Editor's note:

The 69th Cannes International Film Festival is set to open on May 11. Some 40 years have come and gone since "A Touch of Zen" was China's first production to gain recognition at the 28th Cannes Film Festival in 1975. Many Chinese films have been recognized by one of the most pretigious film awards in the world, including director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "The Assassin" winning Best Director at 68th Cannes. Here we present to you the 17 Chinese films awarded in Cannes from 1975 to 2015.

"The Asassin" by Hou Hsiao-Hsien won the award for Best Director in Cannes in 2015. [Photo/Mtime.com]

About the film:

Set in ninth-century China, at the end of the Tang Dynasty, a highly trained female assassin is sent back to her home province to kill its governor after failing in one very important mission. It just happens that the governor she was ordered to kill is also the man she loves.