WHISPERS IN MAY (12+)

Hong Kong, Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, 2026, color, 95 min.

Director: Dongnan Chen

Russian premiere

PRODUCERS – Jia Zhao, Kay Xu

DoP –  Ming Xue

MUSIC – Chad Cannon

SOUND – Kelan Li, Mark Glynne

Qihuo has a secret: she has just had her first menstruation. Now she must take part in the "Changing Skirt" ceremony, a traditional coming-of-age ritual that marks her passage from childhood to womanhood, with all the expectations of marriage and labor placed upon her by the community.

With her parents away working and her grandfather recently deceased, Qihuo sets out with her two best friends to buy a skirt for the ceremony. Blending documentary observation with an improvised journey, the film creates a world beyond social norms.

As the days pass and the landscapes change, the three friends cross rugged mountains, chase shadows, and cherish fleeting moments of freedom. Like a time capsule, Whispers in May preserves the last moments of childhood before they are finally overtaken by the reality of adulthood.

AWARDS:

CPH:DOX (Denmark, 2026) – DOX:AWARD Best Film Award.

Dongnan Chen

Filmmaker whose work transforms lived experience into cinematic fables. Her films explore shifting identities and the spaces between reality and imagination.

Her works have been screened and awarded at international festivals including Sundance, IDFA and MOMA Doc Fortnight, and she has been nominated for an Emmy Award.

Filmography

The Trail from Xinjiang, 2013

Sound of Vision, 2021

Singing in the Wilderness, 2021

14 Paintings, 2023

Whispers in may, 2026