The Summer is Gone (Ba Yue)
Directed by Dalei Zhang
China | 106 min | Fiction | Mandarin w/English subtitles
Film Source: Pad International
Sponsor: A Single Pebble
Also showing Thursday, October 26 at 2:00PM
Beautifully shot in widescreen black and white, The Summer Is Gone is set in Inner Mongolia in the early 1990s, during the sweltering months before aimless 12-year-old Xialoei is due to enter the great unknown of middle school. On the surface a coming-of-age story, this autobiographical film from first-time director Dalei Zhang is positioned against the backdrop of the Chinese economic reforms of the post-Tiananmen Square era, when the privatization of state-owned institutions led to mass layoffs. With shades of Edward Yang and early Jia Zhang-ke in its unhurried pace and subtle political commentary, The Summer Is Gone marks the emergence of a significant new voice in Chinese cinema. ~LB
