Chinese Mainland Film Panorama 2026: "Chongqing Hot Pot"

Director & Screenwriter: Yang Qing Cinematographer: Liao Ni Cast: Chen Kun, Bai Baihe, Qin Hao, Yu Entai Produced by New Classics Media, CKF Pictures, Wanda Media Co., Ltd. 2016 | Colour | 98′ In Putonghua and Chongqing dialect with Chinese and English subtitles In Chongqing, a city filled with air-raid shelters, three buddies are about to lose their hotpot restaurant. They dig to expand it for a higher price, but accidentally break into a bank vault. Staring at piles of cash, they are caught in a difficult dilemma, setting off an absurd chain of events involving brotherhood, lost romance and gang conflict. The film continues the confined-space storytelling of director Yang Qing’s university short-film assignment, this time setting the stage in a hotpot bunker. With greater maturity and confidence, Yang delivers a stylised genre film rarely seen in recent Mainland Chinese cinema.