A GIRL UNKNOWN

In Zou Jing’s assured feature debut, a young Chinese girl is passed through three families—and three identities—as she comes of age under the shadow of China’s one-child policy. After her father dies and her mother becomes pregnant by a new partner, six-year-old Wang Juan is uprooted from her rural home and sent to live with a childless couple in the city, where she is given a new name and expected to become their daughter.

But stability proves elusive. As tensions fracture her adopted household, Juan is displaced again, each new home and identity further complicating her search for belonging. Still a teenager, she must decide to begin forging a life on her own terms.

Inspired by a true story, Zou’s visually refined, deeply affecting drama features restrained performances from Cao Ruofan and Li Gengxi (RESURRECTION, HIFF 2025), tracing one young woman’s journey through abandonment, resilience, and ultimately, self-determination.

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