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International Premiere
The six-year-old daughter of a deaf-mute couple frustrates her father, who believes she can hear and speak. Much of the film, which is about communication, is done in Chinese Sign Language (CSL). Powerful without being flashy, the story showcases the challenges, melancholy, and social stigma of being deaf and mute in our increasingly auditory world. First-rate direction keeps the story developments flowing while excellent performances make the characters completely believable, especially the young girl whose stoicism acts as a shield against an outside world she dislikes. This is an intense drama that doesn’t cheapen the raw-earned emotions with sentimentality, and delivers a moving message of love and devotion.
Media Partner
Community Partner
Yinghong Hui, Enyou Yang, Xianhe Wang, Yamin Yan
China
2021
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Featured in:
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International Shorts: Family Ties
The bonds of family form the basis of this program of short films. Bonds with history and responsibility—sometimes close, sometimes strained—now and for the future.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Chez Jolie Coiffure
Having immigrated to Belgium from Cameroon, Sabine manages Chez Jolie Coiffure. Her salon patrons, many of them undocumented immigrants, are not only be made to feel beautiful but can also escape the daily difficulties and harsh realities of their lives.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Atlantics
In Dakar, Ada loves Souleiman but has been promised to another man. One night, Souleiman and his co-workers leave the country by sea. Several days later, a fire ruins Ada's wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. It seems Souleiman has returned.
Credits
Producer
Fangzhou Zhao, Corey Pengyang Sun
Screenwriter
Dandi Fu
Cinematography
Jianeng Li
Editor
Cheng Chen
Production Design
Yading Li
Original Music
Nancy Li
Director
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Mo Sha
Mo Sha is a Chinese director. In 2017, his first web series, My Huckleberry Friends, was rated 8.6/10 in Douban. In 2021, he released his directorial debut feature, Love Will Tear Us Apart, and won Best Youth Director of the Year in the iQiyi reality show, Action!
Filmography: Love Will Tear Us Apart (2021)