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:
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
Round Midnight: Ardeshir Plays Dexter Gordon
Loosely based on Bud Powell's time in Paris, Round Midnight (131 mins) is maybe the greatest of all films about jazz thanks to the towering performance of real-life jazz great Dexter Gordon. Saxophonist Ardeshir channels Gordon's vibe in his live set.
Montreal, ma belle
In this Valentine to discovering love later in life, the ever-elegant Joan Chen plays Feng Xia, a 53-year-old Chinese immigrant and mother in Montreal whose world is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with a young Quebecoise.
Sirât
A desperate father (Sergi Lopez) searchers for his missing daughter through the spiritual wasteland of the Moroccan desert. An unforgettable sensory powerhouse, Sîrat will have you riveted and rattled for hours after the end credits have rolled.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
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
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)