Films & Schedules - CHINA

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...

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.

Filled with breathtaking shots of the Himalayan countryside, Tibetan filmmaker Tseden offers an emotional allegory about urbanization and generational conflict. On a visit to a frontier town, middle-aged Gonpo decides to sell his faithful Tibetan mastiff to a Chinese trader who specializes in procuring dogs for wealthy landowners as status symbols. Gonpo’s father, Akhu, disturbed by his son’s lack of regard for their dog, purchases the animal back, initiating the simple storyline revolving around the dog’s destiny and the ensuing familial dynamics. Rich with commentary on the evolving conflict within Tibetan culture and a way of life that is quickly...

Filled with breathtaking shots of the Himalayan countryside, Tibetan filmmaker Tseden offers an emotional allegory about urbanization and generational conflict. On a visit to a frontier town, middle-aged Gonpo decides to sell his faithful Tibetan mastiff to a Chinese trader who specializes in procuring dogs for wealthy landowners as status symbols. Gonpo’s father, Akhu, disturbed by his son’s lack of regard for their dog, purchases the animal back, initiating the simple storyline revolving around the dog’s destiny and the ensuing familial dynamics. Rich with commentary on the evolving conflict within Tibetan culture and a way of life that is quickly giving way to outside forces, Old Dog poetically surfaces the conflicted views of a culture’s future. (88 mins.)

Filmography: The Silent Holy Stones (05), The Search (09)

Sponsored by Chipotle.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Narrative Feature, Family Fare, Asian.