East Palace, West Palace

Screening

Beijing, early 1990s – after a random night raid in a local park, a young gay writer, A-Lan (SI Han), is held for an intensive one-on-one interrogation. Unwanted memories offer glimpses of A-Lan’s tumultuous childhood, first sexual experiences, forced farm labour, and his incessant search for love. Through the night, the interrogating officer (HU Jun) confronts feelings that alternate between revulsion and fascination. An awkward but sincere love story unfolds…

Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province in 1963, ZHANG Yuan was once a pioneer among China’s sixth-generation filmmakers. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cinematography from the Beijing Film Academy in 1989. In 1990, Zhang produced and directed his debut feature, Mama, which won the Jury Award and a Special Mention at the Festival des Trois Continents in Nantes, France. Since then, his films have toured the international film festival circuit with wide acclaim, including Beijing Bastards (1992, Special Mention at Locarno), documentary The Square (1994, Jury Award at Hawaii), Sons (1995, Tiger Award at Rotterdam), East Palace, West Palace (1996, Best Director at Mar del Plata), Seventeen Years (1999, Special Director’s Award at Venice) and Little Red Flower (2006, Golden Horse Award for Best Adapted Screenplay). He was also an active MTV producer and director, working closely with CUI Jian, China’s “Godfather of Rock & Roll”. His direction of Cui’s Wild in the Snow won the Best Asian MTV Award at the American MTV Awards in 1991, and A Piece of Red Cloth won a Special Mention at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Awards.