The above infographic, provided by the Gravity Group, is a brief summary of the hits and percentages that make up the Chinese box office totals for last year. more ›

A new documentary following the Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei was met with rapturous applause at its Sundance Film Festival screening on Sunday. more ›

Things have slowed down a bit this week, but there's at least a few good excuses to venture out into the cold. Shelter's Back to the Classics is on for Saturday, catch South Africa's longest-running musical, meet up with some expat golfers, or catch a North Korean romcom! (no joke.) Read on for all the details, or head over to our calendar for even more. more ›

In order to "promote the prosperity and development of the film industry and to enrich the cultural life of the people" last week the State Council of Legislative Affairs drafted a series of new restrictions on film in China. The new legislation will increase the amount of film content banned in China, as well as provide some new laws to rein in sketchy box office practices. more ›

Written by Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa'at and directed by Royston Tan more ›

Well played, Jeffrey Katzenberg, well played. Like every other Hollywood player these days, DreamWorks Animation is trying to get its foot into the China market, and is currently in negotiations to establish a joint venture in Shanghai. They've already picked out Oriental DreamWorks as the name for their JV. Ooh, ahh, how cultural. more ›

Last night was the first of threefive Shanghai screenings of Red Light Revolution, a film from Australian director Sam Voutas that proudly proclaims itself "China's first ever sex shop comedy." The subject matter is definitely relevant to China today, where 70% of the world's sex toys are produced, and vibrators are sold next to the checkout stand at Family Mart (of all places.) The film has been shown all over the festival circuit, and lucky for us they are now touring China after receiving a grant to host private screenings in cities all over the country. more ›

All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: The Album Leaf China tour, wine tastings, Haiku turns five, and China's first sex shop comedy! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for even more. more ›

All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: It's Halloween! While most of the ragers were on Friday and Saturday, tonight Mural hosts a dance party, Dada hosts a horror triple-feature, and the Shanghai Aquarium gets spooky. Plus some healthy Beijing-Shanghai rivalry on Wendesday, Dia de los Muertos on Thursday, and plenty of other stuff going down in between. Read on or check out our calendar for more. more ›

All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: Shanghai PRIDE is in full swing, Briccocafe turns three, some movies about Burning Man, and Shanghai Tag Heuer Jazz Week! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more! more ›

The movie features Christian Bale in the role of John Haufman, a mortician sent to bury a priest at a private boarding school for girls in Nanjing during the massacre. Based on a true story, Bale's mortician dons the robes of the recently deceased priest, and assumes his identity in order to protect the girls, as their school comes under siege from Japanese troops. more ›

More like a list of lists. PBS's POV caught up with multiple China film directors, curators, and writers and asked them each what the must-see documentaries are by Chinese filmmakers. Unsurprisingly, The Last Train Home, Up the Yangtze, Tears of Sichuan, and multiple films by Zhao Liang all make the list. But there are also plenty of lesser-known titles, such as Circus World (available online here), that are definitely worth checking out. more ›

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Get your eyeballs ready! IMAX will be installing another 15 of their highfalutin' theaters throughout China, in a new joint-venture with South Korea's CJ GGV Holdings Ltd. No doubt eager to cater to the country's growing numbers of cinema-goers that every silver-haired media bigwig worth their salt wants a piece of, IMAX will be installing the first of its theaters this year, with the rest to be rolled out between 2013 to 2017. more ›

Hello September! As if signaling the end of August, this weekend isn't the most jam-packed ever, but Shanghai will always have (some) events up its sleeves. On the music end, you can catch Joy Division's Peter Hook at Shelter (more info in our Midweek Music Preview. Or there's the hotshot DJ Jacques Dumas at Zeal, parties with themes ranging from hippies to jet setters, and another great BEAN event with the kids! And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more! more ›

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau has launched a new international marketing campaign that aims to lure more travellers to the island even as it attracted a record number of visitors last year. The full 16 minute film, "Time for Taiwan - My Beautiful Island" aims to showcase all of the island's culture and natural beauty and is targeted at four main categories of travellers -- backpackers, women, families and elderly couples. Since it was launched about a month ago, the video has been seen close to half a million times on Youtube. The masterminds behind the film, Johnason Lo and Michael Fimognari, were tasked with breaking the mould of conventional marketing campaigns employed by other tourism bureaus, and we think to a large extent, they have succeeded in what they set out to do. more ›

