Madam Xian

Based on the tragic true story of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu, chronicling her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s.

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.

At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.

In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.

A 1950s London cleaning lady falls in love with an haute couture dress by Christian Dior and decides to gamble everything for the sake of this folly.

King David enters into an adulterous affair with the beautiful Bathsheba, which has tragic consequences for his family and Israel.

Goltzius and the Pelican Company tells the story of Hendrik Goltzius, a late 16th century Dutch printer and engraver of erotic prints. A contemporary of Rembrandt and, indeed, more celebrated during his life, Goltzius seduces the Margrave of Alsace into paying for a printing press to make and publish illustrated books. In return, he promises him an extraordinary book of pictures of illustrating the Old Testament’s biblical stories. Erotic tales of Lot and his daughters, David and Bathsheba, Samson and Deliah and John the Baptist and Salome. To tempt the Margrave further, Goltzius and his printing company will offer to perform dramatisations of these erotic stories for his court.

A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.

In Marseilles, France in 1794, Desiree Clary, a young millinery clerk, becomes infatuated with Napoleon Bonaparte, but winds up wedding General Jean-Baptiste Berandotte, an aid to Napoleon who later joins the forces that bring about the Emperor's downfall. Josephine Beauharnais, a worldly courtesan marries Napoleon and becomes Empress of France, but is then cast aside by her spouse when she proves unable to produce an heir to the throne.

Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.

Stephen Glass is a staff writer for the respected current events and policy magazine The New Republic and a freelance feature writer for publications such as Rolling Stone, Harper's and George. By the mid-90s, Glass' articles had turned him into one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington, but a bizarre chain of events - chronicled in Buzz Bissinger's September 1998 Vanity Fair article - suddenly stopped his career in its tracks.

At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.

At the height of the Roman Civil War, an aging Julius Caesar finds himself intrigued by the young Egyptian queen Cleopatra, whom he teaches how to rule Egypt.

While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.

A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.

A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.

The warmhearted story of Polish immigrant and mathematician Stan Ulam, who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s. Stan deals with the difficult losses of family and friends all while helping to create the hydrogen bomb and the first computer.

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.

In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.

The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian is a Hong Kong Chinese Opera musical starring Jackie Chan in a child role.

A Shaw Brothers Chinese Opera based on the Qing dynasty musical play that recounts the death of the Ming dynasty through the love story of its two main characters, young scholar Hou Fangyu and a courtesan named Li Xiangjun.

A Chinese Canadian son sets out to make a film on his mother, who was once known as the first ever Chinese Opera Singer to have performed Pingju Opera in English in late 1980's China.

The film opens with a travelogue, showcasing West Lake and the real Mainland Chinese locations used by the film to which only the Left Wing of Hong Kong Cinema had access to at the time. The title character is a young woman raised by her courtesan aunt in the West Lake scenic resort area in Hangzhou. Siu Siu is perused by a local Official, but falls in love with the son of the Prime Minister. They marry, but are separated by the Prime Minister who arranges another marriage for the son. Siu Siu remains at West Lake, where she regretfully uses the desire of the earlier Official to help another of the girls find happiness.

Disillusioned by years of futile bloodshed, General Chang Ta initially refuses the emperor’s call to defend the collapsing dynasty. It is his wife, Chen Pi-niang, a woman of exceptional intelligence and resolve, who urges him to answer his duty. At Tzu Lang Chow, she bids him farewell with a lock of her hair, a symbol of devotion and sacrifice, as he marches toward a seemingly hopeless battle. While Chang Ta fights at the front, Chen Pi-niang organizes local militias and leads a daring volunteer fleet of fishing boats to deliver supplies and strike the enemy. As defeat closes in and betrayal looms, husband and wife each face their fate with unyielding loyalty to their country.

With China under control of a weak Emperor, two officials compete to steer the future destiny of the land. Chiu believes the people are the future of China, while the diabolical Tu wishes to grind the people beneath an iron heel. Tu decides to take out Chiu's family, but one lone infant escapes.

The Rainbow Pass is a Chinese Opera starring Sammo Hung in a child role

In an epic tale of theater, gender, love and class, two Beijing opera actors navigate political turmoil as their friendship evolves over decades.

The Eighteen Darts (Part 1) is a Chinese Opera Musical starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in child roles.

