"One of the biggest impacts of the Golden Bear award was that from then on, Zhang barely had to worry about funding for his films. Investors lined up to fill his schedule, the kind of treatment most film directors can only dream of," says Cao.

Cheng Hao, a Beijing-based collector and sponsor of celebrity handwriting exhibitions, says that there is a special section paying tribute to the American Film Institute's 1999 list of the 25 greatest actresses in Hollywood. Among rare artifacts on display are handwritten notes and autographs from giants like Rita Hayworth and Jean Harlow, the first time these items have been exhibited in China.