ANIMA (Mo Er Dao Ga)

China 2020, 120 min Director Jinling Cao

What happens to our moral compass when we disrupt the harmony of the world around us? How can we reverse course before it’s too late? Brothers Linzi (Eric Wang) and Tutu (Si Ligeng) work together on a logging crew in the rural Mongolian city of Moerdaoga. Dire circumstances force them to cut down more ancient trees than the legal limit, inviting ecological catastrophe. The guilt-ridden Linzi knows he must protect the last remaining virgin forest in the area—which means revisiting a scene of fraternal and tribal trauma, and, with the help of a local widow (Qi Xi), restoring the balance of nature that he upset long ago. Gorgeously scored by Lim Giong (Ash Is Purest White), lensed by Mark Lee Ping-bing (In the Mood for Love), and filmed on location in Mongolia’s stunning Moerdaoga National Forest Park, the directorial debut of screenwriter Cao Jinling is an invitation into the soul of a forest—and a thrilling family drama about tradition and fate.  –David Fear

In Chinese with English subtitles