A Girl Unknown
In this tender, visually stunning coming-of-age story, a girl abandoned as a baby grows up between three families and searches for her identity in 80s and 90s China.
Zou Jing’s strikingly beautiful debut feature follows a girl abandoned as a baby from the age of six to the threshold of adulthood, as she moves between three different families and is forced to adopt a new name and identity in each of them.
Set in China in the 1980s and 1990s, A Girl Unknown takes the viewer from the countryside to the city and across social classes. The coming-of-age story of one Chinese girl sensitively captures the experience of an entire generation of girls whose upbringing was overshadowed by misogynistic social structures and the experience of abandonment. During the era of the one-child policy, girls were disproportionately abandoned by their parents, as patriarchal culture favoured boys.
Feelings of rootlessness and not belonging follow the protagonist from childhood into adulthood as she tentatively searches for a sense of self. The lead role is brilliantly played by Li Gengxi, who also appeared in Bi Gan’s breathtaking Resurrection (R&A 2025).
The cinematography captures rich colours, combining tight framing with expansive landscapes. Although the film offers an insightful portrayal of a bleak reality, its gaze remains tenderly and steadfastly focused on survival and on the compassion that can still be found amid immense existential sorrow.
Anni Rossi (translated by Mira Liimatainen)
Screenings
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Kinopalatsi 7Sun 20.9. at 13.15–15.15120 min, 1/3
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Kinopalatsi 5Tue 22.9. at 20.30–22.30120 min, 2/3
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Kinopalatsi 5Sat 26.9. at 18.30–20.30120 min, 3/3