Cu Li Never Cries

Singapore Premiere

Phạm Ngọc Lân Vietnam, Singapore, France, Philippines, Norway 2024 93 min NC16 (Some Coarse Language)

A poetic examination of the space memories occupy in our existence, through vignettes of two women at different points of their lives.

After the death of her estranged husband, Mrs Nguyện returns home, bearing his urn and his pet cu li, a pygmy slow loris. Back in Hanoi, she is greeted with unfamiliarity: the city is hardly what she remembers, and her niece is now a young adult preparing for her wedding. While the couple teeter towards a new beginning, Mrs Nguyện dwells within fragments of the past.

Besides revealing intergenerational tensions, the narratives of the two women form an affecting depiction of how memories underpin our existence, from their accretion to remembrance. Shot in lustrous monochrome, the film reveals the melancholy of the human condition: the ineluctable passage of time, where only reminiscences are left to dam the flow.

Audience Choice Award

1 Dec, Sun 11:00AM / 93 min

National Gallery Singapore

Audience Choice Award

6 Dec, Fri 2:00PM / 93 min

Oldham Theatre

AT THE FEST!

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RUSH QUEUE:
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Cu Li Never Cries

Cu Li Không Bao Giờ Khóc

Phạm Ngọc Lân

Vietnam, Singapore, France, Philippines, Norway

2024

Vietnamese

English

93 min

NC16 (Some Coarse Language)

Singapore Premiere

Phạm Ngọc Lân

Born and raised in Hanoi, Phạm Ngọc Lân is a self-taught filmmaker with a background in urban planning. His short films, Another City (2016) and Blessed Land (2019), both premiered at the Berlinale. The Unseen River (2020) screened at SGIFF, winning the Youth Jury Award. His feature debut, Cu Li Never Cries took home the GWFF Best First Feature Award at the Berlinale.

Nghiem Quynh Trang,
Tran Thi Bich Ngoc

Minh Chau,
Ha Phuong, Xuan An

Related Topics

  • Audience Choice Award
  • Horizon