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East Palace, West Palace

+ intro by Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies, King’s College London

Dong gong xi gong

A pioneering depiction of homosexuality, cruising and desire in Beijing.

  • Director

    Zhang Yuan

  • With

    Si Han, Hu Jun

  • China 1996. 93min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    15

After a night raid in a Beijing park, a young gay writer named A-Lan is held by police and questioned. Recollecting his tumultuous childhood, sexual experiences, and search for love, A-Lan forms a masochistic bond with the officer subjecting him to interrogation. Zhang Yuan’s acclaimed feature was one of the first films from mainland China to dramatise gay experience.