FOCUS: CHINA
MITT MÖLLAN 12 APRIL 18.00
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Director: Laetitia Schoofs Country: The Netherlands, Germany, China Year: 2016 Runtime: 85 minutes Language: Mandarin
Subtitles: English Genre: Documentary

Hongli Zhen is a Chinese sexologist who meets women of all ages
at her practice in Beijing. Although the stories are wide-ranging, all
her clients are struggling with the expectations of society. Thirty-twoyear-old Wen-wen, for example, is an attractive and successful single woman, but she is viewed as a “leftover”: if a woman hasn’t found a man by her 30th birthday, she has missed the proverbial boat. Her parents are deeply ashamed. What did they do wrong? Beijing may look modern, but the traditional mores affecting women of all ages and classes are very old-fashioned.

In FALLEN FLOWERS THICK LEAVES, women talk candidly
about being married to a man they don’t love, about being lesbian
and finding acceptance, about cautious feminism, and about those
who – in utter desperation and shame at their failed love life – decide to become nuns. To what extent do ancient traditions, the Cultural Revolution and the modern economy affect the social status of modern Chinese women?

Original title: Fallen Flowers, Thick Leaves Screenplay: Jia Zhao Producer: Jia Zhao Sales: Films Transit