Three girls in China go on a road trip in the second feature from Dongnan Chen that blends raw documentary with an improvised fictional voyage, creating 'an alternative narrative.'
The care-free moments of childhood before society’s expectations weigh on us are the focus of Dongnan Chen’s second feature film, Described as “a time capsule” that “clings to the last moments of childhood, just before reality takes hold, it follows three Chinese girls on a road trip full of natural beauty, discussions about hopes and expectations, and fleeting moments of tenderness.
Qihuo has a secret. She’s just had her first menstruation. This means she is ready for the “Changing Skirt” ceremony, a traditional coming-of-age ritual, which signifies that she is no longer a child, but “a woman bound to the communal demands of marriage and labor,” according to a film synopsis. “With her parents away as migrant laborers and her grandfather recently passed, Qihuo and her two best friends set out on a road trip to buy a skirt for her rite of passage.”Berlinale's Tricia Tuttle Backed By 32 Global Film Festival Bosses in Open Letter: "Supporting Freedom of Expression Has Never Been More Important") blends raw documentary with an improvised fictional voyage to craft “a world inhabited by the girls that exists beyond social norms.” was produced by Jia Zhao of Muyi Film, together with Chen’s Tail Bite Tail Films in co-production with Malin Hüber for Her Film in Sweden and Heejung Oh for Seesaw Pictures in South Korea. Luke Brawley’s Indox is handling festivals.“When I first traveled to Liangshan, I wasn’t planning to make a film, until a local teacher showed some of her students’ writings,” Chen explains. “One line in particular stayed with me: ‘I’ve made many wishes, but none has ever come true.’ Later that day, I met its author, Qihuo. At 14, she was at a point where childhood was starting to slip away. The world was ready to name her – a woman, wife, and migrant worker – before she could choose her own course.”That became an inspiration for Chen. “I wanted us to use the film to create an alternative narrative, a dream that ran parallel to her real life, exploring what she might not have done otherwise,” she recalls. “Together, we embarked on the journey. The film grew from close collaboration and improvisation with the girls, imagining a space where they could simply be in all their unfiltered joys and sorrows, free from judgment, definition, or expectation. They were just kids, navigating life’s complexities, straddling between reality and a tale.”Highlights producer Zhao: “What moved me in the film is Dongnan’s devotion to capturing that quiet transformation, a delicate space between girlhood and womanhood. She weaves in fleeting, almost ungraspable moments of youth after a girl experiences her first menstruation, a transition that is deeply personal and universal. embodies the courageous vision of a woman director in China, where making independent documentary films is a precarious endeavor. As a European-Chinese producer, I am strongly committed to amplifying such bold, artistically-driven stories across borders.” Ready to run away with the girls? Cinematically, of course! Maybe you will think about what you’d suggest to them when one of them asks: “Do you want to grow up?” Here are first sights and sounds ofIs That the Mushrooms Talking? Trippy Sci-Fi Doc ‘Daughters of the Forest’ About Indigenous Fungi Experts Makes You Wonder Christian Bale Weighs in on “Bold Choice” to Make a New ‘American Psycho’: “All the Best to ‘Em”Why ‘The Bride!’ Director Maggie Gyllenhaal Says Warner Bros. Asked Her to Cut Some Violence From Film: “It’s Just Too Much”The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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