Process
| MON. 23 OCT. | TUE. 24 OCT. | WED. 25 OCT. | THU. 26 OCT. |
| Opening Reception 20:00 | Ripples of Life 19:15 | Short Film Program 19:30 | Bad Women of China ( Round tableQ&A） 19:30 |
List of short movie
Ripples of Life
WEI Shujun｜Mainland China｜2021｜123 min.｜OV with English subs
Ripples of Life is a movie about movies. Unfolding in three distinct chapters – “Waiting Alone,” “Seemingly Beautiful,” and “Pluto Moment” – each a nod to iconic Chinese films, the story centers on the creation of a highbrow film set in a secluded town. The arrival of the film crew sends ripples through the town’s peaceable existence, but once the waves recede, serenity is restored. Ripples of Life stands as both a profound social commentary and a triumph of visionary filmmaking, flawlessly melding a conceptual narrative with cultural insight.
Shujun Wei was born on February 5, 1991 in Beijing, China. He is a director and writer, known for Ripples of Life (2021), Striding into the Wind (2020) and On the Border (2018). He is the only post-90s director to have been selected three times for the Cannes Film Festival, graduated from the Communication University of China.
Consult the guide to learn more about purchasing tickets
The Silence of Hands
LIU Yujia｜Mainland China｜2021｜19 min.｜Chinese with English subtitles｜(European Premiere)
THE SILENCE OF THE HAND shifts the focus to the hands of female laborers from Xinjiang; as they gaze back at the cinematographer, the production of fabric and the filmic realm concurrently unfolds both in front of and behind the camera.
Liu Yujia graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and obtained her master’s degree from London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. She currently lives and works in Beijing. Liu Yujia’s recent practice engages with moving images. Her video works and films explore the dialectical tension between documentary reality and fiction, examining the complex and mysterious dimensions of subjective experience in different social and political contexts. The artist shoots the “real life” scenes in a documentary way, meanwhile, the private and invisible dimension of “real life” could be revealed by her fictional or “fake” figures. Her recent practice reveals the fictional and illusory aspects of social reality, allowing the audience to experience reality as pure fiction.
A Dog Under Bridge
TANG Rehoo｜ Mainland China｜2022｜13 min.｜Chinese with English subtitles｜(Paris Premiere)
A DOG UNDER A BRIDGE adopts the viewpoint of dogs which serves as a metaphor for the vagabonds discarded in the production of society, a seemingly absurd technique to mirror the underlying loneliness of urban dwellers.
Tang Lihao was born in Hangzhou in 1994. He graduated from China Academy of Art with a BA in animation in 2016, and then with an MA in 2021. His representative works A STORY OF PEAR and A DOG UNDER BRIDGE has won awards at home and abroad.
Before the Flight
CHAN Kiwi｜Macao｜2022｜37 min.｜English and Wikang Tagalog with Chinese and English subtitles ｜(European Premiere)
BEFORE THE FLIGHT focuses on Filipino domestic workers in Macau, veering away from conventional narratives about marginalized groups and instead showcasing an array of emotions – joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure – all experienced within this Filipino labor community.
Chan Kiwi
Journalist and videomaker. She started making documentaries while pursuing graduate studies in Beijing.
The Thing with Feathers
XU Tianlin｜Germany｜2022｜20 min.｜English Subtitle
An Iranian-Afghan family’s life in Germany can be solely seen through their hands. Iranian doctor Maryam came with her family to Germany for asylum two years ago. She sticks to a strict daily studying routine, hoping to return to her medical career, while her husband Hossain takes care of their baby at home. On this day, Hossain has a job interview at a photo studio, and Maryam, who has to look after her child by herself, has to reschedule her day.
Xu Tianlin is a Chinese filmmaker and media educator based in Hattingen, Germany and Hangzhou, China. She has an academic background in German studies and Journalism. After making documentaries for a decade, she directed her debut narrative short FEDERDING (THE THING WITH FEATHERS). She is also engaged in film education and is the co-founder of the Studio Klasse Story Lab in Yunnan, dedicated to running youth film workshops in China.
Somewhere
Li Jiahe｜China｜2022｜24min｜Chinese with English subtitles
A beer drinking party is organized by the owner of a paper mill “Fat man” and his employee “Blurred”, in order to celebrate the release of “Bald head” from prison. An unexpected event forces “Fat man” and “Bald head” to start a search for “a blurred good place”, with a river and trees…
Li Jiahe
In 2017, he entered the photography department of the Film and Television College of Hebei University of Science and Technology as a fine arts student. During his college years, he took self-study in directing courses and made several short films, among which the short film Somewhere was selected as a finalist for Le Cinef Unit of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
Consult the guide to learn more about purchasing tickets
Bad Women of China
HE Xiaopei, Mainland China 2021, 82 Min., OV with English subs
In what began as an attempt to reconcile with her mother with the help of her daughter, HE Xiaopei’s debut feature-length film takes us from the 1920s to the 2020s, following the lives, desires, and determination of three generations of women – her mother, herself, and her daughter – as they navigate political and social revolutions. Defying conventions and yearning for personal fulfillment, each woman inherits both love and unintended trauma.
HE Xiaopei is an indie film director and the executive director of Pink Space, an NGO focusing on films that represent invisibilized desires and lives. Since the 1990s, she has devoted herself to the feminist and lesbian movement in China.
Consult the guide to learn more about purchasing tickets
Coordinator: Xavier
Website & ticketing management: Micmia, Megan
Poster design: Yandan Zheng
Cinema contact: Nina
Accounting: Yiran