Only the River Flows (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

In the rural China of the 1990s, the body of a woman is found by the river. Chief Inspector Ma Zhe is tasked with investigating the seemingly simple murder case, and under his leadership, an arrest quickly takes place. His superiors congratulate him, but various clues and multiple murders force Ma Zhe to dig deeper, and despite his superiors' orders, he continues to investigate the case further. He becomes increasingly entangled in something that challenges his sense of reality and his obsession grows. Ma Zhe follows a prime suspect linked to the victim but who constantly eludes him. Other clues inadvertently expose the hidden lives of the community - whether it's an illicit affair between two poetry lovers or a transvestite trying to conceal their identity from the public.

Only the River Flows is the third feature film by WEI Shujun and was already a big success in China. Less than a month after its cinema release, the film was among China's top-earning arthouse films. With its grainy 16mm texture and abundant rain and mist, the film fits perfectly into the neo-noir genre. The film is based on the short novel Mistakes by the River by the famous Chinese writer YU Hua. The murder investigation turns into an exploration of the mind, leaving the audience to discover what is real and what is not in an absurd world.