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Xiao Ban Jie

The Great Phuket
Generation 14plus 2024
© Liu Yaonan
Fourteen-year-old Li Xing lives in a southern Chinese city in Great Phuket, a district full of decay and reconstruction. He doesn’t get along well with his mother who refuses to leave the family home which is slated for demolition. He also encounters nothing but problems at school. One day, Li and his only friend, Song, discover a tunnel that leads to a strange hideout where stones have recorded sounds from the past. During a chase with security guards from an abandoned factory, Song is so badly injured that he has to go to hospital. Song’s mother forbids the two boys from seeing each other again. Filled with despair and guilt, and feeling lonelier than ever, Li returns to the tunnel. But stranger and stranger things are happening there. Gradually the tunnel transforms into a creature that traps Li inside his sad memories. Step by step, Li finds the way out to the outside world. But as a trace of his passage, Li’s poem about his homeland and the people around him remains, recorded by the mysterious shelter of stones.
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by Liu Yaonan
with Li Rongkun, Yang Xuan, Kang Hang, You Junfen, Liu Huiyun, Xie Zhenan Hong Kong, China / France / Germany / Belgium 2024 Mandarin 97’ World premiere | Debut film recommendation: 14 years and up

With

  • Li Rongkun (Li Xing)
  • Yang Xuan (Song Yang)
  • Kang Hang (Gan Xiaojie)
  • You Junfen (Wang Yan)
  • Liu Huiyun (Duan Fashun)
  • Xie Zhenan (Xiao Xiang)

Crew

Director Liu Yaonan
Screenplay Liu Yaonan
Cinematography Liu Yaonan
Editing Clara Saunier, Liu Yaonan
Music Aurélien Krafft
Sound Design Ange Hubert
Sound Li Fan
Production Design Aurélien Krafft
Costumes Zhao Xuying
Make-Up Zhao Xuying
Casting Liu Yaonan
Animation Liu Yaonan
Producers Cyriac Auriol, Shan Zuolong
Executive Producers Elisa Sepulveda Ruddoff, Mei Rui, Shen Morton
Co-Producers Karoline Henkel, Dries Phlypo
Co-Production Wood Water Films Mannheim
A Private View Productions Gent

World Sales

MPM Premium

http://premium-films.com/en http://premium-films.com/en

Produced by

Remora Films

Monologue Films

Additional information

Sales Agent (Asia):
Parallax Films
Contact: info@parallaxchina.com

Photos

Liu Yaonan

Born in 1987 in Kunming, China, where he currently lives and works. The screenwriter, director and artist studied film at the Beijing Normal University and at the École nationale supérieure d’art de Bourges in France. He then made his debut feature film, Xiao Ban Jie, for which he received funding from the China Film Foundation and from the Île-de-France region in France.

Filmography

2010 Two Days; short film 2013 Imminent Death Experience; short film 2021 Incarnation; short film 2024 Xiao Ban Jie (The Great Phuket)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024