Watch Dogtail Grass in Front of the Tomb Online

Dogtail Grass in Front of the Tomb

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Country/Region: Mainland China

Release Year: 2024

Story:
The story is about a wild child who lives in the mountains, relying on their grandmother for survival. After accidentally learning about their true origins and experiencing the loss of their only relative, the child decides to leave the mountains and go to the city in search of the truth.

Casts & Crews:

HUANG Taotao
Directors

Runtime: 41 minutes

Language: Guizhou Dialect

Subtitles: Chinese, English

Tags: #Hometown #Family-Ties #Destiny

Stills:

Director‘s Statement:
This short film is largely an autobiographical portrayal, narrating the growth story of a wild child who lived with his grandmother in a small village nestled in the mountains, knowing nothing about the city. His parents had gone to the city to work, and his greatest anticipation was that they would come back for him when he turned 18. However, mere months before his 18th birthday, he encountered a girl from the city who stayed with him for a few days, igniting his longing for the urban life. But his life was shattered by a storm. After a quarrel with his grandmother, he ran away from the village to clear his mind. When he returned the next day, he found his grandmother had passed away. The village head revealed to him the truth about his family background: his father had died before he was born, and his mother had remarried in the city after giving birth to him. He lost both his grandmother and his yearning for the city. After burying his grandmother, he resolved to find his mother. With boundless courage and unwavering determination, he embarked on a journey filled with various difficulties and challenges, ultimately reuniting with his mother. Through this journey, he grew into a strong, brave, and responsible young man. Unfortunately, due to some reasons, the film lacks completeness, and as it was our freshman semester project, it is imbued with a certain naivety in many aspects. Nevertheless, looking back, we were incredibly happy during that time. Confined within the school due to the pandemic, one day I mentioned to my assistant director that I wanted to make a film. He asked what I needed, and I said an old rural house. To my surprise, he led me to the back of the school where we built a makeshift house. Every night, walking back to the school from the hills, the stark contrast in environments felt almost surreal. Eventually, through various means, we completed the film, which felt like a struggling fetus we had miraculously resuscitated, albeit with some apparent deformities.