BDE caught up with Chinese-Dutch film producer Jia Zhao, who spoke about her new documentary project Whispers in May, showcased in the IDFA Forum and helmed by Dongnan Chen. The feature, produced by China’s Tail Bite Tail Films and Dutch outfit Muyi Film, follows Qinghua, a Yi ethnic teen, who sets out on a road trip with her two best friends to find a skirt for the menstruation rite of passage.
“I embarked on the project in summer 2023,” Zhao tells BDE. “I knew and liked Dongnan’s previous feature Singing in the Wilderness. When Dongnan contacted me after listening to a podcast I took part in and shared with me the project, I was fascinated by it and decided to collaborate. This also happened at a point when I was considering having more collaboration with female filmmakers.”
In detail, Whispers of May takes us on a poignant journey alongside 14-year-old Qinghua, whose first menstruation sets in motion a quest for self-discovery. In the Yi ethnic traditions of Liangshan Mountain in China’s southwest, this milestone demands a new skirt for the girl’s menarche ceremony, which signifies not only her transition into adulthood but also the looming possibility of an arranged marriage soon to come. However, with her parents working in faraway cities and the recent loss of her beloved grandfather, Qinghua finds herself “homeless” and conceals her menstruation, relying on her two closest friends for support in finding the skirt she needs.
Zooming in on the current state of the project, Zhao explains: “We are in the rough-cut phase and would like to move towards the direction of choosing a sales agent, with whom we’ve stayed in touch after various pitches.”
“Besides, we would like to get in touch with festivals. We are looking for the support to close the final financing gap of about €130,000 through a minority co-production and/or post-production fund and presale with a broadcaster. We hope to complete the film in Q1-Q2 2025.”
Grounded in real people and situations, the film promises “to embrace spontaneity as the girls and the filmmaker embark on a road trip, developing the storyline in a collaborative and improvisational method, which later goes far beyond the search for a simple skirt.” “In this fantastical odyssey, Qinghua and her two friends traverse breath-taking landscapes and encounter enchanting characters. The story unfolds naturally, merging reality and imagination to capture the complexities of adolescence, cultural traditions, and the enduring power of friendship amid challenging circumstances,” reads the project’s pitch deck.
In her director’s notes, Chen reveals that when she first travelled to Liangshan, making a film wasn’t on her mind, but a Yi poem, “The Mother’s Daughter,” resonated deeply. The poem highlighted the hardships of women from an early age, particularly when they become burdened with family responsibilities. After reading Qinghua’s essay, where she wrote, “I have made many wishes, but none of them have come true,” Chen became eager to meet her.
In Liangshan, many girls are left behind as parents work in cities, growing up too fast and shouldering adult responsibilities. Some girls are even married off early for dowry money. Chen realised that Qinghua was nearing a crucial Yi tradition, where women must have three skirts marking life milestones like menarche, marriage, and death. This made her wonder if Qinghua truly needed that skirt, prompting a desire to explore it with her.
The girls of this generation navigate both Yi traditions and the constraints of Han culture, limiting their possibilities. Qinghua dreams of exploring, but her environment restricts her. Chen hoped to create a film that would let these girls experience what they cannot in their everyday lives. She wanted the film to be a journey of defying expectations, and hopes that when Qinghua leaves her girlhood behind, she will remember the road she travelled.
Whispers in May received the support of China’s First Documentary Lab and Freshpitch Award in 2022, the Tokyodocs pitch award, IDFA Bertha Fund Classic and the DMZ pitch award in 2023, and Field of Vision this year.
