Tian tang jiao luo

A thirteen-year-old boy sets off on a journey through the desolate countryside along the Yellow River in the hopes of finding his mother. He was a shepherd in his village, yet his quest leads him to a factory as well as a children's street gang. His wandering presents a single, concise destiny, overlaid by a portrait of today's China. The characteristic auteur style (he is the screenwriter, director, cameraman and editor of his films) of one of the most distinctive of today's Chinese directors, utilizes breath taking composition in contrasting black and white, a hypnotically slow tempo, and scathingly critical opinion of his homeland's harsh reality in the 21st century. (Febiofest)