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China’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF) has unveiled its full selection, including the titles for its Crouching Tigers competition, which will screen 11 films including Cannes award winners My Father’s Shadow and The President’s Cake.

The President’s Cake, from Iraq’s Hasan Hadi, won the Camera d’Or at this year’s Cannes film festival, while My Father’s Shadow, directed by Nigeria’s Akinola Davies Jr, received a Camera d’Or Special Mention. Crouching Tigers will also screen Akio Fujimoto’s Lost Land, which won the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice film festival.

Crouching Tigers selects first, second and third films from international directors, while the festival’s Hidden Dragons competition focuses on films from emerging directors making Chinese-language films. This year, the Hidden Dragons line-up of 11 films includes Singapore filmmaker Tan Siyou’s Amoeba, fresh from its world premiere in Toronto, and Li Dongmei’s Guo Ran, which premiered in Rotterdam (see full line-up below).

The festival has also set Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another as the opening film of its Galas section, which will screen nine international films. The Galas line-up also includes Cannes award winners such as Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value; and Sho Miyake’s Locarno Golden Leopard winner Two Seasons, Two Strangers (see full line-up below).

Special Presentations at the festival include documentary Mr. Kim Goes To The Cinema, directed by Busan International Film Festival co-founder Kim Dong-ho; Chinese director Feng Xiaogang’s 2004 action comedy A World Without Thieves; Andrea Segre’s documentary short The Great Ambition and Zhang Dalei’s short film Happy New Year Mr Wood.

Founded by Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke and held annually in the UNESCO heritage site of Pingyao, Shanxi province, the festival aims to showcase emerging Chinese talent as well as bring prestige international cinema to Chinese audiences.

The festival also features a Made In Shanxi section, screening six world premieres from filmmakers based in Shanxi, also Jia’s home province. This year’s Cinephile screening is Yu Shui’s blockbuster animation Nobody, which has grossed $222M at the China box office.

Pingyao film festival is scheduled to run September 24-30. The festival will announce its closing film and Pingyao Surprise Selection in coming days.

PINGYAO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2025:

CROUCHING TIGERS:

Rebuilding (US) AP
Dir: Max Walker-Silverman

The Last Blossom (Japan) AP
Dir: Baku Kinoshita
[Animation]

My Father’s Shadow (Nigeria, UK) CP
Dir: Akinola Davies Jr

Wild Foxes (France. Belgium) CP
Dir: Valéry Carnoy

The Massacre Of Gilles De Rais (Portugal) WP
Dir: Juan Branco

Reedland (Netherlands, Belgium) CP
Dir: Sven Bresser

Lost Land (Japan, France, Malaysia, Germany) AP
Dir: Akio Fujimoto

The World Of Love (South Korea) AP
Dir: Yoon Ga-Eun

Adam’s Sake (Belgium, France) CP
Dir: Laura Wandel

Dandelion’s Odyssey (Francem, Belgium) AP
Dir: Momoko Seto
[Animation]

The President’s Cake (Iraq, US, Qatar) CP
Dir: Hasan Hadi

HIDDEN DRAGONS:

Jet Lag In Summer (Hong Kong, China, US) WP
Dir: Yan Kun-Ao

Happy Girls (China) WP
Dir: Meng Xing

Guo Ran (China) AP
Dir: Li Dongmei

Amoeba (Singapore, Netherlands, France, Spain, Korea) AP
Dir: Siyou Tan

The Toddling Youths (China) WP
Dir: Qi Yanyan
[Documentary]

A Long Way Home (China) WP
Dir: Zheng Xusong
[Documentary]

Nighttime Sounds (China) AP
Dir: Zhang Zhongchen

Deep Quiet Room (Taiwan, China, Italy) WP
Dir: Ko-Shang Shen

#4 Road To Vendetta (Hong Kong, China) AP
Dir: Njo Kui Ying

Another World (Hong Kong, China) AP
Dir: Tommy Ng Kai Chung
[Animation]

West Border (China) AP
Dir: Luo Yan

GALAS:

One Battle After Another (US)
Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
[OPENING FILM]

Love On Trial (Japan)
Dir: Kôji Fukada

Two Seasons, Two Strangers (Japan)
Dir: Sho Miyake

The Secret Agent (Brazil, France, Germany, Netherlands)
Dir: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Woman And Child (Iran, France)
Dir: Saeed Roustayi

Dear Stranger (Japan, Taiwan, China, US)
Dir: Tetsuya Mariko

Sentimental Value (Norway, France, Denmark, Germany, Sweden)
Dir: Joachim Trier

Case137 (France)
Dir: Dominik Moll

The Mastermind (US, UK)
Dir: Kelly Reichardt

“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, will open the Galas section of the 9th Pingyao International Film Festival, which has unveiled its 2025 official selection spanning Hidden Dragons, Crouching Tigers, Galas, Made-in-Shanxi, Special Presentations and Cinephile strands.

The Galas program features a strong international slate, including Fukada Kôji’s “Love on Trial,” Miyake Sho’s “Two Seasons, Two Strangers,” Mendonça Filho Kleber’s “The Secret Agent,” Roustayi Saeed’s “Woman and Child,” Mariko Tetsuya’s “Dear Stranger,” Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Dominik Moll’s “Case137,” and Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind.”

In Hidden Dragons, first and sophomore features dominate with Yan Kun-ao’s “Jet Lag in Summer,” Meng Xing’s “Happy Girls,” Li Dongmei’s “Guo Ran,” Tan Siyou’s “Amoeba,” Qi Yanyan’s documentary “The Toddling Youths,” Zheng Xusong’s documentary “A Long Way Home,” Zhang Zhongchen’s “Nighttime Sounds,” Shen Ko-shang’s “Deep Quiet Room,” Njo Kui Ying’s “#4 Road to Vendetta,” Ng Kai Chung Tommy’s animated “Another World,” and Luo Yan’s “West Border.”

Crouching Tigers brings international discoveries, among them Max Walker-Silverman’s “Rebuilding,” Kinoshita Baku’s animated “The Last Blossom,” Davies Jr. Akinola’s “My Father’s Shadow,” Valéry Carnoy’s “Wild Foxes,” Juan Branco’s “The Massacre of Gilles de Rais,” Sven Bresser’s “Reedland,” Fujimoto Akio’s “Lost Land,” Yoon Ga-eun’s “The World of Love,” Laura Wandel’s “Adam’s Sake,” Seto Momoko’s animated “Dandelion’s Odyssey,” and Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake.”

The Made-in-Shanxi showcase highlights local talent with Song Lei’s “The Awkward Life of Mulan,” Yan Song’s “Prophetic Dreams,” Gu Ying’s “A Woman in Their Eyes,” Miao Zhuangzhuang’s “Daughters,” Kong Jiahuan’s “A Falsetto Boy,” and Wei Dongchen’s “On the Road.”

Special Presentations include Andrea Segre’s “The Great Ambition” and companion short “Us and the Great Ambition,” Kim Dong-ho’s documentary “Mr. Kim Goes to the Cinema,” Feng Xiaogang’s “A World Without Thieves,” and Zhang Dalei’s short “Happy New Year Mr. Wood.”

The Cinephile section completes the lineup with Yu Shui’s animated “Nobody.”

The 9th Pingyao International Film Festival runs Sept. 24–30.

Pingyao

Pingyao Film Fest Unveils Crouching Tigers & Hidden Dragons Entries

‘One Battle After Another’ Opens Galas as Pingyao Sets 2025 Lineup