Xiānghé

A 15 part film featuring scenes from Xianghe, running from the mundane to the surreal: people parade in opera costumes, slaughter pigs in public and dine on the fields; they bury the dead and get married, tickling the bride and groom, everything done without speech. Sitting somewhere between intimate personal reels and detached ethnographic records, the work creates a simultaneous sense of immersion and distance – of the type you might associate with end-of-life flashbacks. Yang gives nostalgia a fantastic, mystical bent, as if to suggest that to revel in memory is a creative act.

Directed by Yang Fudong, Xiānghé leans on a strong ensemble — Tan Zhuo, Lv Yulai, Wang Yang — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about history titles of 2025.