*Worldwide FESTIVAL Rights
WHISPERS IN MAY
directed by DONGNAN CHEN
Hong Kong SAR China, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Korea / 94 Mins / Nuosu Language
Synopsis:
Qihuo has a secret: she’s just had her first menstruation, marking the start of the traditional ‘Changing Skirt’ ceremony — a coming-of-age ritual that signals her transition into womanhood and the expectations of marriage and labor. With her parents away as migrant workers and her grandfather recently gone, she and her two best friends set out on a road trip to buy the ceremonial skirt. Blending raw documentary and improvised fiction, the film follows the girls as they journey through shifting landscapes, carving out a world beyond social norms. Whispers in May captures the fleeting final moments of childhood, just before reality takes hold.
Logline:
In the remote Liangshan Mountains, 14-year-old Qihuo and her friends set out to find a skirt for her rite of passage. What begins as a small quest drifts into a suspended space of childhood, where time slows and the world is vast.
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‘IDFA Forum Project: Whispers in May by Dongnan Chen’ - Business Doc Europe
‘CPH:DOX Unveils Competition Lineups, Including 53 World Premieres’ - Variety
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Dongnan Chen, currently based in Shenzhen China, probes into the nuanced interplay between freedom and dilemma on the peripheries of the social fabric. Her portfolio includes shorts "Sound of Vision", "The Trail From Xinjiang", "14 Paintings", and the feature "Singing in the Wilderness", which have received important backing from Sundance Institute, IDFA Bertha, Xining First, Field of Vision, DMZ etc, and went on to get Emmy nomination, and selected by IDFA, IFFR, Sundance, New Director/New Films, HotDocs...and were broadcasted on NHK, POV, KBS, PTS. Dongnan is a graduate from New York University and a fellow of IDFAcademy and Sundance story and edit lab.
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World Premiere - CPH:DOX 2026 (Dox:Award)
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Year: 2026
Country: Hong Kong SAR China, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Korea
Length: 94 mins
Director: Dongnan Chen
Producer: Jia Zhao, Kay Xu
Co-Producer: Heejung Oh, Malin Huber
Cinematography: Ming Xue, Xiao Xiao
Editor: Sisi Chen, Tao Gu
Composer: Chad Cannon
Sound Design: Mark Glynne & Olmo van Straalen
DONGNAN CHEN
