Ningbo

Four contemporary shorts from China. Spanning the Kazakh steppes, schoolyards, and a frozen lake, each quietly asks what it costs to belong. A boy in Xinjiang faces an ancient ritual that clashes with his urban conscience, a fifth-grader is asked to disguise his gender for the sake of a choir’s balance, a Hong Kong student discovers that the enforcers of rules are often the first to be trapped by them, and a young cyclist braves -20°C around Sayram Lake, chasing a freedom that needs no permission. Across generations and landscapes, how does each protagonist navigate tradition, institution, and expectation?

CiLENS is a Berlin-based non-profit film curation collective that engages audiences in an in-depth exploration of contemporary China and the Sinophone world. Through interdisciplinary events and thematic screenings, we foster transcultural dialogue and create spaces for meaningful connections.