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Stonewalling film image, co-directors Huang Ji and Otsuka Ryuji

Stonewalling

石門

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The latest from husband-and-wife directing team Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka is a look at consumerism in China that will make your blood run cold. Lynn (Yao Honggui) is nearing the end of her post-secondary education and looking forward to a career as a flight attendant. She has a pushy, patriarchal boyfriend and a mother deep in debt; things get even worse when she finds herself pregnant. Not interested in motherhood at this point in her life, Lynn decides to carry out the pregnancy and sell the child to her mom’s debtors.

Stonewalling unfolds in a series of long takes, each of them framed with a precision that underscores the cold, polished design of contemporary urban China. That sheen of slickness is shown to conceal desperation and ruthlessness; Lynn’s situation is just the foremost example in the film. It would be hard to imagine a more capitalistic environment than the one depicted here, and the filmmakers imbue the milieu with a powerful malaise.

 

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Directors
Cast

Yao Honggui, Liu Long, Xiao Zilong, Huang Xiaoxiong, Liu Gang

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

2022

Language

In Hunanese with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
147 min
Drama Women Directors

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Credits

Producer

Otsuka Ryuji

Screenwriter

Otsuka Ryuji, Huang Ji

Cinematography

Otsuka Ryuji

Editor

Liao Ching-sung, Otsuka Ryuji, Du Men

Production Design

Otsuka Ryuji, Huang Ji

Original Music

Ng Chor Guan

Directors

Huang Ji headshot, Stonewalling co-director

Huang Ji

Huang Ji was born in Hunan in 1984 and studied screenwriting at the Beijing Film Academy. Since her first short film, The Warmth of Orange Peel (2009), she has been focusing on exploring the secrets of women’s inner emotions. Egg and Stone (2012), her debut feature, won the Tiger Award at International Film Festival Rotterdam, while her sophomore feature, The Foolish Bird (2017), was awarded the Special Mention of the Generation 14+ International Jury at Berlinale. She is also the founder of Around You Film Workshop.

Filmography: Egg and Stone (2012); Trace (2013); The Foolish Bird (2017)

Otsuka Ryuji headshot, Stonewalling co-director

Otsuka Ryuji

Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1972, Ryuji Otsuka relocated to China in 2005 to work in independent filmmaking, and has since been serving as the cinematographer and producer for all the films directed by Huang Ji. In 2013, he made his first documentary, Beijing Ants, as a solo director. His co-directed feature, The Foolish Bird (2017), won him the Best Artistic Originality Award (DoP) in FIRST International Film Festival. His recent cinematography work includes A Family Tour (2018) and Damp Season (2020).