WILD NIGHTS, TAMED BEASTS – WANG TONG (CHINA)
An elderly woman dies in hospital and her carer, young Ye Xiaolin, informs the family. She is then hired to look after Ma Deyong’s father, a zoo keeper who lives with an old lion in an unfinished flat, all that remains of his father’s fortune as a builder. Now the father is paralysed and cannot speak, and Deyong sets out to discover who the young woman is.
A reflec6on on the drama of old age, dignity and the connec6on with death. An excellent performance by Rao Xiaozhi in the lead role, an actor and director who has already won awards at the Shanghai Film Fes6val in 2023, among others, for his role in “Home Coming”. This film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Shanghai Film Festival, where actress Regina Wan, who plays the young carer, also won in her category. It also won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2025 First Youth Fes6val. It is the first feature film by the director, also known as Tony Wang, after the short film “Time to Die” (2015).
