Dai Sijie

For most Americans with little knowledge of Chinese history, this movie will provide a naturally beautiful and culturally specific view into the Three Gorges region during the Cultural Revolution in the 70s, a time when all non-communist creative works were forbidden. From the forced labor/re-education to the emotional and intellectual longings of the protagonists, you see very clearly what life may have been like. As a westerner accustomed to general freedoms, this time and place is startling, not least because one finds that the breathtaking landscape later ends up submerged due to the Three Gorges Dam project.