Browse films

Dawning

Wei Xiong
China, 2018, 100 min.

In Chinese with English subtitles.
This film is family friendly.

A heart-wrenching story of a child searching for asylum in China in 1941 after an attack by Japan leaves his city in ruins. Jun’s dying mother tells him to go to a familiar sanctuary to wait for his father to come for him, but soon, the teachers and children there begin dying from an epidemic. Somehow, Jun must find the courage and determination to persevere.

Director's Statement

The film intends to show not only an isolated individual or an isolated era, but rather a bigger and majestic picture. The pains and partings of life and death suffered by the teenager Jun are so immeasurable that they could not be explained solely on an individual basis, so does resilience and optimism that he upholds. Jun is depicted as an orphan bereft by war and the miniature of the whole nation. He is both specific and sublime.

Category: Drama.
Themes: War, World Cinema, Youth.

More in Drama

  • La Estrella

    La Estrella

    Gabriela Díaz Arp
    United States, 2026, 22 min.

    La Estrella is a tender portrait of a tight-knit Mexican-American family grappling with the entrance of fentanyl into their community. Set across two... more ›

  • Garden Valley

    Garden Valley

    Manuel Navarro
    United States, 2025, 28 min.

    Inspired by the horrific Mann family murders of spring 1988, Garden Valley follows two friends lost in a haze of hard rock, reckless choices, drugs,... more ›

  • Arman

    Arman

    Farzad Kiyafar
    United States, 2024, 12 min.

    Overwhelmed and isolated on his wedding day, a closeted immigrant speaks to his family on the phone moments before walking down the aisle... more ›