International Premiere
A feel-good story with a sociological bent, All Ears is the kind of drama that triggers introspective journeys and three-hour conversations. Wen Shan (Hu Ge, The Wild Goose Lake), a failed screenwriter still in love with telling stories, finds a position writing obituaries. The job goes beyond merely finding a narrative. Wen must spin people’s flaws into virtues, deal with contrasting and fragmented testimonies, and find coherence where there is none. A compassionate listener, Wen aims to give meaning to the lives of the deceased, a thankless and often misunderstood task. Writing obituaries helps him get over his own hang ups and build a richer life than the one he thought he wanted.
While the subject of death can be a heavy load for a film, writer-director Jiayin Liu (Oxhide I and II) approaches it with a lightness of touch and sense of humor that allows her to delve into darker territory, much like her documentary work. There are no narrative shenanigans, twists, or complex antiheroes to be found. Just a compelling story warmly told.
Best Actor, Shanghai Film Festival 2023
Media Partner
HU Ge
China
2023
Panorama
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Cao Baoping
Producer
Mao Chuxiao, Liang Tongyu
Screenwriter
Liu Jiayin
Cinematography
Zhou Wencao
Editor
Yan Yiping
Original Music
Hank Lee
Director
Liu Jiayin
Writer-director Liu Jiayin, a Beijing Film Academy (BFA) graduate and current Associate Professor in Screenwriting, is known for her unique cinematic style and thematic focus in China’s independent filmmaking. Her auteur films Oxhide and Oxhide II have been screened in many international film festivals, including Berlin International Film Festival, and have been widely acclaimed by film critics as well as audiences.
Filmography: Oxhide (2005); Oxhide II (2009)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
Baby Amelie believes herself to be a god. Her parents (Belgian diplomats in 60s Japan) can barely cope -- but find the perfect nanny to restore order in this delightful animated feature.
Train Dreams
A lovely, ruminative movie set in the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the last century. Robert (Joel Edgerton) is a lumberjack, a taciturn man who comes to appreciate the life slipping between his fingers.
Wisdom of Happiness
An audience with the Dalia Lama, who, at 90, looks back on his life and shares the tenets of Buddhism as a practical guide to surviving the 21st Century with joy and compassion.
Caravaggio
In the latest from Exhibition on Screen, co-directors David Bickerstaff and Phil Grabsky shed light not only on Caravaggio's paintings, but his life, often kept half-hidden in the same chiaroscuro tones he shaded his masterpieces with.
Left-Handed Girl
Co-written and edited by Sean Baker (Anora), Shi-Ching Tsou's heartwarming solo feature debut follows a single mom in Taipei who is too consumed with her noodle stand to keep tabs on her five-year-old daughter's burgeoning shoplifting habit.
Dawn Pemberton Sings Aretha + Amazing Grace Film Screening
These dates are going to knock your socks off: one of the all-time great concert films, Aretha Franklin performing at the New Bethel Baptist Church in 1972, and Canada's own Queen of Soul, Dawn Pemberton, performing live in Aretha's honour.