BISFF2025｜Sinophone Competition 华语竞赛

Site of Experimentation:

Towards the Sinophone Moving Image

In an age saturated with images—where screens compete for attention and algorithms dictate what we see—what role can film festivals, as cultural events grounded in curatorial practice and physical gathering, still play? As international film festivals increasingly become sites for social issues and political protest, how are we to rethink the relationship between the politics and aesthetics of the moving image? As a short film festival now in its ninth year and rooted in Beijing, how does BISFF position itself within the global festival network and the Sinophone moving image ecology, and propose new modes of viewing and thinking through its curatorial practice? These questions may resist immediate answers—and for that very reason, they remain the very points of departure to which we continually return in the process of selection and curation.

This year, the “Chinese Competition” has been officially renamed the “Sinophone Competition.” This change reflects our observation of the Sinophone moving image-making as both an ecology and a practice that emerges from multiple locales, and is characterized by multilingual juxtaposition and transborder flows. Here, “Sino-” is understood as “as a historical, cultural, and discursive construct, in dialogue with other cultural and linguistic networks across the world,” while “-phone” extends beyond the linguistic realm to suggest “orientation,” “trend,” and “scenery,” thus for “historically mapping a heterogeneous cultural and political landscape” (Zhen Zhang, 2023). We hope that this section not only captures the shifting contours of certain cultural experiences, but also serves as a generative space for affect, language, and even political-cultural imagination.

In this regard, the twenty-six films selected for this year’s Sinophone Competition together form a fluid cartography of contemporary Sinophone moving image practices. Traversing regions and languages, they reflect diverse contexts of production and aesthetic approaches; through their differences, they enter into dialogue and collectively expand our imagination of what the Sinophone moving image might be.

In the post-pandemic era, as borders reopen, “mobility” and “migration” once again emerge as metaphors of our time. The individual’s navigation between space and identity, language and belonging, has become a central motif in contemporary moving image works. The Song of Drifters (Zhang Xindi, 2025) intertwines live-action and animation, useing personal oral narrative to unveil the connection between physical space, memory, and the sense of belonging. Tell Me When You Arrive (Kai Luo, 2025) evokes the liminal spaces in the lives of overseas students to capture a floating, in-between emotional landscape. Light and playful like a piece of jazz, A View from Home (Zhou Mingzhe, 2025) juxtaposes landscape and soundscape to render the rhythm of diasporic life. As a bird that briefly perches (Dorothy Cheung, 2025) unfolds as a sincere, intimate and introspective three-part visual diary, mapping the inner world of a Hong Kong migrant through the poetic interplay of image and text.

Resonating with this state of flux is another group of works that probe questions of power and structure. EXIT (2025) by a Burmese Chinese filmmaker Li Yongchao, adopts a mode of “poor cinema” to depict the precarious lives and fragile hopes of ordinary people in the aftermath of a coup. HYENA (Yang Ming, 2025) , UGH (Yuan Scarlett Wang, 2025),

We Will Follow the Wind (Demon Wong, 2025) , No Dogs in the South (Xia Peng, 2025), and As If to Nothing (Pek Jia Hao & Ang Jia Jun, 2024), all speaking from the perspective of the powerless, interrogate structural oppression as it manifests across the domains of family, education, community, and society. Through images that are exaggerated, bizarre, or unsettling, these films assert strong personal visions and rebellious energies—turning the act of viewing itself into a ruptured, transformative experience.

Individual experience and childhood memory remain enduring sources of inspiration for filmmakers. The Glass Essays (River Yuhao Cao, 2025) creates a surreal space where dreams and memories intertwine, centering on a travelling funeral performance stage; The Girl of Siem Reap (Yun Dan, 2025) focuses on a young girl selling souvenirs outside Angkor Wat, whose family story reflects contemporary social realities and historical trauma in Cambodia; A Small Fiction of My Mother in Beijing (Dorothea Zhang, 2025) sketches the multifaceted profile of a middle-aged woman navigating between family and career; In a Village (Ulan Kistawbay, 2025) relocates minority narratives from the grasslands to the city suburb and captures the fluid emotional states of contemporary Kazakh women. Misdirection (He Yingjie, 2025) seizes a fleeting moment where non-native exchange cracks open the subtle clash between self and other, the inner world and reality.

Reflections on language are particularly evident in Words Fly Back to the Black Earth (Zhang Xiao, 2025) and The Land in Between (Zhou Yilu, 2025). The former begins with the grandmother’s writing and labor experiences during political movements, and unfolds an experiment on language, memory, and bodily perception through the superimposition and dissolution of filmic images; the latter, through its juxtaposition of image and text, reveals the entanglement of language and power, as well as the “in-between” condition of Tajik, a language thus caught in a state of linguistic dependency.

Blended Vision (Liu Qinghua, 2025) and Where (Wallace Minchong Li, 2025) further extend this reflection on the structure of perception: the former employs a dual-screen imagery to explore visual experience and mechanisms, while retaining a deeply personal emotional register; the latter reimagines a tactile-centered mode of perception from the perspective of plants, thereby challenging the human-centric visual paradigm.

Meanwhile, some works traverse the boundaries between cinema and contemporary art, reshaping the moving image through more research-oriented and speculative approaches. Green Grey Black Brown (Wang Yuyan, 2024) continues the artist’s engagement with the recycling and reconstruction of digital images, exploring new modes of perception within contemporary capitalist landscapes. The Forever Elephant (Sun Yiyang, 2025) combines 3D scanning and AI-generated imagery to establish playful symbolic/semiotic dialogues between Western media theory and Eastern pictographs, reflecting on the “death” and “rebirth” of digital images.

Star House above the Breaking Waves (Hu Rui, 2024) merges AI first-person narration with computer-simulated visuals to crafte an intergenerational vision of the human-ocean relationship, underscoring the potential of simulated images to construct “speculative histories” and “alternative futures.” Deja vu (Jin Tian, 2025) is a collage from family memory, historical archives, and video diaries that retrieve moments of farewell from the intertwined strata of history and memory.

Finally, A Soil A Culture A River A People (Viv Li, 2025) , The Fissure of the Red Sight (Gao Weiheng, 2025), and Bohai Where River Run (Qin Yinchao, 2025) each, to varying degrees, draw inspiration from specific physical spaces, historical events, or social phenomena as points of departure for imaginative reflection. These works remind us of the distance between reality and artistic creation; the “truth” they present is, inevitably, a reconstruction of reality through the author’s aesthetic and political lens—a form of “the redistribution of the sensible,” in Rancière’s sense.

Rather than pursuing “comprehensiveness,” this year’s BISFF Sinophone Competition selection prioritizes experimentations, explorations, and propositions. In doing so, we hope to reposition the festival as a site of experimentation—a place where audiences can momentarily let go of judgment and re-engage with perception and experience; where the festival is not merely a space for screening and viewing, but a live setting for encountering images, coexisting with others, and generating multiple forms of interaction. Through the selection, screening, and discussion of these films, we seek to create a fleeting yet open public sphere where genuine dialogue—including the difficult and the unfinished—may unfold. (TONG Shan)

实验场域：朝向华语动态影像

在影像泛滥、屏幕争夺注意力、算法主导观看的当下，电影节——作为一种基于人工遴选与线下聚集的文化事件——还能承担怎样的角色？当全球电影节越来越成为社会议题与政治抗议的现场，我们该如何重新思考影像的政治与美学之间的关系？作为一个已步入第九年、根植北京的短片影展，BISFF又如何在国际电影节网络与华语影像生态之间定位自身，并通过策展实践提出新的观看可能与思考方向？这些问题或许难以被立即回答，也因此成为我们在选片与策展过程中不断回到的出发点。

今年，华语竞赛单元正式从“Chinese Competition”更名为“Sinophone Competition”，以此回应我们对当下华语影像作为一种“生发于多地、多语言并置、充满流动与越界的创作生态与实践”的观察。此处，“Sino-”作为一种历时、动态的文化建构，存在于与其他文化、语言网络的持续对话中；而“-phone”也超越了纯粹语言学的范畴，更多被理解为“取向”（orientation）、“趋势”（tendency）和“图景”（scenery），于时间的纵深中，“勾勒出一幅充满异质性的文化与政治图景”（Zhen Zhang, 2023）。我们希望这个单元能够捕捉某种文化经验的流变，也可以成为一个情感、语言与乃至政治文化想象的生成空间。

在这个意义上，入围本届“华语竞赛”的26部作品，构成了一幅流动的当代华语创作地图：它们跨越地域与语言，呈现出多样化的生产语境与美学实践；也因此在差异中展开对话，共同拓展着我们对“Sinophone Moving Image”的想象。

在后疫情时代下，边境的重新开放让“流动”与“迁徙”再次成为时代的隐喻。个体在空间与身份、语言与归属之间的游移，构成了当代影像创作的核心母题。《游子吟》（张辛迪）以实景与动画的交织，借由私人口述，揭示物理空间、感知记忆与归属感之间的隐秘回路；《到了和我说一声》（罗政凯）捕捉当代留学生生活中的“阈限空间”（liminal spaces），再现了一种临时、悬浮的情感状态；《小公园》（周明哲）如一首轻快的爵士乐，以风景与声景的并置展现移民生活的情感节奏；《择鸟记》（张紫茵）是一则真挚、私密而充满内省的三段式影像日记，在意象和文本的诗意交织中描摹出香港移民者的内心图景。

