Rotterdam, Pingyao Selection ‘Guo Ran,’ From Acclaimed ‘Mama’ Director Li Dongmei, Unveils International Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

The international trailer has been unveiled for “Guo Ran,” the latest from director Li Dongmei, whose previous film “Mama” premiered at Venice and won best film at the 4th Pingyao International Film Festival.

Starring Li Manxuan (“The Boy and the Sea”) and Wang Yitong (“Journey to the West”), the film follows a woman in her 30s navigating the emotional aftermath of pregnancy loss.

Drawing from Dongmei’s own experiences, the film centers on Yu, who begins “a new stage in her life as a newly pregnant mother with joy, expectation, and a bit of uneasiness” before facing the devastating reality when “the embryo stops developing and there’s no fetal heartbeat anymore,” per the description from production company Leopard Film.

“A silently wrenching second feature from Chinese writer-director Li Dongmei that deftly identifies generational malaise in individual crisis,” wrote critic Guy Lodge in his Variety review. “The kind of brief, intimately scaled chamber drama that often gets labeled a ‘miniature’ despite vast human stakes at play, the film proves a stealth tearjerker despite the stoic composure of Li’s filmmaking and a precise, achingly contained lead performance by Li Manxuan.”

The trailer arrives just ahead of the film’s Asian premiere at the Pingyao International Film Festival on Sept. 27, where it will compete in the Hidden Dragon section. “Guo Ran” made its world bow in Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition earlier this year.

Producer Qi Ai (“The Botanist”) collaborated with a seasoned crew including cinematographer Matthias Delvaux (“Snow Leopard”), editor Qin Yanan (“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”), and production designer Li Xinhe (“Absence”).

The 9th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival is on till Sept. 30, in Pingyao, Shanxi, China.

Watch the trailer here: