anna May Wong became the first Chinese movie star to appear in a Hollywood film in the 1930s, Chinese actresses have been trying to crack America.

When the first Kung Fu Panda was released in China, it caused an existential crisis. Chinese audiences marveled at how well Western filmmakers had understood Chinese culture, but deep down they all wondered the same thing: Why hadn’t this movie been made in China?

Jia Zhangke began his career as an "underground" film-maker – directing movies that were praised abroad but never saw official release in China – and he complained of ongoing battles with censors as he addressed a cultural forum in Shanghai.

A highlight of the Beijing Queer Film Festival (Wednesday 15 to Sunday 19 June).

When Doris Yeung’s mother was murdered in 2004, she chose to come to terms with the horror by making a feature film about it. Motherland, Yeung’s debut, is one of the highlights of this year’s Beijing Queer Film Festival.