At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he falls in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.
Cast
Amanda Schull
Elizabeth Mackey
Chi Cao
Li Cunxin - adult
Chengwu Guo
Li Cunxin - teenage
Wen Bin Huang
Li Cunxin - boy
Joan Chen
Niang
Bruce Greenwood
Ben Stevenson, Unknown
Kyle MacLachlan
Charles Foster
Jack Thompson
US Federal Judge
Camilla Vergotis
Mary McKendry
Madeleine Eastoe
Lori
Steven Heathcote
Bobby Cordner
Aden Young
Dilworth
Wang Shuangbao
Unknown
Barbara Bush
Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George H. W. Bush
Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mao Zedong
Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kip Gamblin
David
George Ellis
Houston Ballet Conductor
Crew
Bruce Beresford
Director
Cunxin Li
Author
Jan Sardi
Screenplay
Mark Warner
Editor
Peter James
Director of Photography
Troy Lum
Executive Producer
Jane Scott
Producer
Geng Ling
Co-Producer
Sue MacKay
Line Producer
Herbert Pinter
Production Design
Anna Borghesi
Costume Design
Maree McDonald
Hairstylist
Ziggy Golden
Makeup & Hair
Xin Mu
Makeup Artist
Christopher Gordon
Music
Kerrie Brown
Set Decoration
Elaine Kusmishko
Art Direction
