Back to the Wharf

Back to the Wharf
Mainland China | 2020 | 119’ | Colour | Mandarin | English subtitle | Group: C
Director: Xiaofeng Li 

Neo-noir Back to The Wharf covers the period of 15 years of time when China was literally building its current superpower status. Mixing suspense and genre elements, the film investigates that murky moral space at the root of great human tragedies, where individual interests and opaque business collide with close relationships and ethics.  Produced by superstar Huang Bo, the film is the latest by Chinese auteur Li Shaofeng and stars Zhang Yu (An Elephant Sitting Still and Dying to Survive) who delivers a memorable performance in defining the tragic character at the centre of the story, “a black hole” – to use Zhang’s own words to describe his fascinating role. The chemistry between the actors co-starring with Zhan – Li Hongqi, Candy Song Jia and Wang Yanhui – Li Xiaofeng’s assured direction and the striking moody cinemaphotography are the key elements that make Back To The Wharf one of the most anticipated films of this year.    

GIOVANNA FULVI

Song Hao, an 18 year-old high school student with excellent grades is involved in the accidental death of a man, and flees his hometown. His life trajectory altered forever, he sets up his existence elsewhere but, 15 years later, he returns home for the funeral of his mother. He meets his father and high school best friend again, and discovers love with an old classmate, but he won’t be happy until he has revisited the scene of his apparent crime and regained control of his life.

Li Xiaofeng co-wrote and played the lead role in the 2009 Sundance selection Dada’s Dance, directed by the leading Sixth Generation director Zhang Yuan. He completed his directorial debut Ne Zha in 2014, and was nominated in the new director and adapted screenplay categories at the 51st Golden Horse Awards. Li finished his second film Ash in 2016, and was selected at the Busan and Pingyao festivals among others. Back To The Wharf had its world premiere at Shanghai this year.