| Someone to Talk To | |||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Screenplay: | Liu Zhenyun | ||||||||
| Director: | Liu Yulin | ||||||||
| Country: | China | ||||||||
| Language: | Mandarin | ||||||||
| Producer: | William Kong | ||||||||
| Cinematography: | Wu Di | ||||||||
| Editing: | Zhong Yijuan | ||||||||
| Runtime: | 107 minutes | ||||||||
| Gross: | $2,812,850 | ||||||||
Someone to Talk To is a 2016 Chinese drama film directed by Liu Yulin, a student at the Tisch School of the Arts and a silver medalist at the 41st Student Academy Awards,[1] in her feature film directorial debut.
Liu Zhenyun, Liu Yulin's father, wrote the screenplay based on his award-winning novel, One Sentence Is Ten Thousand Sentences.
Cobbler Niu Aiguo is in conflict with his wife, while his older sister, street food vendor Niu Aixiang, considers marriage later in life. Both desperately want to communicate with someone, despite their vastly different situations. Aiguo eventually breaks up with his wife and Aixiang marries divorcée Song Jiefang. While searching for his wife, Aiguo runs into his childhood friend Chuhong and strikes up a conversation with her. It turns out that she is also divorced due to communication failure. Meanwhile, it seems Aixiang and Jiefang struggle to get along.[2]
The movie had its world premiere at the New Currents section at the 21st Busan International Film Festival in October 2016. It was subsequently released in theaters in Mainland China, the United Kingdom, New Zealand,[3] and the United States[4] [5] in November 2016. It has also been selected for more than 50 film festivals around the world, including, but not limited to, the New York Asian Film Festival,[6] Cairo International Film Festival,[7] Hong Kong Asian Film Festival,[8] and XI’AN Silk Road International Film Festival.[9] [10]
Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that despite "a few missteps, Liu’s first effort is an assured examination of the world right now, and proves she’s one to watch."[11]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Film Director's Guild Awards | April 23, 2017 | Best Actor | Fan Wei | [12] [13] | |
| Best Young Director | |||||
| Golden Horse Awards | November 26, 2016 | Liu Bei | [14] [15] | ||
| Busan International Film Festival | October 15, 2016 | New Currents Award | Liu Yulin | [16] | |
| Beijing College Student Film Festival | May 7, 2017 | Best Directorial Debut |