From Dawn to Dawn

Thirty-eight-year-old A Wen is a Chinese restaurant owner in Barcelona, a devoted father and partner, and a former gangster. His sister, Xisi Sofia Ye Chen, who makes her directorial debut with this film, follows him in his daily life and observes his conversations with friends and family. During these conversations, the camera remains motionless at a respectful distance; in other scenes, amidst the drink and gambling in karaoke bars, it sways along with the trancelike atmosphere.

In voice-over, Ye Chen describes how A Wen became involved with criminal gangs at an early age, influenced by the Hong Kong gangster films the siblings watched together on VHS. The image of “brothers” in dark sunglasses, gambling and smoking with unruffled cool, still shapes the behavior of his circle of friends.

In Spanish karaoke bars, the men talk big, telling stories of jobs that got out of hand, but they also show their vulnerability in conversations about depression and insomnia, the constant threat and stranglehold of loan sharks, and how difficult they find it to leave the past behind. With the help of Buddhist monks in China, A Wen hopes to find a new moral compass.