When the People’s Republic of China was created in 1949, the cinema was instantly transformed into a tool of the state: an official art form. In the following years, China heaved through massive change, the most prominent of which was the Cultural Revolution. The period after that saw the emergence of the so-called Fifth Generation filmmakers, the first in China to break with tradition and explore themes of identity in a now auteur driven industry. Cinema historian and documentary filmmaker Hubert Niogret examines the evolution of film in China from the mid-20th century to present; from a cinema driven almost purely by ideological propaganda to one of flashy MTV-style modernity. In the process, he reveals a picture of the nation that could only be revealed through its art.