Huang Yan

Unfinished Comedy

Two famous comedians from pre-Revolution days perform a series of sketches in a theatre for a group of Party cadres. The stage performances blend over into absurdist, self-contained fantasy episodes where the two comics allegorically parody Party propaganda and ideological orthodoxy.

At Ten O'clock on the National Day

Set in 1953, spies plan to set off a explosion on the National Day.

The Lights of Ten Thousand Homes

This tale of familial warfare and sacrifice takes place in hard-pressed Shanghai at the end of the 1940s. Hu Zhiqing can barely support his wife and children, and his situation is worsened by the unexpected arrival of his mother, brother and sister-in-law. When he is fired by his unscrupulous boss, the whole family becomes embroiled in one emotional/economic struggle after another.

Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon

A college girl and a musician go to the front of the anti-Japanese war and fall in love.

New Heroes and Heroines

During the early War of Resistance Against Japan in Baiyangdian, Hebei, the Yanling Squad, led by Communist Party member Hei Lao Cai, conducted effective guerrilla warfare. Yang Xiaomei, fleeing abuse from her husband Zhang Jinlong, joined the squad and developed feelings for farmer Niu Dashi. Zhang Jinlong, unable to change, defected to the Japanese. As Japanese sweep operations intensified, Xiaomei, Dashi, and Zhang Jinlong faced different paths in the conflict.

Ice and Snow Jin Dalai

The Front and the Back of the Stage

When the top diva of an opera troupe storms off after not getting money upfront from their manager, a common street performer comes in to replace her.