East Palace, West Palace

East Palace, West Palace is a 1996 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan starring Hu Jun, Si Han. It is also known as Behind the Forbidden City or Behind the Palace Gates. East Palace, West Palace is the first Mainland Chinese movie with an explicitly homosexual theme. The title of the movie derives from the two parks near the Forbidden City - the East Palace and the West Palace. The two parks, specifically their public washrooms, are notorious for being places of congregation for the homosexuals in Beijing during the night. The film was shot in the spring of 1996, when it was smuggled out of China for post-production in France. It premiered at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina in November 1996 and at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard competition.East Palace, West Palace