Reflective Encounters

“All the Crows in the World is a neon-soaked fever dream from the streets of Nanning in Guangxi, which rapidly becomes a rallying cry against misogyny and heteronormativity - as the leads scream running from a couple having sex in a car, “All heterosexuals must die!”. It stars Chen Xuanyu as Shengnan, an 18-year-old student who finds solidarity with a gay man called Jianguo, played by Xue Baohe, at a party filled with sleazy middle-aged men.

The film is a biting critique of standards for young Chinese women. Shengnan is bid on with little red envelopes when the men around her assume her to be a virgin. When she reveals she is not, a Taoist priest declares that she has a perfect horoscope which matters more. With the support of Jianguo, they flee the party as it takes a surrealist turn, with the men barking like dogs before mating.

Directed and written by Hong Kong director Yi Tang, All the Crows in the World won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, and picked up the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short at South by Southwest earlier this year. With a sumptuous aesthetic comparable to Wong Kar-wai, the film asserts the distinctive voice of a powerful young filmmaker.”

— Lillian Crawford