All Ears(HKAFF2023)

Best Director, Best Actor, Golden Goblet, Shanghai International Film Festival

Liu Jiayin, who made her mark in modern Chinese cinema nearly two decades ago with the experimental Oxhide, returns with the most high-profile work of her career. All Ears boasts big stars, but like the writer-director’s early indie films, it tells small stories of ordinary people and ordinary lives in a precise cinematic language. Hu Ge disappears into the role of an introspective screenwriter-turned-eulogy-writer who goes the extra mile to listen, understand and pen a final farewell that is true to the deceased. Encounters with various people carrying different memories and regrets form a journey of soul-searching and healing for the bereaved and for the lost writer seeking direction in life.