4 China-related films that were nominated or won at this year’s Oscars

Harriet

Bad luck for the talented actor and singer Cynthia Erivo who didn’t win last night, neither for her performance in Kasi Lemmons’s historic biopic Harriet, nor for her co-writing and performance of ‘Stand Up’ from the same film. But it’s nevertheless good exposure for the Beijing-based entertainment company, Perfect World Pictures. The company’s past productions include highly acclaimed films such as Darkest Hour and BlacKkKlansman.

American Factory

One of the biggest moments belonged to Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s documentary American Factory, the first production from Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground. The documentary follows a Chinese billionaire’s journey to set up a glass production factory in an abandoned GM factory and how the initial enthusiasm and gratefulness of the local working class were met with a vastly different managerial style and corporate culture.

Sister

A less acknowledged category of the Oscars indeed, but it is hard not to notice that one of the nominations went to the Chinese writer and director Siqi Song and her stop-motion animation Sister. The story follows a man’s recount of growing up with his imaginary little sister who could have been born in the 1990s due to the nation’s one-child policy. Drawing inspirations from her training in ink painting as a child, Song’s black-and-white setting is livened by the puppets made of wool, a unique texture to work with. The result is a poignant film that captures a woeful time in the country’s history.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood