Asia Society has agreed to partner with Global Film Initiative to screen a series of films that expands global understanding of Asian cultures.

STOLEN LIFE (Shen Si Jie)
DIRECTOR: Li Shaohong
Mandarin with English subtitles
China 2005 (90 minutes)

 
Synopsis
A young girl is taken to live with her aunt and grandmother in Beijing. As an adolescent, Yanni, becomes withdrawn and reclusive, believing that she has been abandoned by her parents, and that she has no control over either her life or her fate. The fact that her “family” doesn’t have much hope for her future only compounds her depression. Surprising everyone in her hostile household, Yanni is accepted to college. As she prepares to begin her new life, an encounter with a delivery boy triggers a series of unexpected events. Director Li Shaohong takes us, as viewers, on a walk through a discovery of not only life under the city, but also a realistic perspective on the human experience.

 
About the Director
Li Shaohong was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1955. As a teenager she served in the military, working in a hospital. She graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and is regarded as a member of the “fifth generation” of filmmakers in China. As one of the most innovative and best-known contemporary women in this generation, Li co-founded Beijing Rosat Film & TV Production Company. Her feature films include Bloody Morning (1990), Family Portrait (1992), Blush (1994), The Red Suit (2000), and Baober in Love (2004). Stolen Life won the Best Narrative Feature at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival.