The Alula Film Festival has unveiled the complete lineup for its 2025 edition, set to take place from October 16 to 19 at The Culver City Theaters in Los Angeles. Dedicated to independent, arthouse, and auteur-driven works, Alula continues to serve as a vital platform for bold and original Chinese-language cinema.

Formerly known as the D.C. Chinese Film Festival, Alula has become an important event for showcasing contemporary voices from across the Chinese-speaking world. This year’s theme, “In the Making,” captures a spirit of emergence and transformation – celebrating filmmakers who are changing the Chinese-language storytelling through risk and personal expression.

A total of 18 feature and short films have been selected for the Official Competition, with an impressive six of the eight feature-length titles marking directorial debuts. Among the twenty directors represented, 40% are women, reflecting the festival’s growing commitment to diverse perspectives and gender representation.

“This year’s program gathers films that embody momentum — capturing lives caught between memory, ambition, and change,” said Shiyu Wang, Festival Director. “Each film bears its own cinematic language, whether dreamlike, observational, or boldly experimental.”

The Spotlight Screenings will include the North American premiere of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s A City of Sadness (new 4K restoration), a marathon screening of Wang Bing’s Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks with the director in attendance, the U.S. premiere of Tsui Hark’s Green Snake (4K restoration), and the Los Angeles premiere of Jia Zhangke’s Xiao Wu (4K restoration). Guan Hu’s Cannes award-winning Black Dog and Jun Li’s Berlinale-selected Queer Panorama will also screen as part of the festival’s charity and community programs.

In the Official Competition, narrative features include The Botanist (dir. Jing Yi), a tender love story between a Kazakh boy and a Han girl; As the Water Flows (dir. Bian Zhuo), a reflection on grief and reconciliation; Karst (dir. Yang Suyi), a poetic journey of a woman and her ailing cow; and Sleep With Your Eyes Open (dir. Nele Wohlatz), which explores human connection against the backdrop of a Brazilian coastal city.

Documentary selections turn inward, focusing on intimate personal and social realities. Highlights include Obedience (dir. Wong Siu-pong), an unflinching portrait of inequality in Hong Kong; Never Too Late (dir. Yang Lizhu), an elegiac look at aging and memory; The Homeless (dir. Ji Qiuyu), which documents those living on society’s margins; and The Watchman (dir. Victoire Bonin & Lou Du Pontavice), a meditation on family and distance within the diaspora.

The short film competition embraces a range of styles – from narrative to experimental animation – with ten works offering fresh, inventive approaches to cinematic storytelling.

For the full lineup, visit www.alulafilm.org.

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