Browse films

Dawning

Wei Xiong
China, 2018, 100 min.

In Chinese with English subtitles.
This film is family friendly.

A heart-wrenching story of a child searching for asylum in China in 1941 after an attack by Japan leaves his city in ruins. Jun’s dying mother tells him to go to a familiar sanctuary to wait for his father to come for him, but soon, the teachers and children there begin dying from an epidemic. Somehow, Jun must find the courage and determination to persevere.

Director's Statement

The film intends to show not only an isolated individual or an isolated era, but rather a bigger and majestic picture. The pains and partings of life and death suffered by the teenager Jun are so immeasurable that they could not be explained solely on an individual basis, so does resilience and optimism that he upholds. Jun is depicted as an orphan bereft by war and the miniature of the whole nation. He is both specific and sublime.

Category: Drama.
Themes: War, World Cinema, Youth.

More in Drama

  • Baby Love

    Baby Love

    Kate Kelsen
    United States, 2024, 7 min.

    When sixteen-year-old Lola goes to the local clinic for an abortion, she meets resistance from Ivy, the physician assistant who suggests adoption. Ivy is... more ›

  • Ya Hanouni

    Ya Hanouni

    Lyna Tadount
    France, 2024, 3 min.

    While the Mom and the Dad try to put their baby to sleep, a competition arises between them: who will manage to get the baby to say the first word?... more ›

  • Trumpet Gumbo

    Trumpet Gumbo

    Brad Courtemanche
    United States, 2025, 14 min.

    Brandon Scales in Trumpet Gumbo Hot off of a win of the country's largest television cooking show, Chef Buddy Bontemps finds himself under the tutelage of one... more ›