How is Your Fish Today?

Synopsis

A young man in southern China has killed his lover. He starts a lonely escape across the whole country towards his land of wonder, a snowy village at the northern border.

Sitting at his desk in Beijing, a scriptwriter is writing that man’s story. It is through his characters that his life gains its weight, meaning and freedom. His imagination blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction.

The snowy village lies on the quiet border between China and Russia. Old villagers fish under the ice, school children study English text about America. They endure the long winter nights waiting for the sun to come back.

When the scriptwriter arrives in that mysterious village, he meets his own fictional character, lying on the frozen river at the border, covered in snow.

Two men contemplate the icy landscape. One wants to cross the border to see the other side of the world. The other longs to head back to his hometown, which he left so many years ago.

Xiaolu’s debut feature doc is difficult to categorise. Documentary bleeds into fiction in a tale about a young man in southern China on the run across country after he murders his lover in a fit of passion.

The film’s beautiful cinematography belie it’s £20,000 budget and its unique blend of fact and fiction have made it hard to pigeonhole for festival screenings .

About the director

Xiaolu Guo was born in 1973 in Shi Tang in the South of China.  After spending her youth in a small town on the China sea, she went to Beijing at the age of 18, where she studied at the film academy.  In 2002, she moved to London.  Xiaolu was recently described by The Times as a “phenomenal talent” for her novel writing - she was seen as the unofficial runner-up for the Orange Prize for Fiction for The Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers.

On the back of the success of How Is Your Fish? Xiaolu was offered a fellowship with the Cannes Film Festival, Cinefoundation.

Previous films:

Address Unknown
The Concrete Revolution
Far and Near

According to the filmmakers

“For me, a documentary film is about author’s perspective on reality, as Zen story says: when you open the door does anyone enter or is it you? There is no general truth but the filmmaker’s truthfulness through his/her film.”

Sales/Screening Contact

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Distribution Deals

• TV
  • More4 (UK)
  • ITVS (US)
• DVD
  • Les Films Du Paradoxe (France)