The films Mao’s Last Dancer is getting some good buzz recently. Here’s a synopsis of the film:

From Academy Award® nominee Bruce Beresford (DRIVING MISS DAISY, TENDER MERCIES) comes MAO’S LAST DANCER, the inspiring true story of Li Cunxin and his extraordinary journey from a poor upbringing in rural China to international stardom as a world-class ballet dancer.

Based on the best selling autobiography, MAO’S LAST DANCER weaves a moving tale about the quest for freedom and the courage it takes to live your own life. The film compellingly captures the struggles, sacrifices and triumphs, as well as the intoxicating effects of first love and celebrity amid the pain of exile. From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao’s cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years later, through a series of events worthy of the most exciting cloak-and-dagger fiction, he defected to the United States, where he quickly became known as one of the greatest ballet dancers in the world. This is his story, told in his own inimitable voice.

MAO’S LAST DANCER stars Chi Cao, a gifted dancer and principal at the Birmingham Royal Ballet making his impressive screen debut as Li Cunxin. The cast is rounded out by Bruce Greenwood (STAR TREK; THE SWEET HEREAFTER), Kyle Maclachlan (“Sex and the City”; “Desperate Housewives”), Joan Chen (LUST, CAUTION; THE LAST EMPEROR) and Amanda Schull (CENTER STAGE; “One Tree Hill”)

This movie will be playing at a film festival near you. Looks to be a very inspiring film.

Mao’s Last Dancer trailer