PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Xin Yukun, director of the film Wrath of Silence.
Director Xin Yukun presented his latest film, Wrath of Silence, at the 2nd International Film Festival & Awards Macao. (The film stars actor Song Yang, whom we have also interviewed in Macao.) In this interview, the director talks to us about what prompted him to make his film and his level of familiarity with the small mineral mining town in northern China setting where the story of Wrath of Silence takes place. Xin Yukun also shares with us his takes on some of the main themes of the film, the importance of silence and fighting in it, and whether it was intentional for him to portray all of his characters ambiguously; in a way in which the lines between good and bad are not always easily defined.
Wrath of Silence: In a small mineral mining town in the mountains of northern China, a miner Zhang Baomin returns to his small family sheep farm only to learn that his young son Lei hasn’t come back from shepherding for two days. He begins a search for the boy which stirs up anxiety, resentment and distrust among the townsfolk who turn a blind eye to the reality of a missing child. But Zhang does not stop the search even when he comes head to head with the corruption and danger that permeates the local mining business.
Alice Rohrwacher has been appointed President of the Caméra d’or Jury at Cannes 2025. Known for her poetic and visionary cinema, Rohrwacher will award the best first feature at the festival’s closing ceremony on May 24.