Screening Schedule | May 6: Flowing Arteries of the Earth

The Pacific Plate is the Earth's largest tectonic plate. Beneath its seemingly water-covered surface lies a complex geological structure riddled with faults and drastic transformations.

For a long time, women have been expected to be gentle, tolerant and reticent in both family and society. Their voices and needs are often overlooked and marginalized, yet they have never ceased to build up disruptive power in silence and forge a new form of expression within the fissures of history and reality. This unit invites everyone to step into this intricate "continent of water", and experience the most authentic stories about gender, family and intimate relationships depicted in these works—soft yet powerful, surging with undercurrents, and narrated in an intimate, subtle manner.

"The Monkey King leaped out from a crevice in the stone. Stone inherently has no gender, so why can't the Monkey King be female?" The Monkey King Is A Girl poses this thought-provoking question to us. Sun Guo, an actress who is determined to play the role of the Monkey King, not only steps into a male-dominated domain, but also explores the possibility of taking initiative to dominate and own her own body amid uncertainties and predicaments. In The Room Apart, the female body is not merely a vessel for life conception, but also becomes a battleground torn by the tug-of-war between marriage and family.

When the right to one's domestic space and bodily autonomy are both suppressed, the silence of newlywed wife Xu Man resembles an undercurrent beneath the sea surface, seemingly gathering the strength to bring about change... Similarly, What If focuses on the conflict between women's physical health and childbearing responsibilities. When a woman wavers between illness and the choice to forgo motherhood, how can she embrace herself and confront her family's expectations of her traditional gender role?

Like ocean currents converging from seawater, Hush, My Dear uses a simple physical touch between people to ease the unease and fear of a single mother, and to shed light on the invisible violence that is easily overlooked around us. Through the ordinary act of braiding hair, Braided presents the profound bond between mother and daughter. Strands of hair act as an invisible bond, connecting mother and daughter while tightly entangling them together. We grow up nurtured by our mother's love and care, yet we often find it hard to break free from this overwhelming affection.

Frankenfish by the River takes this sense of fluidity and transformation to the extreme. Three young people troubled by relationships, health and careers reunite briefly in their hometown. By the riverside, they share their shattered ideals, unsustainable lives and nostalgia for their youthful days, before eventually vanishing by the riverbank. The perplexities and confusion of real life seem to be devoured by the river monster in that humid and sweltering summer. After the screening, we will host an online Q&A session with director Chen Yusha and the audience to delve deeper into these women's stories.

Beyond the transformation in The Monkey King Is A Girl , the emotional entanglement in Braided, the warmth in Hush, My Dear, the emotional rupture in The Room Apart, the anguish in What If, and the dissolution of worldly troubles in Frankenfish by the River, this unit specially features three stand-up comedians who defy conventions in this male-dominated world. With humor and sharp wit, they will lead us to further explore the fluid landscape of physicality and identity.

Screening List

Frankenfish by the River

Director: Chen Yusha | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 94 minutes

Synopsis: This is an "urban nautical fable" centered on three recent college graduates. After discovering her boyfriend’s infidelity, down-and-out actress Liu Jiajia returns to her hometown and reunites with old friends Han Ling and You Wei. Meanwhile, the Fish Protection Legion embarks on its mission — "apprehend humans who refuse to feed the fish"... A hometown like a quiet pond, intertwined with unspoken confessions lingering in the air...

Director’s Statement: I intend to explore the hidden social ethos among young people in contemporary China — the tendency of "giving up and letting things slide". On the surface, they indulge in casual amusement, yet inner peace eludes them. They appear cheerful in public but sink into melancholy in private. I have infused this perception into the personalities of the characters in the film. The female protagonist is repeatedly associated wit

h the act of "feeding fish", which symbolizes "a sense of contentment", "fulfillment" and "nurturing", yet this symbolic meaning is often overlooked. The core intention is to call on people to take care of their inner selves. The characters in the film live in solitude yet accompany one another with unspoken thoughts and emotions. Family elements are also woven into the story, expanding the interpersonal dynamics while drawing from my own life experience of getting along with my parents.

I aim to blend the ambiance of "ancient legends" into the "modern city", letting subtle, lingering emotions permeate the entire film and create a unique narrative space exclusive to this work. The musical style also carries a strong sense of mystery.

I seek to explore the "possibilities" of integrating diverse elements. The film incorporates animation and various mediums such as mobile phones and computer front cameras into the narrative. While adhering to conventional storytelling in sound design, it also embraces experimental audio expressions. The relationship between the three leads is not a love triangle, and the cast is chosen with a neutral aesthetic in mind. During filming, I deliberately adopted local dialects while striving for a "de-urbanized" artistic tone.

