China / 2016 / 93min. / Director: WANG Xuebo
In a village in the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia Province, northwest China, the wife of an elderly man dies. In accordance with Islamic custom, a memorial service is to be held 40 days after the funeral, during which a cow must be slaughtered. The elderly man’s son suggests that an old cow owned by their family be killed, but the elderly man is hesitant to end the life of the creature he has raised like his own child... The directorial debut of WANG Xue-bo, producer of Pema Tseden’s TOKYO FILMeX 2015 Grand Prize winner “Tharlo,” is a story of the relationship between a man and his cow, and a tranquil portrait of the lifestyle of the Muslim Hui people. While short on words, it is a deeply moving cinematic experience. Screened in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents section.
