families in focus

We are in a moun­tain vil­lage of the Hmong, mem­bers of an ethnic minor­i­ty in north­west Viet­nam. For three years, Hà Lệ Diễm has come here again and again, befriend­ing … read more

Louis Hothothot was born as an ille­gal second child in China, his par­ents got severe­ly pun­ished and had to cope with bitter con­se­quences. After stay­ing for years abroad, the film­mak­er returns to his family and engages in lift­ing and heal­ing sup­pressed feel­ings of guilt and offens­es.  

“Wield­ing his camera with some­times intim­i­dat­ing effect, Louis forces his family to con­front their trau­mat­ic past, one that hides yet anoth­er ordeal. He probes them with sharp ques­tions and remarks to drag them out of a dis­tress­ing past. It’s painful, but nec­es­sary, because “if mem­o­ries are frozen in the past, what can dis­solve the pain?”” (idfa)  

Not just deal­ing with the past, it is also about his own iden­ti­ty between acquired West­ern cul­ture and cling­ing to his Chi­nese upbring­ing.  

Louis Hothothot (Louis Yi Liu) is a film artist, writer, graph­ic design­er. He was born and grew up in China, stud­ied graph­ic design, ani­ma­tion and video art at the China Cen­tral Acad­e­my of Fine Art in Bei­jing. He enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts pro­gram at the Dutch Art Insti­tute in 2012. In 2017, he fin­ished as Master of Film at the Nether­lands Film Acad­e­my. His long fea­ture debut FOUR JOURNEYS opened IDFA 2022. https://louishothothotart.wordpress.com/  

Direc­tor, cin­e­matog­ra­phy: Louis Hothothot
Edit­ing: Chris van Oers, Louis Hothothot, Albert Elings
Music: Harry de Wit
Pro­duc­tion, dis­tri­b­u­tion: Pieter van Huys­tee Films

Ener­getic Ivanna lives with five chil­dren in a tiny sled car. She belongs to the nomadic Nenets, who breed rein­deer in the Arctic tundra. It is a rough but also … read more

Those flee­ing pover­ty or vio­lence and per­se­cu­tion must be good on their feet. A woman with four chil­dren choos­es the long march from Guatemala through Mexico, like many others hoping … read more