The Eighteen Darts (Part 2) is a Chinese Opera Musical starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in child roles.

Qing (i.e. Qin) Xianglian was the wife of a man named Chen Shimei, who won the first title of national examination and awarded as husband of the emperor's daughter. Then Qing (i.e. Qin) sues Chen as a murderer who plans to kill his wife and son. In spite of the royal power, gownsman Bao Zhen settles the lawsuit and sentences Chen to serve his head.

Wan Fei (Joey Yung) is a promising Chinese Opera singer who is secretly in love with Ho Fung (Nicholas Tse). She plans to sing for him from the stage, but, in a tragic accident, dies mid-song. Years later, Wan Fei's ghost returns, and finds that part of her spirit has been reincarnated in the form of Chor-bat (Eason Chan). Wan Fei still longs to sing her song for her lover, and, after much humorous confusion, her dream is fulfilled.

This film is a portrait of unique cultural space for Spirits, Gods and People. While permanent theatres are commonly built in most cosmopolitan modern cities, Hong Kong preserves a unique theatrical architecture, a Chinese tradition that has lasted more than a century - Bamboo Theatre.

This is the first 16mm Cantonese film in full colour, shot on 1940s state-of-the-art Technicolor film stock. Opera star Man-ha (Leung Bik-yuk) enjoys tremendous popularity during her performances in San Francisco, but drowns herself in the vices and temptations of the big city. Increasingly, she fails to show up for performances, almost causing the theatre to go bankrupt. When she sees her lover for the scoundrel that he is, she also sees the errors of her own ways and saves the theatre, restoring it to glory. Joseph Sunn Jue established the Grandview Film Company in Hong Kong during the 1930s and continued making films in the USA during wartime by collaborating with Chinese opera performers in exile there. Wong Hok-sing, an opera actor himself, directed, wrote and starred in this film. He staged a spectacular play-within-a-play at the end, not only to promote the art of Cantonese opera but also to boost solidarity among overseas Chinese through difficult times.

When facing a path with no future or precedent success, will we ever choose to stay? Cheuk Cheung’s My Way explores the Cantonese Opera tradition of male Dan performers, men who play female roles, against the backdrop of a Hong Kong society increasingly putting less value on art. Although female performers have long been part of the mainstream of Cantonese Opera, the film follows the stories of two young men who are still fascinated by the art of the male Dan, striving to find their own way to carry on the practice. A moving and searching look at the struggle for identity, My Way is a colourful, musical and moving film which offers a unique and highly personal look at perseverance in the face of a changing society.

River Of Fury presents the self-discovery and awakening of a young man (Danny Lee), who has been exposed and fallen for the lucrative powers of wealth. Lily Ho played a role in sharp contrast with Lee, which has helplessly fallen prey to the irresistible temptations of wealth under the influence of her mother. Once again, Ho demonstrates her remarkable talent in Chinese opera following her Beijing-opera showcase in The Warlord (co-starring Michael Hui Kwun-man).

The story focus on Caridad and Georgina, who had learned the art of Cantonese Opera in Havana as a young age and performed as divas for over a decade before their lives were changed by Fidel Castro's revolution.

A child learns martial arts in order to become a Kung Fu warrior. Features the Seven Little Fortunes, and is the debut film of Jackie Chan.

Iron-Beaked Hen and Fatso Bo on their way to the city to help a relative out of some trouble, they run into a band of robbers. They stop over an allegedly haunted house where they save the lovers To Lok-yin and Yu Mei-yung from their attemped suicide. Hen learn their story and decide to help them out. Yin comes from a rich family, he lost his father when he was very young and was brought up by his uncle. Now that he is old enough to claim his inheritance, the guardian, his uncle, in order to keep the fortune under control, forces him to marry a girl of his choosing. The couple cannot face separation and resolve to end their lives together. Hen thinks of a way to help them, which involves Yin pretending to comply; that is, to go ahead with the marriage arrangement. On the wedding day, they swap the bride with Yung. Disguised as a matchmaker and a county official respectively, Hen and Bo reprimand To's uncle who schemes to seize To's family fortune. To and Yu marry.

A live recording of the premier of Korean composer Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland opera at National Theater Munich in June 2007. It is a modern opera based on Lewis Carroll's fantasy novel of the same name. The amazing characters Alice meets are portrayed with a colorful combination of puppets and singer-actors.