Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of...

Little Fanzi, a waitress in a restaurant, is a girl who is not at ease with her job and is full of fantasies. She fantasizes that one day she will be able to take off her "unprofitable waitress uniform" and become a singer and a medical worker.However, reality shatters her fantasy again and again, and Fanzi becomes depressed, hating her job even more and venting her frustration on the customers. Z...