Above the Dust

Wang Xiaoshuai / China, Netherlands / 2024 / Czech Premiere / 123 min.

synopsis

Ten-year-old Wo Tu dreams of having a water pistol like other boys in his village. Even though his father promised, he fails to bring one from the city. But there is one hope for Wo Tu: his dying grandfather assures him to grant him the wish as a ghost. After his death, the old man visits the boy in his dreams, initiating a treasure hunt. Soon, the limits between reality and dream, past and present, become more and more blurred. A portrait of the profound love for the land, across three generations of a family in modern Chinese rural life.

biography

Wang Xiaoshuai, graduate of Beijing Film Academy, made his debut The Days (1993) at age 27. Over the next decades, his films gained international recognition at festivals like Cannes and Berlin. His documentary Chinese Portrait (2018) premiered at Busan Film Festival and screened at IDFA and MoMA.