与这种流动的存在相呼应的，是另一组关注权力与结构的作品。缅甸华人导演李永超的《路子》以“贫穷电影”（poor cinema）的制作方式，呈现了政变后普通人动荡的生存境况与对迁移的脆弱希冀。《鬣狗》（杨名）、《爱你妈》（王元）、《南方无犬》（夏鹏）、《我的未来不是梦》（白家豪，洪嘉俊）、《台风降落之前》（王煜）则都不约而同地从无权者的视角出发，触及了来自家庭、学校、群体、乃至社会的结构性压迫。它们以或夸张或怪异或令人不安的影像彰显出强烈的个人意志与反叛能量，也让观看本身成为一次被撕开的经验。

个体经验、童年记忆依然是创作者屡屡重返的灵感之地：《玻璃随笔》（曹宇豪）以南方流动舞台卡车与乡村葬礼仪式，创造出一个梦境与记忆交织的超现实空间；《暹粒女孩》（云丹）聚焦吴哥窟外一名以多种语言兜售纪念品的小女孩，其家庭境遇折射出柬埔寨当下的社会现实与历史创伤；《她的独白》（张穆涵）以人物速写的形式描绘出一位中年女性在家庭与事业之间的多重侧影；《在郊外》（吾兰·哈斯陶拜）将少数民族叙事从草原移向都市边缘，克制而轻盈地捕捉到当代哈萨克女性细腻而流动的情感状态；《当局者迷》（何英杰）则通过一个生活切片式的时刻，在非母语的交流中，照见了个体与他者、内心与现实的遭遇过程。

对于语言的思考在《词藻飞回大地深处》（张晓）与《中间之地》（周亦辂）中清晰可辨：前者以祖母在政治运动中的书写与劳作经验为起点，借由胶片图像的重影与叠化，展开一场关于语言、记忆与身体感知的实验；后者则以影像与文字的并置，揭示语言与权力的交织，以及塔吉克语必须依托他者语言才能被理解的“中间”处境。

《视点融叠》（刘清华）与《触处》（李旻翀）则进一步延展了对感知结构的思考：前者以双屏影像实现了对视觉经验与机制的探讨，同时饱含私人情感的温度；后者则以植物的视角重新想象一种以触觉为中心的感知方式，从而挑战人类视觉中心的感知模式。

与此同时，部分作品跨越电影与当代艺术的界限，以更具研究性与思辨性的方式重塑影像。《地衣》（王裕言）延续着创作者对数字图像的回收与重构，在当代资本主义景观中探索新的感知可能；《象像》（孙逸阳）以3D扫描与AI生成图像，在西方媒介理论与东方象形文字之间建立起趣味的符号对话，思考数字图像的“死亡”与“重生”；《碎波上的星光行》（胡芮）将AI第一人称叙事与计算机模拟图像结合，展开一场关于人类与海洋的跨世代想象，凸显了模拟图像虚构“思辨历史”（speculative histories）与“另类未来”的可能；《我看见了一只人鱼》（金添）则以家庭记忆、历史档案与影像日志构成自由拼贴，在历史与记忆的重叠里打捞着告别的瞬间。

最后，《又见炊烟》（李蔚然）、《红隙》（高伟恒）、《渤海》（秦寅朝）则或多或少都以具体的物理空间、历史事件或社会现象作为创作灵感的起点，并展开进一步的想象：它们也提示着我们现实与创作之间的距离，而作品所呈现的“真相”必然是作者在美学与政治层面对现实的一种重构，一种对“可感性的再分配”（the re-distribution of the sensible, Rancière）。

