Lei Peng

Campus de l'Académie des Arts de Chine, 1994. Dans un contexte d'ouverture du pays au monde occidental, un groupe d'étudiants découvre peu à peu la vie d'adulte où amours et amitiés se confrontent aux grands idéaux et ambitions personnelles. Perdus entre tradition et modernité, ces jeunes gens vont devoir décider qui ils souhaitent devenir.

Beijing Bubbles is a portrait of the punk and rock scene in Beijing, which as a subculture is barely recognized there. Center stage of the film takes not only the music, but first of all the attitude to life of the young musicians who deny consumerism and pressure to perform well. The Berlin filmmakers Susanne Messmer and George Lindt go on a ramble through the musical underground of Beijing and thereby meet people, who give them naturally and spontaneously an up-front insight in their daily live. Kind of a video diary it gives insight in a counter culture hardly anyone would assume in an authoritarian state like the People's Republic of China.

Huabian (Jiang Yuchen) is a young woman who moves to Beijing after completing her studies in search of all the excitement of city life. She swaps her disconsolate guitar-carrying hometown boyfriend for the art and culture of the city; only to find that things aren’t so easy there, certainly not what she expected given her education and aspirations.

Huabian (Jiang Yuchen) is a young woman who moves to Beijing after completing her studies in search of all the excitement of city life. She swaps her disconsolate guitar-carrying hometown boyfriend for the art and culture of the city; only to find that things aren’t so easy there, certainly not what she expected given her education and aspirations.

The film follows the dating adventures of two young women. One is trying to find the right women and the other is trying to find the right man, both with little success. Then one evening at a karaoke bar the two meet.

This film inspired by Peng Lei's own experience sees the multi-talented creator returning to his punk rock roots and chronicling the rock'n'roll journey of Beijing's youth. It is the first film revealing the native pop culture scene in China, filling in a gap in Chinese filmmaking. The cast was sourced almost entirely from the Beijing music scene. The wandering storyline focuses more on creating a certain mood than it does on climaxes and denouements. The director is a pioneer of Chinese pop culture with a practice encompassing music, film and art, who became iconic by his unique aesthetic style. He is best known as the front-man of Beijing's most famous band New Pants.