Helen Cui

Tattoo

"Tattoo is like a film noir situated on a different planet. The story is about a group of petty criminals, basically kids hanging around on street-corners, in a sleepy Chinese coastal town. Leizi is a member of the local militia, but bored stiff. With tough friends like Hei-di, his girlfriend Ah-hua who prostitutes herself, and Qingmao who has just returned from prison, Leizi spends his time drinking and keeping the neighbourhood awake. They extort money from Ah-hua's clients and sell things for the local gangster, Mr. Lian. When Leizi meets the righteous daughter of the Christian foreman, he starts having his doubts about his lifestyle. But the chain of violence, starting with extortion and kidnapping and ending in murder, has already started and no one can escape it." - IFFR

Jalainur

Jalainur, a name from the beautiful Lake Hulun(aka Dalai nuur in Mongolian), is one of the last places in the world where steam trains are still running. It is also where the story begins. Master Chu is retiring from the open-cut coal mine where he has been working for more than 30 years as a train technician. Somehow he decides to retire one month earlier. His apprentice, Zhi-Zhong, whom he shares a father-son-like relationship with, insists on seeing him off, accompanying him along the way to his daughter's place, somewhere miles away on the border between China and Russia.