7. Mountains May Depart
Release date: To be announced. What's it about? Jia Zhangke, China's pre-eminent auteur, returns after 2011's exceptional thriller A Touch Of Sin, with Mountains May Depart continuing his cinematic dissection of the ever-changing cultural and political landscape of his country. Split into three parts, the story begins in 1990s Shanxi Province and culminates in Australia in 2025 and promises to expose the downside to capitalism in much the same way as his previous films. What makes it award-worthy? Jia Zhangke's latest is another Cannes contender - having won the Palme for his screenplay for A Touch Of Sin, no doubt the director will be keen to up the ante and take the directorial crown in 2015. Whether or not he'll enjoy similar success in his native country is another matter - he's still battling the authorities to get A Touch Of Sin released in China.