Forum of Independents - Competition 2013 / How to Describe a Cloud / Netherlands 2013
Now settled in Taipei, young Liling must return to her home village to care for her mother, who has suddenly lost her sight. The lack of this important sense, however, has increased her mother’s ability to see into the future, and Liling, too, is now experiencing inexplicable flashes of intuition. This stylistically and thematically integrated film builds its persuasive atmosphere via the use of long shots and ambient sound.
Straddling the line between reality and fantasy, this meditative film tells the story of the young girl Liling, who has abandoned her mother in the countryside in order to become a DJ amidst the neon lights of Taipei. But when her mother goes blind and can no longer take care of herself, Liling is forced to reevaluate her life. Returning to her coastal village, she has to face a new reality which, as she experiences elusive flashes of extrasensory perception, threatens to disrupt all the firmly anchored rules that previously governed her world. Filmed in a self-confident and stylistically mature manner, the film explores Liling’s life while offering an original depiction of the conflict between her rational nature and her deepening sensitivity for her inner feelings. Through long, painstakingly arranged takes and an almost ambient musical score, Verbeek gives the film a distinct tone that requires both the main protagonist and the audience to find the courage to immerse themselves in its atmosphere and not to rely on their faith in established models, but to trust their intuition.
80 min / Color, DCP
International premiere
Director David Verbeek
/ Screenplay David Verbeek
/ Dir. of Photography Jean Counet
/ Editor Patrick Schonewille
/ Producer Wout Conijn
/ Production Conijn Film
/ Cast Lu Huang, Yi Ching Lu, Pong Fong Wu
/ Contact Media Luna New Films UG
David Verbeek (b. 1980, Amsterdam) graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam in 2005 and then studied philosophy and photography in New York. During his studies, he shot his feature-length directorial debut for just 500 euros. It was subsequently shown at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam and was distributed in Dutch theaters. Of his six features, Shanghai Trance (2008) – filmed during his three-year stay in Shanghai – stands out in particular. His subsequent film R U There (2010), about immersing oneself in virtual reality, was shown in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section in Cannes. How to Describe a Cloud was shot on a limited budget during preparations for his next film, Dead & Beautiful.
Media Luna New Films UG
Aachener Strasse 24, 506 74, Cologne
Germany
Phone: +49 221 510 918 91
Fax: +49 221 510 918 99
E-mail: [email protected]
Jean Counet
Director of Photography
Wout Conijn
Producer
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