14-24 nov 2024
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Before Then
Program
Before Then

Before Then

哦玛
Mengzhu Xue
Germany, China
2024
30 min
European Premiere
Luminous
Tickets & Times
Synopsis

Every form of communication involves deciphering codes. In this fascinating student film, director Mengzhu Xue attempts to confess a secret that she has carried with her for years. It is a secret that has taken her down the wrong path, rather than the one laid out for her as a young Chinese woman—marriage, children.

She presents the secret in the form of a letter in English, which she writes out phonetically in Chinese, and asks her grandmother to read out loud. The secret has been uttered, but in sounds that have no meaning to her grandmother.

The film itself is a code that is not always easy to decipher, with dreamlike scenes, contemplative poetic voice overs and shots that need just a little bit more context to make sense. Perhaps the filmmaker is using the code to capture her grandmother—to catch her and hold her—as death creeps ever closer. Before Then harbors more than just one secret. The question is whether we have the key to unlock each of them.

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Tickets & Times
Sun, november 17
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
21:00 – 22:52
Tuschinski 5

Mon, november 18
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
19:00 – 20:52
Tuschinski 3

Wed, november 20
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
18:45 – 19:59
Kriterion 1

Thu, november 21
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
17:00 – 18:14
Meervaart Blauwe Zaal

Sat, november 23
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
13:45 – 14:59
Pathé City 6

Sun, november 24
Part of Shorts: Beyond Words
09:30 – 10:44
Pathé City 1
Credits
30 min
color / black and white
DCP
Spoken languages: Mandarin, English
Director
    Mengzhu Xue
    Mengzhu Xue
Production
    Mengzhu Xue
    Mengzhu Xue
Cinematography
    Yang Liu,
    Mengzhu Xue
    Yang Liu,
    Mengzhu Xue
Editing
    Mengzhu Xue
    Mengzhu Xue
Music
    Liesl Lindeque,
    Gregor Quendel
    Liesl Lindeque,
    Gregor Quendel
Screenplay
    Mengzhu Xue
    Mengzhu Xue
Screening copy
    Mengzhu Xue
    Mengzhu Xue

Stills

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