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.


CENTER STAGE
阮玲玉 (1991) Directed by Stanley Kwan 關錦鵬 (Hong Kong) 
Program: Panorama of Chinese Film Blending historical reconstruction with contemporary reflection, Center Stage revisits the life of 1930s screen icon Ruan Lingyu through a self-reflexive cinematic form. By interweaving reenactment, archival material and present-day interviews, the film collapses temporal distance and foregrounds the act of looking itself. On an audiovisual level, shifting textures and performance registers emphasise history as something continuously re-staged rather than fixed, transforming biography into a meditation on stardom, gender and spectatorship.

THE SPRING RIVER FLOWS EAST
一江春水向東流 (1947)  Directed by Cai Chusheng 蔡楚生 & Zheng Junli 鄭君里 (China) 
Program: Once Upon A Time In 華語 CinemaThis two-part masterpiece follows a couple torn apart by war and circumstance, spanning years of longing, betrayal, and moral collapse. Its storytelling ambition and emotional depth set a benchmark for modern Chinese cinema. The film’s power lies in its humanity—how private suffering mirrors national trauma. It remains a cornerstone of cinematic memory, carrying the stories, wounds, and endurance of its era.
Sunday, September 13, 2pm

ACMI (Melb) tickets

BUMMING IN BEIJING: THE LAST DREAMERS
流浪北京 (1990)  
Directed by Wu Wenguang 吴文光 (China) 
Program: Panorama of Chinese FilmRegarded as one of the most influential Chinese documentaries, BUMMING IN BEIJING: THE LAST DREAMERS follows the lives of five young artists, including two painters, a theater director, and a photographer. After graduating college, all of them reject state-assigned jobs, and move to Beijing as they strive for personal and artistic fulfillment in the Chinese capital. In Wu’s debut documentary, viewers come to understand these five creatives as they navigate the world without a fixed income or the security of a home during late 1980s China.
November, 2025

Past event.
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.