Return to Dust
classified PG SPlease note: This was screened in Nov 2022
Return To Dust is a tender tale on the transformative nature of love between two outcasts who are forced into an arranged marriage from director of Walking Past The Future Li Ruijun.
Set at the beginning of the 2010s in northwest provincial China, humble and unassuming Ma (Wu Renlin) and timid Cao (Hai Qing) have been cast off by their families for being apparent burdens and forced into an arranged marriage. Together they must find a way to combine their strength and build a home to survive. In the face of much adversity from the local society they belong to, as well as government modernisation policy, an unexpected bond between the two begins to blossom.
Uniting with the cycles of nature, Ma and Cao create a haven for themselves in which they can thrive. After having its international premiere at this year's Berlinale, Ruijin's story about eternal love, against the odds, is a visual stunner that packs a political and philosophical punch.