Lead actress Fan Bingbing won the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

"Buddha Mountain ~Journey of Hope and Prayer~" depicts the recovery of a Peking opera actress who lost her son in the Sichuan earthquake, as she connects with three young people. This highly anticipated film, which won the Best Artistic Contribution Award and Best Actress Award for its lead Fan Bingbing at the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival in 2010, is finally being released.

Director Li Yu, also known for her starring role for Fan Bingbing in "Lost in Beijing," a sharp critique of contemporary Chinese society with dark humor, has become one of China's leading filmmakers. With this film, she shifts from depicting the distortions of modern China to creating a deeply moving story.



In addition to Chinese star Fan Bingbing, the cast includes the prominent actress Sylvia Chang, who also produced the film, and Taiwan's top actor Chen Bolin, all delivering nuanced performances.

Yueqin begins restoring a Buddha statue with three young people.

Chengdu, an ancient city in Sichuan Province, China, 2009. Retired Peking opera actress Zhang Yueqin, now in her twilight years, feels profound loneliness after losing her only son in the earthquake the previous year.



One day, however, Yueqin attempts suicide by cutting her wrist, revealing the depth of her despair to the three young people. In response, they take Yueqin to a temple on the mystical Guanyin Mountain, a place they stumbled upon while sneaking onto a cargo train, and begin helping to restore a Buddha statue damaged in the earthquake.

What does director Li Yu, known for her sharp portrayals of contemporary China, explore through the connection between a woman grappling with despair and young people adrift in rapid economic growth? We are invited to feel the universal sorrow, despair, and hope inherent in the human spirit.