Shanghai Film Festival ｜ ＂Happy Well-off Society＂ Theme Film Festival, showing 8 outstanding domestic films.

The year 2020 is destined to be an extraordinary year for China. It is a decisive year to build a well-off society in an all-round way, and it is also the year when the 13th Five-Year Plan ends. It is the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s solemn commitment to the people to lead them out of poverty for thousands of years and realize the goal of a well-off life in an all-round way. In response to the call of the Party, the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival specially planned the theme film festival of "Happiness and Well-off Society", showing eight outstanding domestic films made since the founding of New China, covering education, law popularization, medicine and other fields, showing in an all-round way how the people struggled in life and work under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), gained happiness, and will surely usher in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Five golden flowers (Five Jinhua, 1959)

Aspect: The debut of sweet girl Yang Likun.

This film is a tribute to the 10th anniversary of New China, and was filmed by Xia Yan, then Vice Minister of Culture, under the instruction of Premier Zhou Enlai. The film was written by Zhao Jikang in two days and two nights, and it was named "Five Golden Flowers" after being revised by Xia Yan. Yang Likun, a 16-year-old Yunnan Song and Dance Troupe, was tapped by director Wang Jiayi to be the heroine of the film, and Lei Zhenbang, a master composer, created such well-known episodes as The Edge of butterfly spring for the film. This singing and dancing romantic comedy of ethnic minorities, which was released in 1959, triggered a movie-watching craze (it is said that He Long watched it ten times), and was shown in 46 countries successively, setting a record for the export of new China films abroad. Premier Zhou Enlai took Yang Likun abroad twice.

People at Their Middle Ages (1982)

Aspect: Pan Hong’s big blue eyes.

Based on the novella of the same name written by the female writer Chen Rong, this paper tells the story of Lu Wenting, an ophthalmologist, before and after he was rescued from a sudden myocardial infarction. By portraying Lu Wenting as a typical figure, the film reflects the survival difficulties and tenacity of intellectuals, especially middle-aged intellectuals, in the early 1980s. Actress Pan Hong was only 27 when she appeared in this film, but she grasped the essence of the role through her excellent acting skills. After the film was released, it triggered a nationwide discussion on the treatment of intellectuals, and the central leadership also instructed to make up their minds to implement the intellectual policy. The film won the Golden Rooster Award in 1983 and the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Feature Film, and Pan Hong won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress in China.

Good Morning, Beijing (Good Morning, Beijing, 1990)

Aspect: Beijing city scenery on the bus

Nuanxing Zhang, the classic work of the fourth generation director, tells the story of a city life film in which Beijing bus drivers and ticket sellers collide in life and feelings. The film keenly captures the contradictions and confusions caused by the emotional alternation between the old and the new in the early days of reform and opening up, and takes the small world of buses as a record of Beijing’s urban landscape, which now seems quite precious. In order to play the role of conductor Ai Hong, Ma Xiaoqing, a famous Shanghai movie star, went deep into the grassroots to experience life for several months, and worked harder on her lines to create an image of a Beijing girl full of Beijing flavor. Jia Hongsheng’s Cui Jian’s "Fake Monk" in the film is as famous as the empty mirror at the end of the film. Won the annual Top Ten Chinese Film Awards of Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Beautiful big feet (Pretty Big Feet, 2002)

Aspect: Aunt Ni Ping turned out to be an acting school

This film is the second work directed by Yang Yazhou, which tells the story of a teacher-student relationship between volunteer teachers and children in rural schools. The film is full of intelligent laughter everywhere. Yang Yazhou uses black screen to fade out frequently, and deliberately points the film to deep thinking with the speculative color of the times in the context of a main theme. Ni Ping, who is famous as a TV host all over the country, conquered the audience with unpretentious performances in the film, and the concerted performances of many stars, such as Yolanda, Sun Haiying and Xu Yajun, added color to the film. Won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in 2002.

Court on horseback (Courthouse on Horseback, 2006)

Aspect: Performance artist Li Baotian’s work of peeling off his skin and changing his bones.

Inspired by a news report in Southern Weekend about grass-roots judges riding over mountains to hold court sessions for villagers, Liu Jie, the director of this feature film, made the audience take a trip to the countryside with Lao Feng, a judge in his fifties, Lao Yang, a Mosuo clerk who left his post because of policy changes, and Alo, a new Yi boy who went to the countryside to attend horseback court for the first time, leading the audience to the northwest of Yunnan to see how the law entered the lives of villagers and the irreconcilable contradictions among the three protagonists. In order to play a good role, Li Baotian, a performance artist, peeled off his skin twice and restored the humanity of grassroots civil servants with convincing performances. Won the Best Film in Horizon Unit of Venice Film Festival in 2006, and was selected as one of the top ten films of the year by Shanghai Film Critics Society.

Twelve Citizens (12 Citizens, 2014)

Aspect: There are acting schools before the law.

Based on the Hollywood classic film 12 Angry Men, this paper tells the voting process of twelve jurors in mock trial against a murder case of the "rich second generation". Xu Anyi, a director with many years’ experience in stage play, is bold enough to graft American stories with completely different legal systems to China for local creation, which not only retains the essence of the original, but also reveals some social problems in China and the cultivation of civic awareness and legal concept through the trial of the case. He Bing, Han Tongsheng and other elite performers, they nest, presented an unassailable drama for the audience. He won five awards, including Best Film at the Rome Film Festival in 2014, Best Film and Best Director at the Film Channel Media Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2015.

MihuazhiTaste (The Taste of Rice Flower, 2017)

Aspect: Love that only mothers can give.

The second feature film of Pengfei, who was the assistant director of many works in Cai Mingliang, tells the story of a single mother who got along with her daughter and villagers after returning from the city to start a new life in the countryside. The film, co-written by Pengfei and the heroine Yingze, looks at the situation of left-behind children from a mother’s point of view. Mihua is a must-have food for every Dai family before the Water-splashing Festival, and the film is just as sweet as Mihua. With the beautiful Shan Ye scenery, unique Dai customs and elegant national dances, this story about family affection is full of great American national flavor. It was shortlisted in the Venice Day competition unit of the 2017 Venice Film Festival and won the most popular film in the China New Generation Unit of the 2017 Pingyao International Film Festival.

I am not Dying to Survive (2018)

Aspect: The box office broke 3 billion "Touching China" blockbusters.

Adapted from the sensational Lu Yong case in 2015, it tells the story that Cheng Yong, a small boss, smuggled and sold drugs with the help of leukemia patients and others. Although he helped many patients, he also broke the law. Producer of the film by Ning Hao, the fledgling Muye Wen has no stage fright in the face of such a big-name star as starring Xú Zhēng, and has made a good-looking and thought-provoking social and moral drama with a proper balance in business and art. After the film was screened by thousands of people during the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2018, its reputation exploded, and it took the lead in the summer file, winning 3.1 billion yuan at the box office, which triggered a big discussion among the whole people on various social issues such as drug prices. He won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor, Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay in 2018, and the Golden Rooster Award for Best Director’s Debut Award in 2019.

Note: In case of any change of film items, the actual film arrangement shall prevail.