attractive woman who lives off the men she dates. Wang Zhiwen as Professor Jiang, a poor but proud teacher from the Children's Palace. Chen Kaige as Professor Yu Shifeng, a high-profile professor in the Central Conservatory of Music. Cheng Qian as Hui, Lili's smooth-talking, cheating boyfriend Zhang Jing as Lin Yu, a young and talented student of Yu's. Li Chuanyun (Babeli) as Tang Rong, a famous and former talented student of Yu's. He also performed all of the violin solos for the film. Production Director Chen Kaige told Asian Week in an interview that he first got the idea for Together after watching a TV documentary on a father and his musical prodigy child from the provinces. Chen said he was struck by the father and son's aspirations of upward mobility that would never have existed in China before the economic reforms. This phenomenon of a "new Cultural Revolution" reminded Chen of his experience during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, when he was forced to denounce his own father, Chen Huaikai, a filmmaker who was labelled counterrevolutionary. Those sad memories prompted Chen to want to "make a very happy film", in Chen's words, because "being Chinese isn't all misery and very dark moments". Awards and nominations San Sebastian International Film Festival, 2002 Best Director (Silver Seashell) – Chen Kaige Best Actor (Silver Seashell) – Liu Peiqi Golden Rooster Awards, 2002 Best Director – Chen Kaige (in conjunction with Yang Yazhou for Pretty Big Feet) Best Supporting Actor – Wang Zhiwen Best Editing – Zhou Ying Best Film (nominated) Best Actor (nominated) – Liu Peiqi Huabiao Awards, 2003 Outstanding Actor – Liu Peiqi Florida Film Festival, 2003 Best International Feature Film Hong Kong Film Awards, 2004 Best Asian Film (nominated) DVD release Together was released on DVD on November 18, 2003 and distributed by MGM in the United States. The DVD release features subtitles in English. See also Tchaikovsky's violin concerto in D major Op.35, a piece featured prominently in the film References External links 2002 films 2002 drama films 2000s Mandarin-language films Films directed by Chen Kaige Films set in Beijing Films about violins and violinists Films about classical music and musicians Chinese drama films 2000s Chinese films