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.
Media Partner
Yao Honggui, Liu Long, Xiao Zilong, Huang Xiaoxiong, Liu Gang
Japan
2022
In Hunanese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Jim Queen
When far-right activists infect gay influencer Jim Queen with a drug that turns him straight, he must join forces with a closeted follower to cure his ailment. Jim Queen is a film unafraid to skewer gay “body fascism” and bigoted conservatism alike.
Minotaur
Russia, 2022. While contending with the fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a corporate executive tries to insulate his home life from the consequences of the war. But when he discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, things start to implode.
9 Temples to Heaven
A middle-aged businessman leads his family on a one-day religious pilgrimage in the hopes of extending his sickly mother's life. Along the way, conflict brews, painful realizations unfold, and the film transforms into a meditation of faith, love, and duty.
Closure
In Closure, Michał Marczak follows Daniel, a father searching the Vistula River after his teenage son disappears from Warsaw’s Gdański Bridge. Resisting true-crime spectacle, this is a film questions whether hope can sometimes keep you trapped.
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
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
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).