2000

Director: Xu Geng
Screenplay: Cao Wenxuan
Camera: Liu Lihua
Cast: Cao Dan, Du Yuan, Wu Qinqin, Jin Xirong, Xu Yanqing

Running time: 105'

Adapted from the novel by Cao Wenxuan with the same title, Thatched Memories is a children's film that details the little boy Sang Sang's experience. It includes several seemingly ordinary yet touching stories: the little bold Tuhe and his determination to live in dignity; the enigmatic life of the little girl Zhiyue; the sad and short love affair between Teacher Jiang and Bai Que; and the paternal love which the headmaster, Sang Sang's father, shows before he passes away... All these stories are told and presented through Sang Sang's point of view, which enables the audience to see not only the touching moments of human life but also Sang Sang's inner psychology.

Set in the early 1960s in the Jiangnan area of China, Thatched Memories is told simply and serenely. The novel, published in 1997 and written by Professor Cao Wenxuan of Beijing University, has become a landmark in the history of Chinese children's literature.