Latest feature Films

LA FÔRET DE MADEMOISELLE TANG

To leave or to stay? The film portrays several generations of a family spanning the 19th century to the present who, in the face of the major social upheavals in China, are repeatedly faced with the decision to leave home.


Appointments & Tickets

Thu 7.9. • 14:15
Cinema Trafo 2

Sat 9.9. • 12:15
Orient Cinema

Sun 10.9. • 18:30
Cinema Sterk 1

14+ 61'

Films

© The Egret River, Wan-Ling Liu, TW 2022
The Egret River (Prefilm)

In her poetic, hand-drawn animated film, Liu Wan-Ling tells the story of a watchman who works in a major city. Among the skyscrapers, he discovers a small piece of undeveloped wilderness and encounters a little egret during his visits there. A heartfelt relationship develops between man and nature that outlasts even the destructive work of approaching construction equipment.

Direction Wan-Ling Liu Duration 20' Language no dialogue Country Taiwan Year 2022
Animation Wan-Ling Liu, Lian-Yun Lu, Zinfa Chen, Yao-Ting Huang Screenplay Wan-Ling Liu, Jett Chang' Music Jett Chang Sound design Book Chien, Sy-Yuan Sun, Jia-Shen Yang

© La forêt de Mademoiselle Tang, Denis Do, FR 2022
The Forest of Miss Tang

Around the middle of the 19th century during the Opium War, Hio Tang, a very skilled but relatively poor carpenter, lives with his wife and their son Siao Yi in southeast China. He is unable to deliver an important order to Cambodia because the Europeans have blockaded the port. Under such harsh conditions, he barely manages to meet his family’s needs, yet they do not lose their optimism and persevere. Over the years, Hio Tang continues his woodworking and gradually passes his knowledge on to his son. Against the backdrop of China’s major upheavals, a dramatic family chronicle involving several generations unfolds. Time and again, the family is faced with the question of whether to leave or to stay. It is only in 1940, under Japanese occupation, when Siao Yi’s son finally decides to go into exile.


In his second feature-length film “La fôret de Mademoiselle Tang”, French-Cambodian director Denis Do provides us with touching insight into the Chinese society, thereby enabling us to better understand its recent history. The film is accompanied by a magnificent film score composed by Thibault Kientz-Agyeman, who also integrated traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu into the soundtrack. Do and Kientz-Agyeman had already collaborated on the director’s successful debut film “Funan”, which dazzled audiences at Fantoche in 2018 and won the Cristal for Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. (Xenia Nguyen)


 

Direction Denis Do Duration 41' Language Chinese/en Country France Year 2022