The Chinese Independent Film Foundation (CIFF) is a
not-for-profit screen culture organisation dedicated
to showcasing new and old art-house Chinese-language
cinema across Australia. Founded in Narrm/Melbourne,
CIFF works with collaborators across mainland China,
Hong Kong and Taiwan to present films that
rarely receive theatrical release locally.

ACMI PROGRAM

FOCUS ON THE TAIWAN NEW WAVE
CIFF selected four films for ACMI's landmark Focus on the Taiwan New Wave program, running from October 25 – November 24.

The program features some of the most celebrated works made during the initial Taiwan New Wave period, while looking beyond it to late-career masterpieces by some of the movement's great directors that have since become cinema classics.

THE SANDWICH MAN 兒子的大玩偶 (1983)  
IN OUR TIME 光陰的故事 (1982)  
GROWING UP 小畢的故事 (1983)  
THIS LOVE OF MINE 我的愛 (1986)  
THAT DAY, ON THE BEACH 海灘的一天 (1983)  
AUTUMN TEMPEST 落山風 (1988)  
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD 青少年哪吒 (1992)  
A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE 童年往事 (1985)  
GOODBYE DRAGON INN 不散 (2003)
YI YI 一一 (2000)  

Where: ACMI, Fed Square
When: October 25 – November 24.

Tickets.


FOCUS ON
THE TAIWAN
NEW WAVE  

CIFF selected four films for ACMI's landmark Focus on the Taiwan New Wave program, running from October 25 – November 24.

The program features some of the most celebrated works made during the initial Taiwan New Wave period, while looking beyond it to late-career masterpieces by some of the movement's great directors that have since become cinema classics.

THE SANDWICH MAN 兒子的大玩偶 (1983)  
IN OUR TIME 光陰的故事 (1982)  
GROWING UP 小畢的故事 (1983)  
THIS LOVE OF MINE 我的愛 (1986)  
THAT DAY, ON THE BEACH 海灘的一天 (1983)  
AUTUMN TEMPEST 落山風 (1988)  
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD 青少年哪吒 (1992)  
A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE 童年往事 (1985)  
GOODBYE DRAGON INN 不散 (2003)
YI YI 一一 (2000)  

Where: ACMI, Fed Square
When: October 25 – November 24.

Tickets.


AN ELEPHANT
SITTING STILL
大象席地而坐 (2018)    
Directed by Hu Bo 胡波 (China) 
Program: Once Upon A Time In 華語 CinemaFinished just before his death at the age of 29, Chinese filmmaker Hu Bo’s monumental debut feature follows the troubled lives of four desperate people over the course of a single, suspensful day. In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, from dawn to dusk, when the train to Manzhouli is set to depart.

Sunday,  October 11, 2pm

ACMI (Melb) tickets

THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET 白日青春 (2022)
Directed by Lau Kok Rui 劉國瑞 (Malaysia) 
Program: Panorama of Chinese Film Hassan is a Hong Kong-born Pakistani kid waiting for refugee status to Canada. His father died in a car accident that Yat is involved in, who himself was a refugee from China in the 1970s. When Hassan joins a refugees' gang and gets entangled with the police, Yat decides to help him flee, but Hassan finds out the truth about his father's death. Can their journey continue?

THE WAY OF THE DRAGON 猛龍過江 (1972)  Directed by Bruce Lee 李小龍  (Hong Kong) 
Program: Once Upon A Time In 華語 CinemaWritten, directed, and performed by Bruce Lee 李小龍, The Way of the Dragon follows a humble visitor from Hong Kong who becomes an unlikely hero in Rome. Beyond its thrilling choreography and the iconic Colosseum duel with Chuck Norris, the film embodies Lee’s philosophy of adaptability—“be water.” Its legacy goes beyond genre: a bold assertion of self-expression in a world caught between East and West. The film honours Lee not just as a martial artist, but as a visionary who redefined the language, body, and spirit of global cinema.
Sunday, November 8, 2pm

ACMI (Melb) tickets

THE ASSASSIN
刺客聂隐娘 (2015)
Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien 劉國瑞 (Malaysia) 
Program: Panorama of Chinese Film Winner of Best Director at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, The Assassin reimagines the action genre through radical restraint and visual precision. Set during the waning years of the Tang dynasty, the film follows Nie Yinniang, a trained assassin tasked with killing a powerful regional leader bound to her by family ties. Hou replaces spectacle with stillness, framing violence as absence rather than action. Through meticulous composition and sound design, The Assassin transforms historical legend into a meditation on power, loyalty and moral hesitation.


MONTHLY PROGRAM – ACMI 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN 華語 CINEMA

From February – November, CIFF will present a selection of films by Chinese-language directors who have passed away – an ode to remembrance and reflection on their artistry. Spanning from the silent era to contemporary cinema, each film captures the artistic and social temperament of its time, examining the complex history of Chinese-speaking places.

THE TERRORIZERS 恐怖份子 (1986)
LOVE AND DUTY 戀愛與義務 (1931)
THE LAST EMPEROR 末代皇帝 (1987)
BEAUTY OF BEAUTIES 西施 (1965)
THE STORY OF A SMALL TOWN 小城故事 (1980)
STORM UNDER THE SUN 紅日風暴 (2007)
DRAGON INN 龍門客棧 (1967)
SPRING RIVER FLOWS EAST 一江春水向東流 (1947)
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL 大象席地而坐 (2018)
THE WAY OF THE DRAGON 猛龍過江 (1972)

Tickets.


MONTHLY PROGRAM – LIDO, RITZ, PALACE NOVA 

PANORAMA OF CHINESE CINEMA

 In its third year, this monthly program features a collection of classic and new Chinese films. It aims to broaden audience exposure to Chinese-language film, diversifying the Australian screen culture landscape and providing a window into Chinese-speaking storytelling.

BEL AMI 漂亮朋友 (2024)
YEN AND AI-LEE 小雁與吳愛麗 (2024)
TO LIVE 活着 (1994)
COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY 甜蜜蜜 (1996)
BUTTERFLY 蝴蝶 (2004)
TEN YEARS (2015) 十年,
THREE GOATS CASTRATED 三只羯子(2024)
CENTER STAGE 阮玲玉 (1991)
THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET 白日青春 (2022),
THE ASSASSIN 刺客聶隱娘 (2015)

Tickets (Melb) | Tickets (Syd) | Tickets (Ade)
Address: Elsewhere Books
Level 3, 139 Franklin Street, Melbourne

CIFF acknowledges the Traditional Owners of
the unceded land on which we work and create,
the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong
peoples, and the wider Kulin Nations.