Mao's Last Dancer

A FILM BY Bruce Beresford

Ballet fans can bask in the wide-shot dance sequences, with stunningly staged renditions of Swan Lake and The Rite of Spring.

- Janet Smith, GEORGIA STRAIGHT

Beresford keeps the camera, and the audience, fluidly engaged in the film's central, athletic aestheticism... he succeeds in fashioning a moving memoir into a thrilling movie.

- Colin Fraser, FILM INK

Late in his career, Bruce Beresford has delivered one of his best movies.

- TIME OUT SIDNEY

Beautiful and compelling...Ballet has never looked so darn sumptuous and appealing!

- Bruce DeMara, TORONTO STAR

Exemplary!

- Rebecca J. Ritzel, THE WASHINGTON POST

Mao's Last Dancer is a masterpiece! A feel-good film bursting with courage, energy and overwhelming inspiration... the highly charged emotional finale will leave you cheering.

- Rex Reed, THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

A treat to watch.

- Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Spectacular dancing and music!

- Maria Puente, USA TODAY

Synopsis

Two-time Academy Award®-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) celebrates the inspirational true story of ballet dancer Li Cunxin in this stunning adaptation of Li’s best-selling autobiography. When granted the opportunity of a lifetime to train with the renowned Houston Ballet, eighteen-year-old Li leaves behind a life of poverty and oppression in Communist China to embark on a transformative journey to the West, where he soars to stardom—and meets the love of his life. But he soon learns that his quest for freedom must come at a price.