On 24 May, the 2025 Imagery Chinese Film Week will kick off, offering a taste of new releases and a selection of Chinese cinema from the past decades. In Budapest, screenings will be held at the Uránia National Cinema from 24-30 May, and in Debrecen at the Apollo Cinema on 1 June. There will also be a variety of genres on offer, from drama to sci-fi and modern comedy.
A total of eight films will be screened in their original language with Hungarian subtitles. Among them are several classics that have been successfully screened at major European film festivals, such as Cannes or the Berlinale, such as The authentic history of A-Q, a Black snow or the Powder.
Among the newest additions to the programme are some of today's Chinese crowd favourites such as Chinatown Detective 1900 or the hit film of last winter, the Good things from Shanghai. After most screenings, the creators and experts themselves will let you in on the behind-the-scenes secrets, so you can Black snow will be screened by director Xie Fei, Following the Moon is also accompanied by the director Qiao Liang, the Powder and will be screened with director Li Shaohong and cinematographer Zeng Nianping, as well as the author of the novel on which the film is based, acclaimed Chinese writer Su Tong.
Opening week on 24 May!
The opening film of the film week on Saturday evening 24 May is last winter's blockbuster, the Good things from Shanghai (2024). Set in modern Shanghai, this feminist film focuses on the friendship between two very different women, their everyday struggles and the evolution of their personalities. Unlike the tradition of romantic comedies, the ex-husband, the much younger admirer and the commitment-phobic manager are merely amusing side characters in a twisting plot. The screening will be preceded by a spectacular show, including a Chinese-themed acrobatic basketball performance by the Face Team and a choreography specially created for the event by multiple world tap-dancing champion László Bóbis.
There will also be a screening on the afternoon of the opening day, before the evening opening, The successor (2024). The main concern of the millionaire couple is to hide their wealth from their son, as they don't want him to grow up to be a spoiled "little emperor". To achieve this, the entire staff is enlisted to ensure that the illusion of poverty is maintained. Beyond the funny situations, the film touches on an often controversial issue in modern Chinese society, the question of proper child-rearing.
Continuing on Sunday 25th, crime lovers will have a thrilling time at the Chinatown Detective 1900 (2025) is a crime comedy. Set at the turn of the last century, an unlikely team of men band together to solve the mystery of San Francisco's Chinatown. They must also find the killer of the white woman who was murdered there from underground. They must act quickly, because the case is causing a huge public outcry and the population is turning against the Chinese community. A Detective Chinatown The fourth film in the series closed this New Year's Eve season in second place with nearly $5 billion, but it also became one of the top 15 highest-grossing Chinese films ever.
On Monday 26 May, a true classic: director Li Shaohong Powder(1995). The story follows the lives and relationships of two women from the 1950s onwards, formerly prostitutes, who are brought in to be re-educated as part of a campaign to become useful members of society. Their different personalities lead to different choices. While one of them escapes, the other stays in re-education, but neither choice guarantees a happy ending, as all stations in the human destiny are temporary. The 1995 Silver Bear Award-winning film is based on the novel of the same name by Su Tong, one of the most influential contemporary Chinese writers. The author himself co-wrote the screenplay and will be at the screening in Urania with director Li Shaohong and cinematographer Zeng Nianping. Prior to the screening, writer Su Tong will also be the guest of honour at a talk at the Uránia café, a joint event of the Imagery Chinese Film Week and the Contemporary Chinese Book Club, held in the framework of the film week.
The old classics are represented in the programme by The authentic history of A-Q (1981), which will be screened on Tuesday 27 May. It is an adaptation of the 1920s novel of the same name by Lu Xun, a renowned leftist writer, made by the Shanghai Film Studio in 1981 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the author's birth. The protagonist is a poor peasant man, A-Q, who is exploited by the feudal system and let down by the 1911 bourgeois revolution because the overthrow of the imperial regime will not bring him real change. The oppressive ideology distorts A-Q's psyche. It is this distortion that was the focus of Lu Xun's literary interest, and he used it as a wake-up call to the Chinese people. The filmmakers faced the challenge of how to make the audience accept A-Q, who is in many ways an anti-hero. In the end, they made an adaptation worthy of the literary work, which has become a classic in Chinese film history and the first film to represent mainland China in the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival.
On Wednesday 28 May, the Film Week programme will feature Following the Moon (2022) is a contemporary drama in which the world of Chinese opera is brought to life as an integral part of modern history. An opera singer struggling with illness returns home after a long absence. But there, too, there is no peace of mind. Her estranged adult children can't forgive her for never being present in their lives, a situation compounded by a newly unfolding family secret. The film will be accompanied to Hungary by director Qiao Liang, who will take part in a post-screening discussion on stage.
The screening on Thursday 29 May will feature a film directed by Xie Fei Black snow (1990) is also a literary adaptation, and conveys the imprint of a whole decade for several generations. Its story takes us back to Beijing in the 1980s, where the old streets of the metropolis, reminiscent of a bygone era, are the backdrop to the 24-year-old protagonist's search for a way forward. Recently released from prison, the young man searches for his place in an increasingly modern Chinese society, but his attempts are met with disappointment. This bittersweet film softens the serious subject matter with a number of charming scenes and offers an authentic picture of the music of the era and the atmosphere of Chinese markets and bars of the time. Jiang Wen, who plays the lead role, has become one of China's most important male actors since the late 1980s and is now an acclaimed and popular director. An iconic figure in Chinese cinema, he has also appeared as an Asian character in Hollywood productions such as Rogue One - A Star Wars Story. At this year's Imagery Chinese Film Week, the Black snow director Xie Fei, winner of the Golden and Silver Bear awards, talks personally about the making of the film, its importance in his life and its success at the Berlinale.
The closing day
On the closing day, Friday 30 May, you can watch free of charge with pre-registration The wandering Earth 2. (2023) science fiction. The super-production, which grossed more than $600 million worldwide, is the 11th highest-grossing film ever made in China. The story is set in 2044, when humanity is faced with the prospect that life on Earth will soon become impossible due to the rapid expansion of the sun. The protagonists face personal tragedies as they try to juggle family and patriotic duty in the shadow of a world in ruins. Liu Cixin is the basis of the story on screen, The Three-Body Problem trilogy, who was also one of the producers of the film. The main roles are played by the best-known Chinese action film star Wu Jing and Strictly dirty business Andy Lau, seen in the trilogy.
In addition to the screenings at Urania, the programme of the Imagery Chinese Film Week will be complemented by a film forum at Café Gerbeaud on 30 May and further screenings on 1 June at Apollo Cinema in Debrecen.
