Accessibility Links

Striding Into the Wind

Directed by Wei Shujun, 2020 China 130 minutes
18+
Rentals are limited — Book now

Chinese cinema gets its hipster-slacker groove on in this droll tale of a Beijing film school student on an ambling road trip. Selected, Cannes 2020.

The debut feature by Cannes short film prize-winner Wei Shujun follows the picaresque adventures of Kun. The mullet-topped youth isn’t sure if he’s a rebel and if he has a cause. A disruptive influence in class, Kun begins wondering what life is all about when working on the graduate film of a pretentious Wong Kar Wai wannabee. The answer? Buy a broken down, smoke-belching Jeep from a shonky used car salesman – “The more you hit the road the wilder you get,” he says – and head to the promise of freedom and fulfilment in Inner Mongolia. With nods to Kevin Smith and Jim Jarmusch, Wei’s wry, autobiographical comic drama paints a sharp picture of restless Chinese youth caught between free-market dreams and restrictive realities.

Program Strand
Features,
Classification
Unclassified 18+
Language
In Mandarin with English subtitles
Director
Wei Shujun,
Producer
Liu Qingling,
Cast
Zhou Yu, Zheng Yingchen, Wang Xiaomu,
Screenwriter
Wei Shujun, Gao Linyang,
Cinematographer
Wang Jiehong,
Editor
Yan Tingting,
Genre
Comedy, Off-Beat, Filmmaking, Cinephile, Asia, Arts, Cannes Selected,
Company Credits
Sales Agent: Films Boutique,

If you like this, you might like...
Europe! Voices of Women in Film Bundle
Bundle Europe! Voices of Women in Film Bundle. 9 films for $130
FLUX Art+Film Bundle
Bundle FLUX Art+Film Bundle. 4 films, $55
Apples
Feature When amnesia sweeps the world, a man with no memory takes part in an experiment to reconstruct his identity. Venice, 2020. Winner of more than 10 international awards.
Beginning
Feature This provocative, Cannes-selected debut from Georgia is an unflinching drama about a Jehovah’s Witness who undergoes a dramatic crisis of faith. Best Film, Director, Actress and Screenplay, San Sebastián.
The Beta Test
Feature A secret sexual encounter triggers an existential nightmare for a Hollywood agent in this riveting social horror by Jim Cummings (Thunder Road) and PJ McCabe. Berlinale 2021.
The Bowraville Murders
Documentary The epic battle for justice by the families of three Aboriginal children murdered 30 years ago in a rural NSW town. A microcosm of the systemic racism inside the justice system.
Cryptozoo
Feature Dazzling mythical creatures inhabit Dash Shaw’s (My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, SFF 2016) trippy Sundance-winning animated fantasy, voiced by Michael Cera, Zoe Kazan and Alex Karpovsky.
El Planeta
Feature A mother and daughter grift their way through post-crisis Spain in this darkly funny Sundance hit from acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Amalia Ulman.
The Fantastic Journey of Margot & Marguerite
Feature A time-travelling comedy-mystery about two 12-year-old girls transported to different eras via a mysterious chest hidden in an attic.
Felix and the Hidden Treasure
Feature This action-packed animated feature from Quebec follows a fantastic quest to find a missing father and priceless treasure.
Friends and Strangers
Feature A hit at Rotterdam and New York festivals – a witty, absurdist slacker comedy about 20-somethings in Sydney that cements James Vaughan as a prominent voice in the Australian New Wave revival.
Gaia
Feature A forest ranger (Monique Rockman, Number 37, SFF 2018) encounters pre-apocalypse survivalists and terrifying phenomena in this visually stunning eco-horror from South Africa.
Green Sea
Feature Food and love are the ingredients of a charming comic drama about a woman with no memory who starts a new life as a cook at a run-down seaside tavern.
Hive
Feature Winner of three major awards at Sundance 2021, this outstanding drama is based on the true story of a Kosovo war widow fighting against patriarchy.
Just Like That
Feature A newly widowed 74-year-old Hindu woman rebels against expectations in this award-winning, wryly humorous drama chronicling a changing India. In competition, Busan.
The Justice of Bunny King
Feature Essie Davis (The Babadook, SFF 2019) and Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) shine in a powerful social drama about a single mother battling the system and her troubled past.
Last Days of Spring
Feature Documentary and fiction overlap in the poignant story of a family facing eviction from a Madrid shantytown. New Directors Award, San Sebastián 2020. Cannes ACID selection 2020.
Moffie
Feature South African auteur Oliver Hermanus (The Endless River, SFF 2015) returns with this stunning queer romance and military drama. A favourite at Venice.
Never Gonna Snow Again
Feature After Cold War and Corpus Christi, Polish cinema’s renaissance continues with this intriguing and stunningly-shot drama about a mysterious masseur who infiltrates a gated community. In Competition, Venice.
Nico
Feature A vibrant and carefree German-Persian nurse finds her world permanently shifted when she becomes the victim of a xenophobic attack, in Eline Gehring’s sensitive debut drama.
Nowhere Special
Feature This tender human drama stars James Norton (Little Women, 2019) as a terminally ill single father searching for a foster family for his son. Venice Horizons 2020.
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Feature Available to stream for 24 hours only from 5pm Sat 13 Nov
Inspired by true events, Jasmila Žbanić’s (Grbavica) gripping, Oscar-nominated thriller sees a UN translator in Srebrenica attempting to save her family as conflict rages around them.
Real
Feature Aki Omoshaybi makes a stunning debut as director and actor in this heartfelt and uplifting romance about a Black working-class couple in Portsmouth, filmed in just 12 days.
ShoPaapaa
Feature ShoPaapaa delves deeply into the 2020 lockdown experience in London and was made entirely remotely by Australian Molly Reynolds (My Name is Gulpilil) and UK-based creative Shekhar Bassi. Co-produced by Rolf de Heer.
Shoplifters of the World
Feature This heartfelt tribute to the music and lyrics of the Smiths tells the story of a fan who, devastated by the band’s split, hijacks a local radio station. Inspired by true events.
Slalom
Feature A teenage competitive skier is drawn into the orbit of her domineering coach in this unflinching portrait of abuse and obsession. Cannes 2020.
Swan Song
Feature A fabulously snippy hairdresser (screen legend Udo Kier; Bacurau, SFF 2019) escapes his nursing home and treks across small-town Ohio to fulfil the dying wish of a former client.
There is No Evil
Feature Banned from making films in Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof won the Berlinale Golden Bear for this powerful take on the death penalty and its impact on Iranian society.
this body is so impermanent...
Feature A magnificent real-time performance of a sacred Buddhist sutra, from renowned theatre and opera director Peter Sellars in collaboration with a luminous group of artists.
Why Not You
Feature Evi Romen’s debut feature tells the sensitive story of Mario, a restless young dancer from a conservative village whose best friend is killed in a deadly attack on a gay bar.
Wild Indian
Feature After covering up the murder of their schoolmate, two cousins are haunted by the consequences decades later in this slow-burning thriller from First Nations filmmaker Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. Sundance 2021.