I cannot precisely categorize the genre of this film, yet I hope that through this stylized story, it can convey strength and warmth to both middle-aged and young audiences alike.

Director Introduction: Actress, screenwriter and director. Born in Sichuan, China — the hometown of giant pandas — in 1996, she is fond of fantasy and observing interpersonal relationships. Her graduation short film **Courtyard** won a cash prize of 10,000 RMB and was shortlisted in the competition section of the 1st Chengdu Short Film Festival. She also received nominations for Best Actress and Best Director at the Guangzhou Zurongcun Dialect Film Festival. After graduation, she invested the prize money into her new creation, the short film Four O'Clock in the Morning.

The Monkey King Is A Girl

Director: Zhang Yue | Chinese Mainland / USA | 2024 | 16 minutes

Synopsis: Actress Sun Guo crashes an audition for the role of Sun Wukong and is unexpectedly selected by the director. Through a journey of self-reinvention and sacrifice, she gradually grows closer to the character...

The Room Apart

Directed by Wang Zichen | Chinese Mainland / United States / France | 2024 | 15 Minutes

Synopsis: After moving into their new home, wife Xu Man becomes pregnant. This makes her already uneasy married life even more unbearable. Her fear of childbirth and her husband's lack of understanding create an irreconcilable conflict. Xu Man decides not to keep the baby and keeps it a secret from her mother-in-law, who pays an unexpected visit.

What If

Director: Gao Yanghuixiao | Chinese Mainland / United States | 2024 | 18 Minutes

Synopsis: After years of struggling with a recurrent female illness, Chen Yilin is told that the only way to be completely free from the pain is to give up her ability to become a mother. During a special trip back to her hometown, she hesitates over whether to tell her mother about her predicament.

Hush, My Dear

Director: Yang Xiaoman | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 24 Minutes

Synopsis: A mother fighting for child custody becomes trapped in a whirlwind of life and emotion following a child injury incident.

Braided

Director: Zhang Chenxi | Chinese Mainland / United States | 2024 | 6 Minutes

Synopsis: She puts into brushstrokes the unspoken words she could never say to her mother, as well as her mother's love for her, weaving them into strands of hair, braiding them into plaits, thickening them into shade, and twisting them into a cage that intertwines their bond. Hair links hearts, and their intertwined souls ache with every tug and pull. When overwhelming love leaves a red indentation pressed into the top of her head, how does affection turn into restraint? This intimate childhood memory of her mother braiding her hair is reimagined as a delicate and subtle artistic piece through hand-painted illustrations and paper-cut animation.

Event Introduction

--Talk Show: "Her Story"

They have long been expected to be docile, yet they have long found their own way to speak up amid being silenced.

In this edition of Pacific Plate, we have specially invited stand-up comedians who "break the rules" in this male-dominated world.

They are: Hao Ye — a versatile talent who can DJ, direct and perform comedy skits; Di Di — an artist who firmly speaks up for women regardless of prejudice; and Qing Qing Cao Yuan Mei Yang Yang — a smart, brave, strong, charming and hilarious intellectual bold woman.

Women's narratives are not confined only to sorrow and predicaments. Come laugh heartily with us after watching the movie — it is the cheer of all girls.

Post-Screening Review

On the last day of the first half of the active screening, we focused our perspective on female narratives under the theme of "Flowing Arteries of the Earth". For a long time, women have been expected by society and families to be gentle, inclusive and silent. Their voices are often ignored and marginalized, yet they have never ceased to accumulate breaking energy in silence and seek new ways of expression in the cracks between history and reality.

On that day, we screened the feature film Frankenfish by the River and five short films focusing on women's experiences, jointly outlining the multiple facets of contemporary women. In addition, three stand-up comedians with distinct styles - Hao Ye, Di Di and Mei Yang Yang from the Green Grassland - also came to the scene to share their own lives and observations, expanding the boundaries of "storytelling" in a humorous yet sharp way. Amid the interweaving of screenings and performances, the voices of women are no longer disciplined or suppressed, but transformed into a public and powerful presence.

"Her Story" talk show quotes

While everyone is scrambling to be a princess and play the role of a mother, I'm thinking of being a prince and a father - although "father" has other meanings at this age. -- Hao Ye

Father's love is truly like a mountain, for in this family, the mountain remains silent and just stands there stubbornly. -- Qing Qing Cao Yuan

Art merely makes them even more curious and foolish. -- Di Di

A group photo of the on-site staff at "Flowing Arteries of the Earth"