Skip to main content
Brief History of a Family film image; three people facing each other at a table

Brief History of a Family

Jia ting jian shi / 家庭简史

Panorama

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

Lin Jianjie’s film starts with a tense ambiguity: when Wei (Lin Muran) hits Shuo (Sun Xilun) in the head with a basketball during gym class, is it an accident or a malicious act? The incident draws the two high school students together, with a remorseful Wei inviting the taciturn Shuo over to his house. It’s there that Shuo meets Wei’s parents, and over the course of more visits, they come to value him over their own son…

Gripping from its very first shot, this feature debut triumphs as an eerie domestic thriller; a sorrowful take on the politics of family planning; a barbed critique of the bourgeois success ethic; and a poetic meditation on love, character, and identity. Writer-director Lin has an eye for the arresting, metaphorical image and a feel for the small, incremental changes that determine our fates but which often escape our notice until it’s too late. Dark, delicate, and beautiful, this is a terrific film from a director with a very bright future in cinema.

 

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Zu Feng, Guo Keyu, Sun Xilun, Lin Muran

Credits
Country of Origin

China/France/Denmark/Qatar

Year

2024

Language

In Mandarin with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

99 min
Action & Suspense Cinemas of Asia Drama Family Relations
First Light Films, Films du milieu, Tambo Film

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Producer

Zhou Ping, Rikke Tambo Anderson, Lou Ying, Zheng Yue, Wang Yiwen

Screenwriter

Lin Jianjie

Cinematography

Zhang Jiahao

Editor

Per K. Kirkegaard

Production Design

Xu Yao

Original Music

Toke Brorson Odin

Lin Jianjie headshot; Brief History of a Family director

Lin Jianjie

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics, Jianjie Lin’s passion for deciphering human existence led him to filmmaking. He received his MFA degree in filmmaking from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His short films, A Visit (2015), a satire about corruption and vanity, and Gu (2017), about a family’s last reunion at court, were screened at many international film festivals. Hippopotami, his latest short, which he shot before the feature, is in post-production. It looks at the harshness and absurdity of life through the eyes of a little girl. Brief History of a Family is his feature film debut.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Nobody's Fool

Dir. Robert Benton
110 min

Paul Newman brings a seasoned, irascible charm to this wintery gem from director Robert Benton, based on Richard Russo's novel.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Who by Fire

Dir. Philippe Lesage
162 min

Jeff, a 17-year-old aspiring filmmaker, goes on vacation with his friend Max and his family to an isolated lodge. Philippe Lesage’s film is a tense, mesmerizing tour de force that is both agonizing and cathartic. A Berlinale award winner.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

The Holdovers

Dir. Alexander Payne
133 min

Destined to become a seasonal staple, this bittersweet comedy reunites Sideways director and star Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti in the portrait of a surly classics teacher forced to babysit five "orphans" at boarding school over the holidays.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Dir. Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham
79 min

Aardman Animation's handcrafted mix of dad jokes, slapstick, mock dramatics and understated emotion makes this return for the claymation odd couple a constant delight. The villainous Feathers McGraw is back to no good, commandeering Norbot the robot. Rated: G

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

It's a Wonderful Life

Dir. Frank Capra
130 min

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. This Christmas classic is whimsical, sure, but it has the depth to stand up to multiple watches, and it really should be a communal experience, because that is what it's about. Rated: G

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Count of Monte Cristo

Dir. Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de La Patelliere
178 min

You can't beat this evergreen Alexandre Dumas tale for adventure, intrigue and romance. This lavish French blockbuster from the writers of the recent Three Musketeers movies pulls you in from the first scene and doesn't let off for the next three hours. Rated: PG

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre