Opening Film

Only the River Flows 河边的错误

Wei Shujun

2023

Based on famous writer Yu Hua’s story ‘Mistakes by the River’.

Cannes Film Festival 2023 - Selection

1990s, Banpo Town, rural China. A woman’s body is found by the river. Ma Zhe, Chief of the Criminal Police, heads up the murder investigation that quickly leads to an obvious arrest. As his superiors are keen to communicate their success, several clues push Ma Zhe to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of his fellow citizens.

Sphinx Cinema

Friday 1 March

20:00

101 min

Crime

Language: Mandarin

Subtitles: English

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"Structurally inventive, if not downright format-twisting, it takes a 'Jacob’s Ladder' to 1990s China, where a beleaguered police detective tries so hard to unravel a killing that he spins himself into seeming madness."

Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International

About the Director

Wei Shujun was born in 1991 in Beijing, China. He started his career as an actor at 14 year old. He completed his master degree at the Communication University of China. His films include On the Border (short, 2018, Special Jury Award at Cannes Film Festival), Striding into the Wind (2020, Official Selection Cannes Film Festival) and Ripples of Life (2021,Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes).