Girl
Southeast Asian Premiere
Shu Qi Taiwan 2025 125 min M18 (Sexual Violence)
Caught between inherited sorrow and a longing for freedom, a young girl must navigate the shadows of a life she never chose.
Growing up in 1980s Taipei, ten-year-old Hsiao-lee endures her dreary daily routine of returning home to the contempt of her exhausted mother and hiding in a zip-up closet at night to avoid her deadbeat father’s drunken rages. When exuberant and precocious transfer student Li-li, newly returned from the US after her parents’ divorce, joins Hsiao-lee’s class, she rapidly breaks through Hsiao-lee’s reserve and they become firm friends. One day, Li-li urges Hsiao-lee to skip class and explore the city, causing a rupture within her family that changes Hsiao-lee’s life.
A regular in Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films, Shu Qi embarked on filmmaking at his suggestion. His influence can be seen in Girl’s lush colour palette and poetic lingering shots. Her attention to the vibrant details of the spaces the characters inhabit brings an unsettling beauty to this bleak semi-autobiographical tale of coming of age amidst domestic dysfunction.
Synopsis Writer: Teng Qian Xi
26 Nov, Wed 8:00PM / 125 min
Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Sands Theatre
Q&A with Filmmaker(s)
27 Nov, Thu 2:00PM / 125 min
Golden Village Cineleisure, Hall 4
AT THE FEST!
All screenings are on a free seating, first-come, first-served basis. We kindly ask all ticket holders to arrive on time. Latecomers may not be guaranteed entry.
RUSH QUEUE:
For last-minute attendees, good news. Our Rush Queue is back this year!
Girl
女孩
Shu Qi
Taiwan
2025
Taiwanese, Mandarin
English
125 min
M18 (Sexual Violence)
Southeast Asian Premiere
Shu Qi
International star Shu Qi is an actor, writer, and director with over 90 acting credits, including three collaborations with Hou Hsiao-hsien – Millennium Mambo (2001), Three Times (2005) and The Assassin (2015). As an actor, she has won two Golden Horse Awards and three Hong Kong Film Awards, among many other awards. Girl, her debut as a director and writer, premiered in Venice and won her the Best Director Award at Busan.
Roy Chiu,
9m88,
Bai Xiao-Ying
Yeh Jufeng
