Crosscurrent will have its digital premiere on MUBI on April 3rd. The visually stunning fantasy film about a poet’s trip on China’s longest river shot by Mark Lee Ping-Bing (In the Mood for Love) in 35 mm won the master cinematographer a Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at Berlinale. The deal was negotiated by MUBI’s Vice President of Content Daniel Kasman and Cheng Cheng’s Distribution Creative Director Yalin Chi.

“It is a great honor to be able to give the online premiere to Chao Yang’s magnificent film. It is a rare feature film whose grand ambitions result in cinematic poetry,” said Daniel Kasman, Vice President of Content at MUBI. “Master cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing deserved to win the Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his work, and we’re thrilled to offer this prize-winning Chinese film to our audience.”

“Cheng Cheng has always appreciated how MUBI cultivates a community for film lovers with curation and discussions that enrich cinema culture. We’re excited to present Crosscurrent here to an online audience for the first time,” said Yalin Chi, Distribution Creative Director at Cheng Cheng. “Throughout Crosscurrent‘s release in theaters and on Blu-Ray, it has sparked fascinating interpretations and heated debates. We can’t wait to treat more viewers with this landmark work from Chinese cinema and dialogue further with them on its every aspect.”

Synopsis:

A Berlinale Silver Bear winner from master cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bing (In the Mood for Love, The Assassin), this mysterious, sublime and elegiac odyssey blends breathtaking images of the river that has nurtured Chinese civilization with fantasy, poetry and history to create a complex universe. From the spinning Shanghai metropolis to snow-capped Tibet mountains, Gao Chun steers a cargo up the Yangtze and comes across a reversely aging woman named An Lu at every port recorded in a poetry book. He wonders she is supernatural or he is traveling back in time. After passing a pagoda that reverberates Buddha’s voice, a flooded town reappeared elsewhere and the grandiose Three Gorges Dam, he finally arrives at the start of the river and unveils the secret of his past and An Lu.