Synopsis

Beibei is an ordinary, married, and motherly woman, who lives a standard, methodical life. She was laid off from her job, the primary source of her family's income, during the COVID-19 pandemic. She decides to return to her southern hometown in search of opportunities, initiating the process of settling her family and reorganizing her various relationships. With courage and endurance, she embarks on a continuous exploration, while striving to preserve her desires. This film adopts a pseudo-documentary style to present the image of a woman confined by reality and relationships, enduring life pressures and inner solitude, yet persistently expanding her sense of self. It portrays her journey of self-exploration and emotions, beyond her roles as a wife, mother, and daughter.

Curator’s Note

The protagonist is a truly becoming, generative woman in search of "who I am", because of new encounters and new pursuits, this woman has to say goodbye to past encounters, even to her husband. The film demonstrates a kind of indexical record of contemporary intimate relationships without any dramatic enhancement or effects of postproduction, but in the end, it even dispels this indexicality in a playful tone. One of the best Chinese films this year! （Zhaoyu Zhu）

Director’s bio

The director of this film, Alan Zhang, is born in the 90s. She is from China, is a director, painter, artist, and feminist activist. She has held two solo art exhibitions called Leaving Beijing and Letting You In. She also has two video creations of performance art works, called Casting Away and Looking for a Sperm. Alan Zhang's latest work is a feature film, "This Woman", which has just been selected for the burning light section of the Visions du Reel. "This Woman" won the Zonta Award prize for a female filmmaker， and Special Jury Award in the International Competition, at Visions du Réel 2023. This 90 mins long film was finished in 2022.

Director’s Note

I made the decision to make the film This Woman in 2021, without any hesitation. It was my second year of being a mother. I was thrilled to have the chance to shoot a special "female movie". This is an experiment for both of us, two women who are enthusiastic about films and always fascinated by the topics of marriage, family, love, intimacy, and self-exploration. This is how this film came about. Despite all the limitations, we still managed to complete the film as planned. I look forward to reaching out to a wider audience and involving more people to watch this film and discuss films that highlight women’s conditions, the challenges they face as well as the courage they harbour.

Festival & Awards

Casts

HiHi Lee, Xuchun Xue, Xiaozhen Wang, Yeliang Lu

Credits

producers: Yong Liao, HiHi Lee

Scriptwriter: Alan Zhang, HiHi Lee

Associate screenwriter: Man Ning

Sound: Chen Le