Three Sisters (2012)

US Premiere! 

Directed by Wang Bing

Master documentarist Wang Bing turns his observational gaze to the most invisible and disenfranchised among the Chinese population: poor peasants eking a meager living in the remote, rural areas. In a small village perched nearly 10,000 feet up in the Yunnan highlands, three little sisters – Yingying (ten years old), Zhenzhen (six years old) and Fenfen (four years old) – are left to fend for themselves. They are vaguely taken care of by an auntie who does not have enough food for her own family. Their mother is gone, their father works in a small city reachable only after a long walk and a rickety bus ride.

Day in and day out, the little girls collect peat to make fire, tend sheep, wash their own clothes at a water pump and perform all sorts of chores. Zhenzhen and Fenfen’s hair is cropped short because they are infested with lice, their feet bleed when they wear plastic boots without socks, and Yingying always wears the same hoodie, with the words “Lovely Diary” emblazoned in the back. In spite of their hard life and constant toil, the little girls are playful, happy as children can be, and very affectionate towards each other. Gradually, the film refocuses on the oldest sister, Yingying, who has been shouldering most of the responsibilities. As it’s no longer possible for the girls to depend on the auntie’s generosity, their father comes home to take the two younger sisters with him to the city, creating major changes and a huge void in Yingying’s life.

– Bérénice Reynaud

Producer: Sylvie Faguer, Mao Hui. Cinematographer: Huang Wenhai, Li Peifeng, Wang Bing. Editor: Adam Kerby, Wang Bing. Sound: Fu Kang. Cast: Sun Ying, Sun Zhen, Sun Fen, Sun Shunbao, Sun Xinliang.

Blu-ray, color, Yunnan dialect w/ English s/t, 153 min. 

*Please note the early start time