MANCHURIAN TIGER

This won Best Film at the Shanghai International Film Festival last year. Xu Dong needs to find a new home for his pet dog, now that his wife Mei Ling is pregnant, and places it in the care of a cash-strapped builder named Ma Qianli. The dog's death leads all three into a collision course, not least because Mei Ling stumbles upon a secret Xu has been keeping from her. It's full of dark humor and poetic lines, all set in a messy, freezing small-town in the Northeast, or Dongbei. It's remarkable how aesthetic Dongbei's brick and concrete rustbelt becomes when seen through the lens of director Geng Jun, whose penchant for wide-angle shots is reminiscent of Wes Anderson.