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not amused! The Ministry is harrumphing over the fact that organizers at the 68th Venice International Film Festival won't allow for 'Taiwan' to stand as the provenance of Wei Te-Sheng's "Seediq Bale" (賽德克巴萊). Organizers haven't managed to go all the way, having only changed the original designation from 'Taiwan, China' (which is how Ang Lee's Golden Lion-winning "Lust, Caution" was listed in 2007) to 'Chinese Taipei', the same moniker Taiwan usually uses in international sporting competitions. While the Ministry officially thinks 'Republic of China' or just plain 'Taiwan' has a better ring to it, director Wei Te-Sheng prefers to just let audiences enjoy his film, stating that, 'The most practical thing is to introduce Taiwan to the world...there's no need to say so much.' The topper for most convoluted name-wrangling process belongs to the 2009 Golden Lion "Prince of Tears" (淚王子). The film was directed by Hong Kong-based Taiwanese director Yon Fan, and had its origin shuffled from 'China-Taiwan, Hong Kong' to 'Taiwan-Hong Kong, China', after Taiwan had a hissy fit protested the misnomer. more ›

All the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: Local music/party producers/promoters Antidote turns 6 and throws a birthday bash at C's, Sugar throws a male underwear fashion show, and Duke plays the Chinese national basketball team. Read on (or check out our calendar) for more! more ›

Happy rainy weekend Shanghai! Obviously you should all be signed up and ready to head out of town tomorrow on the Shanghaiist Party Bus to Ocean MiDi Festival! But just in case you're stuck here all weekend, there should be at least a few things happening to keep you occupied (check out music over at our Midweek Music Preview.) We've got Chinese Valentine's Day stuff, Dwayne Wade's doing stuff, and the North Korean Art Troupe is in town! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more. more ›

FINA continues this weekend and the swimming finally kicks off on Sunday! Phelps in the hizzouse. If swimming's not your bag, don't worry because there is plenty of other stuff going on around town to keep you occupied. Mesa & Manifesto is closing, TICT is throwing a beach party, and Dada's screening another North Korean film! Read on for details, or check out our calendar for more! more ›

All the things you want to do this Monday through Thursday. On the schedule this week: How to create a billion entrepreneurs, and Clint Eastwood wants answers, PUNK! Also, take advantage of a once-a-month chance to drive a race car, and celebrate Bastille Day with style. Read on (or check our calendar) for more! more ›

Myanmar has blacklisted Michelle Yeoh and kicked her out of the country over her portrayal of Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming film. The film is "The Lady" directed by Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") and is about the Nobel Peace Prize winner, her house arrest and marriage. She may also be a knife-wielding super-heroine. more ›

It will be three weeks tomorrow since China's mega-starry propaganda film The Founding of a Party (建党伟业, called "Beginning of the Great Revival" by international media) was released in Chinese theaters in the lead up to the CPC 90th Anniversary. Here's the story so far: more ›

The Founding of a Party (建党伟业), also known as Beginning of the Great Revival in English, was released last week as part of a 28-movie mega push for party revelry in the lead up to the 90th anniversary of the CPC. As with 2009's The Founding of a Republic, the CCP's latest propaganda picture features a parade of some of the biggest Chinese stars working in film today. Though you might know the faces (Look! It's that fellow from the cell phone/milk tea/moisturizer commercial!), we're sure there's some confusion about the names attached to them. more ›

The Shanghai International Film Festival returns in its 14th incarnation this weekend! From June 11th-19th, over two hundred films (including "seven film noir classics") will be shown in 24 theaters across the city. more ›

After releasing uber popular original short "Old Boys" last year, Youku seems to have done it again with their new short "The Ultimate Winner" (赢家, yíngjiā). Uploaded only three days ago, it has drawn millions of views and thousands of comments. Props to Youku for uploading it with English subtitles (bumbling translations at times, but they'll do.) more ›

Ahead of its release later this year, rumors have been confirmed that the remake of the 1984 classic Red Dawn has had to make some not-too-minor adjustments. Originally featured was an invasion of America by the Chinese Army. But in a desperate attempt to tap into the Chinese market, the enemy has been changed to North Korea. It would seem that Hollywood has come grovelling at the gates of Beijing, and its $1.5 billion box office. more ›

China Geeks is currently working on a documentary about kidnapped children in China through a crowd-sourced funding effort. They could use your help, both monetarily and otherwise! They've released these photos of missing children posters, in the hopes that somebody might recognize them. Take a look! And learn more about how you can donate to the project here. From their website: more ›

Here's Russell Crowe at the Shanghai Pudong International airport two days ago in what looks to be a letterman's jacket with a yin yang on it and a hat with a rabbit? Asia represent! more ›

Now here's a documentary that we hope will make its way to a DVD store near us soon. The Warriors of Qiugang is 39 minute film that received an Oscar nomination for documentary short. The synopsis from the official website: more ›