A scene from 'Red Amnesia.' Handout photo

MANILA -- Cineastes can now sate their curiosity about Chinese film at Shangri-La Plaza’s Spring Film Festival from January 25-29.

Those wishing to experience how cinema has since evolved beyond now-classic Chen Kaige, Wong Kar Wai, and Ang Lee films of decades past can now avail of free admission at the theater, but be warned that there will be lines of eager enthusiasts as well.

Forming part of the mall’s offerings to coincide with the celebration of Chinese New Year, in cooperation with the Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, six movies will be available for public viewing.

Carefully selected, the six films — "Wolf Totem," "A Complicated Story," "Book of Love," "Everybody’s Fine," "Horseplay" and "Red Amnesia" — form a diverse representation of styles and approaches to filmmaking, and offer various glimpses into Chinese life as well.

In a press screening featuring "Red Amnesia," the audience followed the life of the widow Deng as she negotiated her seemingly humdrum existence as a grandma and caregiver to her own mother. Seemingly neglected by her own children, unappreciated by her senile mother, Deng negotiates through the hours of her day as if in a dream, until she is menaced by anonymous phone calls.

The suspense builds as the audience journeys with Deng in trying to decipher if she is being haunted by her past, an otherworldly element, or something else altogether—and the resolution can be jolting and horrific for some—proof that the cursed carry their burden, and it’s a load that doesn’t lighten or fade with the years.

A scene from '"Everybody’s Fine.' Handout photo

In contrast, "Everybody’s Fine," the second such remake of the Italian film (the first featured Robert de Niro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale), proffers its own take on modern family dynamics in China, as a father leaves the comfort of his home in Beijing to see each of his children—discovering that spending one-on-one time (even at this late stage of parenting) reaps its own rewards.

The film that most likely will attract the most attendees may be "Wolf Totem," which was considered as China’s 2015 entry for the foreign-language Oscars. Telling the tale of a university student who adopts a wolf cub to keep it from perishing, set among the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia, animal lovers will be sure to enjoy this adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel by Lu Jiamin.

This film is also notable for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s direction—the same director of "Seven Years in Tibet," whose ban was lifted by the Chinese government so he could be part of the French-Chinese production.

A scene from 'Wolf Totem.' Handout photo

Bibliophiles who adored Helen Hanff’s “84 Charing Cross Road” will most likely savor the role the book has in "Book of Love," as it serves to buoy the correspondence of a young woman in Macau struggling with debt, and a young man in Los Angeles trying to find meaning amidst plenty. Rom-com addicts who want to know if these two ships passing in the night will eventually catch sight of the other will have to wait until the film’s conclusion. (No Googling! You will spoil it for yourself, promise!)

Whether you’re in the mood for complicated stories involving surrogate moms running off with their unborn child, or a bit of cops-versus-robbers (or cops-befriending-robbers) action involving stolen art, the Spring Film Fest certainly has a few surprises in store for moviegoers with eclectic tastes.

Visit www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial for updates or screening times for the Spring Film Festival.