The Shadow Play

A short essay on the hidden realities beneath the surface of Shanghai.

In the heart of wild mountains, a dreadful devil, disguised as a pretty young woman, tries to seize Xuan Zang to devour him. The holy monk is an easy prey because, naive and good, he is easily misled by appearances. But fortunately he is accompanied by the Monkey King, who is clairvoyant.

A film crew gathers in a hotel near Wuhan to resume production of a film that was interrupted ten years earlier, but an unexpected event once again disrupts the preparations.

After getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover, who he attempted to kidnap 3 years ago.

Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.

The employees of a massage parlour share a close bond with each other as they all share a trait in common, they are all visually impaired.

It’s 1941, and China has become a wartime intelligence battlefield. Actor Jean Yu returns to Shanghai, ostensibly to appear in the play “Saturday Fiction,” directed by her former lover. But what is her true aim? To free her ex-husband? To gather intelligence for the Allied forces? To work for her adoptive father? Or to escape from war with her lover? As she embarks on her mission, with friends ever more difficult to distinguish from undercover agents, Jean Yu starts to question whether to reveal what she has learned about the imminent Pearl Harbor attack.

Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.

A portrait of urban anomie focusing on two bohemian artists who drift through the miasma of old Beijing in the 1980s.

Lu Jie has no idea her husband is leading a double life, until the day she sees him entering a hotel with a young woman. Her world crumbles. A few hours later, the young woman dies beneath the wheels of a car. The police officer in charge of the case refuses to believe her death was accidental.

Hired to spy on a philandering husband, Luo Haitao soon becomes entangled in a clandestine affair with the other man. Along with Luo's girlfriend, they succumb to the delirium of drunken nights, but how long can their tryst last?

The film follows a young man, A Xi who is recently released from prison. Once released, he seeks out his old girlfriend Li Xin who has since begun a relationship with La La a young musician. As the two men vie for her attention, tension and violence escalate.

An omnibus project bringing together acclaimed directors from around the world, each contributing a 42-second short inspired by a dream. Produced by 42 Below vodka, the collection blends surreal, poetic, and experimental visions into a mosaic of oneiric cinema.

A young woman has a reoccurring nightmare and decides to uncover the secret of her dead mother.

Hua, a woman in her late twenties, goes against her family to become a teacher in Paris. She falls in love with men who physically abuse her. Will she ever find her true love?

The film tells the story in Brother Daguang's memories - The unspoken love that lacks courage and the vitality of friends intertwined with fate. This inspires us to cherish the present, embrace the belief in the beauty of life, never forget the way back no matter how far we go, be a down-to-earth person, and face life bravely. The film wrapped up shooting in 2022. However, irreconcilable disputes later broke out between the director and the producer, bringing further progress on the project to a halt. In an interview, director Lou Ye stated that he only hopes Jackson Yee can be happy.