Dir. Elizabeth Lo
2024, China, USA, 94 min
Chinese with English subtitles
Rated 18A
In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage—and break up affairs— by any means necessary. Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
Plays with 8 Times
Dir. Adam Mbowe
2024, Canada, 14 min
Rated 18A
8 Times delves into the life of Muhammed, a 39-year-old man who finds himself at a crossroads after experiencing the dissolution of his sixth marriage. As he embarks on his seventh and eighth attempts at matrimony, Muhammed begins to reflect deeply on the path that led him to this point, questioning the choices and circumstances that have shaped his complex romantic journey.
