Screen presence

The National Film Theater in London will present a series of Chinese films - Unseen China, Confucius, Woman Basketball Player No 5 and A Simple Life - to showcase important facets of the country, past and present.

Xie Jingjing, former film programmer for the Guangzhou International Documentary Festival, film curator, and Zhan Xuhua, art curator, introduce Unseen China, which contains rarely screened documentaries shedding light on China's current reality.

Confucius is set at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), when civil war and social upheaval were violently bringing an end to the feudal system of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BC). Director Hu Mei's biopic dramatizes the life and beliefs of the legendary Chinese sage and shows the often difficult conversion of idea into action. The movie features exquisite set design and costumes, impressive wide-screen spectacles and superb battle sequences.

As the first sports movie in color, Woman Basketball Player No 5 gripped audiences with its vitality, pace and melodrama. The tragic past of a stoic and weathered coach inspires Shanghai's female basketball team to greater heights. Director Xie Jin gives plot and direction priority in this drama set against the backdrop of a new China.

Date: Till Feb 25

Venue: National Film Theater, Southbank Center

Website: www.bfi.org.uk/whatson