Yi miao zhong

One Second

Competition 2019

China during the Cultural Revolution. In the midst of a lonely desert landscape, two people appear like dots on the horizon. The prisoner and the orphan girl do not yet know each other, but their paths will soon cross. He has escaped from a labour camp, risking being handed down an even longer sentence, and is undertaking an exhausting trek in the heat because he absolutely must see a particular newsreel. But of all things, this is exactly the film roll that the girl steals. While the villagers wait impatiently for the screening to begin and the fugitive feverishly awaits the one second in the film that counts for him, the silver film can is passed from hand to hand.
Director Zhang Yimou was sent to the country as a young man during the Cultural Revolution, an experience he has explored in many of his films. He is familiar with the life and traditions in the country’s remote areas, and with the enthusiasm that rural dwellers have for cinema, which comes as welcome respite from everyday life. In Yi Miao Zhong, the filmmaker pays homage to his medium and celebrates the cinema as a communal experience which goes beyond the film itself.

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by Zhang Yimou
with Zhang Yi, Fan Wei People’s Republic of China 2019 Mandarin 105’ Colour World premiere

With

Zhang Yi (Fugitive)
Fan Wei (Mr. Movie)

Crew

Director	Zhang Yimou
Screenplay	Zhang Yimou, Zou Jingzhi in cooperation with Zhou Xiaofeng
Cinematography	Zhao Xiaoding
Editing	Du Yuan
Music	Lao Zai
Sound	Tao Jing
Production Design	Lin Chaoxiang
Line Producer	Liang Yu
Producers	Dong Ping, Bill Kong, Pang Liwei, Steven Xiang

Produced by

Huanxi Media Group

Edko Films Beijing

Zhang Yimou

Winner of numerous international awards, he is one of the most important and influential filmmakers in China. His directing debut, Hong gaoliang (Red Sorghum), won the Golden Bear in 1988. Since then, his work has featured five times in the Berlinale Competition, most recently in 2012 with Jin líng Shi San Chai (The Flowers Of War). Wo de fu qin mu qin (The Road Home) won the Jury Grand Prix and Ying xiong (Hero) the Alfred Bauer Prize. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from Boston University and, in 2012, received lifetime achievement awards from Mumbai, Marrakesh and Cairo film festivals.

Filmography

1987< Red Sorghum Codename Cougar Ju Dou Raise the Red Lantern The Story of Qiu Ju To Live Shanghai Triad Keep Cool Not One Less The Road Home Happy Times Hero House of Flying Daggers Riding Alone Curse of the Golden Flower A Woman, a Gun Under the Hawthorn Tree The Flowers of War Coming Home The Great Wall Shadow /strong> 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1997 1999 · 2000 2002 2004 2005 for Thousands of Miles 2006 2009 and a Noodle Shop 2010 2011 2014 2016 2018

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019