Films & Schedules - MEMORIES LOOK AT ME

Song Fang’s remarkable directorial debut, in which she travels from Beijing to Nanjing for a visit with her family (many of whom play themselves), gracefully expounds on several poignant topics: how an adult child’s relationship with her parents changes as they grow older and how to negotiate one’s place as a single woman in a world of married couples. Song, who many will remember for her wonderful performance as Juliette Binoche’s nanny and aspiring filmmaker in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon (PIFF 2008), perfectly captures the rhythms of brief sojourns home, trips filled with reunions (both joyful and heart-wrenching), reminiscences, and moments of feeling painfully out of place. (91 mins.)

First Feature.

Winner of the Best First Feature Prize at this year’s Locarno Film Festival.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: New Directors, Asian.