White River

Yang Fan lives in Yanjiao, separated from Beijing by the White River. Her routine of cooking, cleaning and observing quarantine rules is disrupted when she becomes entangled in an erotic web between herself, her husband and an enigmatic young waiter.

Crafted with an impeccable sense of humour and elegance, White River is a female-directed erotic drama that effortlessly subverts the dominant representation of female sexuality, eschewing objectification to discover new forms of sensuality. Its tactile camera finds stimulation in smaller intimacies, evoking the thrill of transgressing lines between public and private, mundane and erotic.

As our heroes explore sexual configurations, the film gleefully tests the limits of its own voyeurism. In doing so, it refashions, repurposes and plays with the pleasures of the flesh and of the gaze. In its mix of the surreal and the sexual, White River alludes to a number of now classic erotic films: Breillat, Tsai, Lyne, Buñuel, Ôshima and others. Also through these references, treated with witty respect, Ma Xue’s directorial debut demonstrates an incredibly distinct voice and a talent to keep an eye on. The overall sense of playfulness and sensuality sparks joy.

– Jessica McGoff