• Available on Kanopy/Fresno State Library database or the Fresno County Library.
• 5:15 p.m. Oct. 28, Zoom discussion with Dr. Ed EmanuEl.
• In Chinese with English subtitles.

Based on a novel, the film tells the story of two young men, university students, who are sent to a remote mountain village in southwest China for three years of communist re-education to purge them of their decadent western education. Amid the backbreaking work and stifling ignorance of the community, they fall in love with a local beauty, the daughter of the most renowned tailor in the region. When they discover a hidden suitcase filled with banned books by western writers, they read these works to the little seamstress for hours on end in a secret meeting place. Thirsting for knowledge of the world beyond, she is mesmerized by the novels of 19th-century French writer Honoré de Balzac and eventually falls in love with the two young men who read this author’s stories to her. On her mystical journey, the Little Seamstress finds the courage to leave her village for broader horizons.

Participation is simple. Head to the CineCulure website for a link and instructions on how to view that week’s film. To participate in the weekly discussion, just email Dr. Mary Husain at mhusain@csufresno.edu by the Thursday before the Friday discussion for the Zoom link.