COLD CALLING

Other movies
GIRL
Director: Shu Qi
Superstar Shu Qi, icon of Asian cinema and muse of Hou Hsiao-hsien, makes her directorial debut with this self-penned, deeply personal coming-of-age drama. In a cramped home ruled by abuse, young teenager Lin Xiaoli keeps her head down, caring for her little sister while her father’s drunken rages cascade into her mother’s cruelty. Everything shifts when she befriends Li Lili, a rebellious classmate who skips class, smokes and urges Xiaoli to challenge the family’s toxic status quo. As escape glimmers, Shu Qi films with poised restraint, observing at a remove and tuning the viewer to intimate, everyday textures with a quietly harrowing strength. Tender yet unsentimental, Girl finds fragile beauty amid hurt and announces a formidable new directorial voice.
GHOST SCHOOL
Director: Seemab Gul
This gentle yet arresting debut feature from Seemab Gul centers around 10-year-old Rabia, a clear-eyed, logical-thinking, courageous child protagonist who wants to understand the real reason for the abrupt closure of her school. Rumours start that the school is haunted and her teacher is possessed by supernatural beings. However, her day-long quest for the truth, fuelled by her simple desire for an education, leads her into an adult world that has been plunged into superstition. What soon becomes clear are the machinations behind a corrupt regime and classist society, giving way to the nature of its real victims. Ghost School is a bittersweet portrayal of injustice for Rabia and the hope of a better future for all younger generations.
NIGHTTIME SOUNDS
Director: Zhang Zhongchen
Nighttime Sounds blends social realism with surrealist poetry to explore the emotional landscapes of women in rural China: their buried desires and muted cries for freedom, love and recognition. Eight-year-old Qing lives with her mother, while her father works in a distant city. One morning, Qing encounters a ghostly child searching for their missing mother. Through dreamlike imagery and a haunting soundscape, director Zhang Zhongchen weaves a powerful tale of memory, longing and the silence passed from one generation of women to the next.