Red Flowers and Green Leaves

Shot in a village of the Hui People, a minority of Chinese Muslims, Red Flowers and Green Leaves arranges its plot around a newlywed couple. Haunted by an unidentified and stubborn ailment since infancy, a young man, Li Guoqing (Gubo), reckons himself as unlikable and has no intent for marriage. Under family arrangement and beyond all expectations, he marries a capable and attractive woman, Asheeyen. Suddenly, two strangers are sharing the same bed. As time passes, they become aware of each other’s past once concealed by the elders. Will they learn forgiveness and nourish true love? Will they savor the prospect of a happy family?

Red Flowers and Green Leaves sensitively captures Gubo’s emotional ups and downs through which his resolution to seek a better life for his family remains palpable. It is film that cares for ordinary people, and grants their mundane existence an inalienable dignity. Director Liu Miaomiao, the female representative of Chinese Fifth Generation and also the most renowned Muslim director, returns to Northwest China, unfolding the land and its Muslim residents with sincerity and affinity.

Born in Ningxia, in 1962, and graduated from Beijing Film Academy, Liu Miaomiao is the female representative of the Chinese Fifth Generation filmmakers. She is also a Muslim of the Hui People, a minor ethnicity in China. She finished her directorial debut when she was 23 years old. In 1992, her film Chatterbox (Za zui zi) was screened at Venice and won the President of the Italian Senate’s Gold Medal. She used to be the president of Ningxia Film Studio. Family Scandal (Jia chou), directed and produced by Liu Miaomiao in 1994 during her tenure, was awarded the Best Film at the 2nd Beijing College Student Film Festival.