Country: Italy
Director: Andrea Segre
Language: Italian – English subtitles
A visually stunning story about two strangers who meet in a fishing village on the outskirts of Venice. Shun Li is a single mother working to pay off Chinese gangsters who helped her emigrate to Italy and are holding her young boy in China as security. Bepi is a Croatian fisherman, who moved to Italy 30 years earlier. Her love of Chinese poetry and his love of silly rhymes create a fragile friendship. But will prejudice and cultural alienation drive them apart? Tao Zhao had to learn Italian for the part of Shun Li, and it paid off – she won Italy’s equivalent of the Oscar for Best Actress.
Awards – 9 including
Venice Film Festival – FEDIC award
Venice Film Festival – Lanterna Magica Prize
Venice Film Festival – Lina Mangiacapre Award
David Di Donatello Awards – Best Actress
London Film Festival – Satyajit Ray award
Lecce Festival of European Cinema – Best young director
Tetouan – Best Actor
Tetouan – Best First Work
Reykjavik International Film Festival – Special Mention
“an emotional delicacy at work here” – Variety
“The cinematography is a thing of beauty, a visual form of poetry” – SBS Network
“The lagoon is exceptionally shot, immobile and mysterious.” -Cineuropa
“Quietly moving and unassuming” – Film Forward
Rated 14A
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