Join us at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 25 for a screening of Chinese director Qiao Sixue's award-winning debut feature The Cord of Life, introduced by Yao Chen, producer, co-founder of Bad Rabbit Pictures, and award-winning actor.

This poignant, personal film discusses themes of nostalgia, nature, and the return to one's motherland. "The Cord of Life is a triumph", says CinemaEscapist's Brian Hioe, who lauds its exploration of "modernity vs. tradition in inner Mongolian music." The screening will be followed by a Q-and-A session with producer Yao Chen and Asia Society trustee Duncan Clark.

Runtime: 96 minutes

Genre: Family/Drama

Film Synopsis 

Alus is a Mongolian electronic musician confused about what he wants in life. He also cannot bear to see his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, living like a captive in his brother’s city apartment, so he decides to take her back to the grassland in search of the home she yearns for. As his mother’s condition worsens, Alus tries to stop her from getting lost by tying his mother to him with a rope. The rope is like an umbilical cord that reconnects him to his mother’s thoughts, his hometown, and his native culture… The Cord of Life is about nostalgia, returning to one’s motherland. We travel with the film through the city’s electronic music night to the dancing and laughter accompanied by the horsehead violin music on the Mongolian grasslands. The cord that ties son to mother serves as a metaphor that binds the two generations and allows them to revisit the sounds of the past and the scent of the grassland in their memories. The loosening of this cord represents the physical demise of nomadic culture and the new generation's embrace and acceptance of their roots. 

Qiao Sixue was born in Inner Mongolia, China. After graduating from 3IS Ecoles & Formations d'audiovisuel à Paris de la France Academy, at the end of 2015, she worked at KOI Films Company in Paris and participated in dozens of short films. The Cord of Life is her debut feature. The project was previously selected by project markets including HAF Film Lab 2019 (Hong Kong). In 2022, the project won the Special Prize at the Project Market of Beijing International Film Festival. 

Yao Chen is a Chinese actress, producer, and philanthropist. She has garnered over thirty domestic and international acting awards, including the Golden Mulberry Award of the Far East Film Festival, the Cinema Icon Award of the Singapore International Film Festival, and Best Actress Award of the Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Contents Awards. Yao Chen was the first Chinese celebrity to open an account on Sina Weibo in 2009, and has used the platform to introduce her philanthropic causes to her 80 million followers. As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador she has visited refugees in the Philippines, Thailand, Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Pakistan, and she has supported numerous Chinese public welfare projects. In 2017, Yao Chen co-founded Bad Rabbit Pictures with her cinematographer husband, Cao Yu, producing five award-winning films in their first six years. Yao Chen has been featured on the Time 100 list, and the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list. She is the recipient of the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum, where she was selected as a Global Young Leader.