相较于“稳妥求全”，本届BISFF华语竞赛的选片更着眼于尝试、探索与提出倡议。由此，我们希望令影展重新成为一个充满实验精神的场域——在这里，观看可以暂时搁置判断而回归感知与体验；影展也不再仅是放映与观看的空间，而是一个与影像相遇、与他者共在、生成多重互动的现场。通过影片的遴选、展映与交流，我们期待创造一个临时而开放的公共空间，使真正的对话——包括那些艰难的、未完成的对话——得以发生。（佟珊）

check here to see full Sinophone Competition list

as a bird that briefly perches, Dorothy Cheung, 2025

Sinophone Competition - 1

as a bird that briefly perches | 择鸟记

Dorothy Cheung | 张紫茵

2025 | 0:16:52 | Hong Kong, UK | Cantonese | Chinese Mainland Premiere

The Glass Essays | 玻璃随笔

River Yuhao Cao | 曹宇豪

2025 | 0:16:57 | Chinese Mainland, UK | No Dialogue | Asian Premiere

UGH | 爱你妈

Yuan Scarlett Wang | 王元

2025 | 0:13:41 | Chinese Mainland, UK | Mandarin Chinese | World Premiere

The Girl of Siem Reap | 暹粒女孩

Yun Dan | 云丹

2025 |0:30:12 | Chinese Mainland | Khmer, English | World Premiere

The Forever Elephant | 象像

Sun Yiyang | 孙逸阳

2025 | 0:08:00 | Estonia, Chinese Mainland | No Dialogue | Asian Premiere

Sinophone Competition - 2

The Song of Drifters | 游子吟

Zhang Xindi | 张辛迪

2025 | 0:08:37 | UK, Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese, English | World Premiere

EXIT | 路子

Lee Yong Chao | 李永超

2025 | 0:18:00 | Myanmar | Chinese Dialects, Burmese | Chinese Mainland Premiere

A Small Fiction of My Mother in Beijing | 她的独白

Dorothea Zhang | 张穆涵

2025 | 0:12:09 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese | Asian Premiere

Blended Vision | 视点融叠

Jess Lau Ching-wa | 刘清华

2025 | 0:09:03 | Hong Kong, Taiwan | No Dialogue | World Premiere

Deja vu | 我看见了一只人鱼

Jin Tian | 金添

2025 | 0:18:18 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese, French | World Premiere

As If to Nothing | 我的未来不是梦

Pek Jia Hao, Ang Jia Jun | 白家豪, 洪嘉俊

2024 | 0:20:00 | Singapore | Chinese Dialects | Chinese Mainland Premiere

Words Fly Back to the Black Earth, Zhang Xiao, 2024

Sinophone Competition - 3

Misdirection | 当局者迷

He Yingjie | 何英杰

2025 | 0:20:01 | Japan, Chinese Mainland | Japanese, English | World Premiere

Words Fly Back to the Black Earth | 词藻飞回大地深处

Zhang Xiao | 张晓

2024 | 0:19:12 | UK | Cantonese | International Premiere

A Soil A Culture A River A People | 又见炊烟

Viv Li | 李蔚然

2025 | 0:14:28 | Germany, Belgium, Chinese Mainland | German, English, Mandarin Chinese | Chinese Mainland Premiere

Green Grey Black Brown | 地衣

Wang Yuyan | 王裕言

2024 | 0:11:30 | South Korea, Chinese Mainland, France | No Dialogue

Star House above the Breaking Waves | 碎波上的星光行

Hu Rui | 胡芮

2024 | 0:19:54 | Chinese Mainland | Cantonese, English | World Premiere

Sinophone Competition - 4

A View from Home | 小公园

Zhou Mingzhe | 周明哲

2025 | 0:15:10 | Canada | Mandarin Chinese | Chinese Mainland Premiere

Tell Me When You Arrive | 到了和我说一声

Kai Luo | 罗政凯

2025 | 0:18:15 | Chinese Mainland, UK, Pakistan | Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, English | World Premiere

The Fissure of the Red Sight | 红隙

Kao Wei-Heng | 高伟恒

2025 | 0:11:41 | Taiwan | Mandarin Chinese | World Premiere

HYENA | 鬣狗

Altay Ulan Yang | 杨名

2025 | 0:21:15 | UK, Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese | Asian Premiere

We Will Follow the Wind | 台风降落之前

Demon Wong | 王煜

2025 | 0:19:45 | Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, France | Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese

The Girl of Siem Reap, Yun Dan, 2025

Sinophone Competition - 5

No Dogs in the South | 南方无犬

Xia Peng | 夏鹏

2025 | 0:18:58 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese | World Premiere

Where | 触处

Wallace Minchong Li | 李旻翀

2024 | 0:11:22 | UK, Chinese Mainland | English | World Premiere

In a Village | 在郊外

Ulan Kistawbay | 吾兰·哈斯陶拜

2025 | 0:26:00 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese, Kazakh

The Land in Between | 中间之地

Zhou Yilu | 周亦辂

2025 | 0:15:18 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese, Uyghur, Chinese Dialects

Where River Run | 渤海

Qin Yinzhao | 秦寅朝

2025 | 0:14:14 | Chinese Mainland | Mandarin Chinese | World Premiere