Shadow Magic

The story

Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?

Cast & crew

Jared HarrisRaymond

Xia YuLiu Jing Lun

Liu PeiqiMaster Ren

Lü LipingMadame Ren

Yufei XingTan Xiaoling

Jingming WangLao Liu

Li YushengLord Tan

Yukui Zhang

Yukui ZhangLao Chang

Chen ChuangMi Hu

Qi Mu

Qi MuJewelry Tower

Fang QingzhuoWidow Jiang

Li BinEmpress Ci Xi