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MY FRIEND AN DELIE
Director: Zijian Dong
This remarkable adaptation of Shuang Xuetao’s novel is the debut film from actor-turned-director Dong Zijian that flashes back and forth in time to tell a touching story of friendship and family strife. Following his father’s death, Limo (Liu Haoran) is flying back to his hometown in northeastern China, when he spots his childhood friend An Delie (played by director Zijian) (Dong) on the plane, who fails to recognise him. When their flight is diverted because of heavy snow, the duo go on a journey that brings back long-forgotten memories in which Limo has to deal with the demons from his past. Beautifully photographed by Pema Tsedan across two time periods, the film shows the long-term emotional impact of the traumas of our childhood.

SOMEBODY
Director: Yeo-Jung Kim
This exceptional psychological thriller from South Korea poses dark questions about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. Swimming instructor Young-eun (Kwak Sun-young) is disturbed and embarrassed by the increasingly violent behaviour of her seven-year-old daughter So-hyun. When Young-eun realises that she cannot change her daughter's disposition she decides to take matters into her own hands with bloody results. Co-directors Kim Yeo-Jung and Lee Jung-chan show a mastery of suspense in these eerie scenes before they produce their biggest shock when the action jumps forward two decades and new characters emerge. Min (K-Pop superstar Kwon Yu-ri) and Hae-yeong (Lee Sul) are flatmates with their own devastating psychological family traumas, and dark secrets being to emerge keeping the audience guessing to the end.

BLACK DOG
Director: Guan Hu
While China buzzes in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics, Lang returns from a decade in prison to his home town to find it largely deserted, its crumbling concrete blocks being torn down to make way for a new industrial city. The exodus of humans means that the area is now overrun with stray dogs; Lang, needing a job, joins a hastily assembled extermination team supposed to round them up but, when a dog suspected of having rabies adopts him, he realizes his real mission is to save the animals, including the ones at the nearly deserted local zoo.. In a riveting, almost wordless performance, Eddie Peng shows Lang recover his humanity, even as the landscape around him becomes increasingly desolate.

STATE OF SILENCE
Director: Santiago Maza
Four Mexican journalists who risk their lives to report on their country’s violent “narco-politics” talk in depth about their experiences, the dangers they face and the crucial importance of independent journalism. Mexico has been the frontline of the so-called “war on drugs” for two decades, where the line between law and crime is blurred – the continuing threats against journalists have effectively created dangerous zones of silence. Jesús Medina, Juan de Dios García Davish, María de Jesús Peters and March Vizcarra are committed to breaking that silence, reporting on local corruption, the theft of water from farmers by the drug lords and cartel-related shootings. Medina describes his job as being an “amplifier” for ordinary people who, without a free and committed press, have no voice.