Law of the Dragon examines the way in which the Chinese legal system is trying to cope with the myriad recent dramatic changes to Chinese life and society by following the fortunes of a provincial legal practice, the Tiger Law Firm of Chengdu. At the heart of Law of the Dragon stands the austere Judge Chen, who journeys with his team of court officials along mud tracks and grit roads, often having to be dug out by the locals, to ensure that justice is served. Their court is wherever they hang the national emblem, be it nailed up in the fields or stuck up in the plaintiff’s house. Squatting on rocks amongst a farmers crops to advise him on his rights might seem primitive and even faintly ridiculous, but to the people he deals with, Judge Chen is the law. Directed by the award-winning documentary director Weijun Chen (Please Vote For Me, The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World), Law of the Dragon portrays all drama, the high and lows, the strains and stresses that affect families and businesses alike daily as they seek to navigate the labyrinthine Chinese judiciary. Judge Chen leads us through the narrow paths of justice in the Xuan’en region. As much of the population lives a day and a night’s walk from the province’s capital and wouldn’t know what they need to bring to a hearing, Judge Chen explains that it is necessary for the court to come to the people. We follow him and his team both through the court cases and during their time on the road, whether seeking the hospitality of the villagers or else warming instant noodles and sleeping in the rolled up bags kept in the boot. The arbiter of justice, complete with his judicial entourage, projects a strict demeanour but it belies a man who strives for justice for all. Like a latter-day feudal lord he sometimes steps beyond his official role, to remind villagers that they cannot rely on the law and to ask people to preserve peace and harmony in their community, without recourse to the intervention of the country’s official justice system.

Documentary about Chinese higher education: the pressure to get into state-sponsored schools, and the marketing of private colleges that may not provide the education they promise.

In the 1990s HIV/AIDS came to Wenlou through a blood purchasing program. To supplement their income many poor villagers sold their blood and 60% of those who sold blood contracted HIV/AIDS from unsanitary equipment. Many have died from the disease. In his documentary film, To Live is Better than to Die, Wiejun Chen tells of the impact AIDS has had in parts of rural China by showing how it has affected the Ma family. It is spring when the film takes up the family’s story.

The struggles of Wang Tiancheng, an elderly and cantakerous street vendor in Wuhan, China, whose business is threatened by the development of a new retail district.

中南医院妇产科，形形色色的故事上演从没有停过，5万块钱能救一大两小三条人命，手里只有5千元的丈夫，借钱、贷款、抵押房产此时都行不通，“拯救小凤之女”变得不可能完成；李家福——“拆弹部队”首领，面对夏锦菊保住子宫的请求，露出艰难而犹豫的眼神。心脏两次停跳，换血2万毫升，他如何剪断“炸弹”上的红蓝线，她又能否在“鬼门关”前转身？命悬一线之际，“生死时速”让人目不转睛。年轻妈妈李双双腹中的胎儿，引产似乎已被当地优生科判定，李家福团队却提出实施刨宫产，抢救微弱的性命。救，可能倾家荡产，一生背负沉重的负担；不救，可自己的骨肉，如何走上内心的审判厅。年轻的爸爸该如何踏上这段产房的“釜山行”。

2007 film by Weijun Chen