Zhang Yuan is in the vanguard of China's most important recent developments and is one of the leading members of the 'sixth generation' of Chinese filmmakers whose works challenge the strict Chinese system with a critical, uncompromising vision of urban life under pressure. Zhang Yuan has won numerous awards from Venice, Rotterdam, and Viennale. All proceeds of the screening went to the Children in China Charity (www.childreninchina.org).

How did you get involved in filmmaking and how was your early work received?

I studied at Beijing Film School, beginning in 1985 and graduating in '89. This is the only professional film school in the whole of China and getting qualifications from this school is very important for filmmakers. When I graduated I made my first feature film. It is called Mama (1992) and it talks about the relationship between a mentally disabled child and his mother � it's a son-mother relationship. The film participated in the London Film Festival. After this I made my second feature � Beijing Bastards (Beijing za zhong, 1993). This was the first feature film about Chinese rock and roll music. It starred Jian Cui who is a very famous rock and roll star in China � he's just like John Lennon for the UK. But this film and the following one � East Palace, West Palace (Dong gong xi gong, 1996) � could not be shown in China because of the censorship. With Seventeen Years (Guo nian hui jia, 1999) it became possible to have the film shown to the public in the cinema. And from this movie onwards, including Little Red Flowers, my films have been seen by wider audiences.

What were the origins of your new film Little Red Flowers?

I wanted to make this film for a long time � for about six or seven years, from when the book (a semi-autobiographical work by popular Chinese writer Wang Shuo, a friend of the director's) was first published. It is particularly difficult to adapt literature into a film form so I took a lot of time to adapt the book into a script. Apart from the difficulty with the script, it was also very difficult to select actors for this film � we took almost a year to select all the actors, particularly as there are many, many kids in the film who are aged three to five.

Your lead character Qiang, is brilliantly played by Dong Bowen � how did you know that you had the right child for such an important part? And what was it like to work with such a young cast?

When I first met him I know that he would be really good � I think that this is the biggest gift from god in this film. The children were really fantastic � during filming I felt so much support and passion. Their brilliant acting and cheerfulness helped me to emphasise the feeling and themes of the film �because no matter how young and small they are they still have their dreams and their passions and their strengths. And the kids in a way reflect the adult reality and how society works � so when we look at the children we see ourselves.

Where there any practical problems with working with so many small children (the director's own daughter also appears in the film) � in terms of hours of work and so on?

In China at this time we do not have any regulations in this area. But it is impossible to film with such young children for more than four hours a day because it is so hard to control so many of them and they want to play, they want to sleep, they want to eat and go to the toilet. The parents of the children visited the site and I tried my best to make it as comfortable an environment as possible for the children because I wanted to make it enjoyable for them.

How did you go about financing Little Red Flowers?

The majority of the funding came from China and Italy. Altogether there were five companies which took part in the financing. One is my own company in China, there's another company in Mainland China, another in Hong Kong, a film company in Italy and also a national TV station in Italy.

The perspective in the film and the visual impact are very strong � how did you go about creating this and had you worked with cinematographer Yang Tao before?

This was an important question that came up very early in the planning of the film. There was some consideration of whether I should use the kid's perspective or an adult's perspective. Finally I decided that it still had to be from my own perspective � I realised that it was only from my perspective that I could tell the story in the best way. (This is the first time Zhang Yuan has worked with Yang Tao).

What is it like to be an independent filmmaker in China?

It is very difficult to be an independent director in China. The word independent in China, ideologically speaking, it is not a positive word, it is very negative. China has very strong censorship so half of my films cannot get released. But then it is also very meaningful to be an independent filmmaker in China because only when you become independent can you really say what you want. My first film � Mama � actually struck out on a new path for cinema in China because from that experience we know that we can use our own funding and we can produce our own film, because before that in China all the films were made in the standard studio way � so it really was a breakthough.

You are the director in residence at this year's Raindance film festival � what does it mean to be involved in this festival?

Generally, the film festival is a very good opportunity and a platform to show the film. The participation in this year's Raindance is very special as this is the first British audience for Little Red Flowers.

I understand that the proceeds of today's screening are going to the charity Children in China?

Yes, because this film is about children, and they are the future of society, it matches up with the particular charity really well and we really want to promote it.

The proceeds of the Raindance screening on Little Red Flowers went to the charity Children in China with which the director has a long-standing connection. To find out more about the organisation or to make a donation visit the website: www.childreninchina.org